Busy Bears Nursery Ltd

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children quickly settle into activities and clearly enjoy their time at the nursery.

They have secure relationships with staff who support them well to play and learn. Pre-school children are inspired by the activities, which have a clear learning intention and are linked to a popular book. For example, children show high levels of engagement as they sequence the story, draw and create.

Others make their own 'bears' using feathers, glitter and sequins describing the teeth, claws and character. Children immerse themselves in what interests them most. For example, children mix oats and water to create baby food to 'feed'... their dolls, and learn to be gentle as they change the dolls' nappies.

This helps those children with new baby siblings to make sense of recent changes and talk about their home lives. Children easily negotiate and play well independently and in groups. All children, including babies, show a real love for books and often choose to sit and share them with staff.

Children have plenty of opportunities to lead their own play with support from staff. They make good use of the rich range of experiences on offer. For example, babies freely use the water, learn how to move objects down ramps and explore the broccoli, mushrooms and cauliflower in the compost.

What does the early years setting do well and what does it need to do better?

The manager is clearly driven and leads an enthusiastic team. They place a good priority on working with parents to help provide a rich and stimulating curriculum. The constant sharing of information about children's home lives and experiences helps staff plan activities that capture children's imagination and curiosity.

The strong partnership working ensures all children, including children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, receive the support they need to help them succeed. Staff swiftly identify any gaps in children's learning and provide targeted interventions to help close these gaps. For example, staff are knowledgeable and use a range of fun activities to help support those children who are waiting for speech and language appointments.

Staff speak highly of the management team and the support and training they receive. The manager has a good overview of the nursery, and new staff benefit from a detailed induction. However, the manager does not assess the quality of staff's teaching often enough.

Therefore, they have not identified or focussed on how they can further develop the teaching of staff to the highest level, particularly those staff that are new.Promoting children's health is a clear priority. Children benefit from healthy and nutritious meals that are freshly prepared on site.

Staff plan and sequence a range of activities for children to help reinforce the importance of keeping their teeth and bodies healthy. Older children enjoy a very challenging range of physical activities to help them improve their physical development. Babies benefit from a dedicated outdoor space.

However, staff do not provide enough opportunities for babies, for example, to use slopes, steps and climbing equipment, to further challenge their physical skills.The manager shows a strong commitment to valuing and respecting the diversity of individuals. For example, staff identify the values of each family and work with parents to find out about their culture and celebrate any relevant festivals.

They confidently work with parents to challenge any bias or misconceptions about race, gender and sexual orientation. Children learn to respect each other and their differences.Parents speak very highly of the nursery and the progress their children make.

They are impressed by how welcome they are made to feel and the effort staff make to get to know their children.There are strong partnerships with the local school, which the majority of children move on to. For example, staff use the same phonics system and techniques to develop children's early writing skills to help prepare them for school.

Children show a keen interest in counting, numbers and exploring weight and measurement. For example, children benefit from fortnightly cooking sessions and enjoy exploring mathematical concepts as they play.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

The manager ensures all staff are trained in child protection issues and the procedures to follow if they have a concern about a child. Staff use national guidance to support their work with parents in helping teach children about respecting their own and others' bodies. They work closely with any professionals working with families and share information to help promote children's welfare and education.

There are robust recruitment and vetting procedures in place to ensure all staff working with children are suitable. The premises are safe and detailed risk assessments are carried out for any outings taken.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: support staff in the baby room to plan a wider range of challenging opportunities for babies to be physical, to help further extend their learning develop staff's professional development opportunities, in particular for new staff, to help sustain and build on the good quality teaching achieved.