Busy Bees Day Nursery at Eastbourne

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children and their families are warmly greeted on their arrival. Nurturing staff know each child's uniqueness particularly well.

Children are quick to settle into activities and play experiences that have been thoughtfully planned by staff. The broad and balanced curriculum affords children varied experiences that help them become curious and motivated to learn. Staff provide plentiful opportunities for children to develop their confidence and gain independence.

Children relish in having their own responsibilities. For instance, staff support younger children to safely cut their own fruit for snack. Older children acce...ss 'self-care stations', with opportunities to wipe their own noses and pour their own drinks.

This supports children's understanding of life skills and helps prepare them for future success.Staff have high expectations of children's behaviour, and as such, they behave very well. Children play harmoniously together, taking turns and seeking out friends to share experiences with.

Older children are considerate to each other, assisting friends to solve problems. Children who find it difficult to understand their own emotions are well supported by staff. Furthermore, staff plan activities to help children learn about their own emotions, using favourite stories to reinforce their understanding of this.

They skilfully capture children's curiosities and interests to sustain their engagement in play. This contributes towards building on what children already know and can do to further support new knowledge and skills.

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

The passionate manager supports staff to implement a curriculum that meets the needs of children.

They provide experiences across all areas of the early years foundation stage. Overall, most staff implement the curriculum and target their teaching effectively. They know what skills they want children to learn and what they want to teach next.

However, there are some minor inconsistencies in the delivery of the curriculum. This is because some staff in newly established teams have not fully embedded how to implement age-appropriate educational programmes that precisely meet the needs of children.Children's communication and language development is a priority at this nursery.

Staff show high levels of engagement through their expressions and gestures, which exposes babies to early communication. Staff provide children with purposeful language opportunities and model this language well. For example, children confidently recall past activities.

They talk about how to keep their teeth healthy and learn new words, such as 'cavities'. This supports children to become confident communicators.The manager places a high priority on staff well-being.

This ensures that they receive support to fulfil their roles and responsibilities effectively. All staff receive regular supervision. However, staff with less experience do not consistently receive highly focused training to further develop their teaching skills.

The special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) is extremely knowledgeable about the children who attend and require additional support. The SENCo works closely with each child's key person as well as parents and other professionals. Staff provide targeted interventions to meet children's development needs.

They recognise when children may become overwhelmed. Staff make good use of the sensory room resources. This supports children's emotional well-being to help them recover and re-engage swiftly.

Children's good health is well promoted. They have daily opportunities to develop their physical skills. Babies access a carefully planned environment where they can safely crawl, cruise furniture and move their whole bodies.

Older children freely access the outdoors, where they pedal bicycles and practise their balancing skills. This supports their core muscle development. Furthermore, children develop fine motor skills.

Babies persist at stacking chunky blocks, and older children begin to develop early writing skills, such as forming letters of personal significance.Staff promote positive hygiene routines, such as teaching children about handwashing. Children receive healthy meals and snacks to contribute towards a healthy lifestyle.

Overall, daily routines and transitions are smooth and effective. However, on occasion, some mealtime routines are not communicated well between staff. This means some children are left waiting for their lunch for extended periods of time.

As a result, at times, children become restless.Partnership with parents is strong. All staff work hard to support the families that attend.

Parents comment enthusiastically about the quality of care provided for children. Staff provide opportunities for parents to voice their views, which are well received and acted on. They value feedback from parents so they can use this to contribute towards driving continued improvement of the nursery.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.There is an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts children's interests first.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: support all staff to deliver the curriculum even more consistently, to build on children's skills across all age groups effectively tailor the professional development for staff with less experience and knowledge of teaching more precisely, to provide effective support review and improve daily routines, particularly in toddler-age groups, to reduce waiting times during daily transitions.