Busy Bees Day Nursery at Huntingdon

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children enjoy playing and learning with their friends. They confidently talk together and welcome the involvement of staff. Children ask staff questions and listen intently to the answers they are given.

When questions are directed at them, children ponder their options before giving their answers. This helps to strengthen children's thinking skills. Children are curious.

They enthusiastically search in the garden for spiders and other mini-beasts. They find magnifying glasses and ask staff to lift tyres and wood so they can look underneath. Staff introduce new words into children's investigations, helping them to bec...ome articulate and confident speakers.

Babies and very young children show delight when they post objects into a large cardboard box. They repeat their actions, working out what happens when items disappear out of sight. This helps them begin to understand concepts, such as cause and effect.

The inviting garden provides children with opportunities to take age-appropriate risks. They work out how to push doll's buggies up a ramp onto a low platform. Children understand the need to wait for others to complete the task before they have a go.

They are proud of their efforts when they successfully negotiate the ramp. Children strengthen their muscles to help support their physical development while they balance, climb and explore.

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

The caring and kind staff are good role models.

They respect children's feelings and autonomy. For example, staff ask for children's permission to help them with personal care tasks, such as blowing their noses or taking them to the toilet, if they are unable to manage these for themselves. Staff's positive behaviours are reflected in children's caring and respectful attitude towards others.

Babies and very young children are cared for in a nurturing environment. They rapidly gain confidence to explore their rooms and garden, seeking reassurance from staff if they feel a little unsure or tired. Staff quickly recognise when additional support or comfort is needed.

Parents have access to a wide range of information to help them support their children's development and learning at home. Comprehensive information is shared electronically. In addition to this, staff ensure that relevant information is available to all parents in other ways too, including printed material on a notice board and through conversations key persons have with parents.

Managers ensure that staff have access to a range of training and development. Regular visits by regional staff help support staff to make continual improvements. Managers and staff are dedicated and have a strong desire to continue to fully embed new teaching methods and education of the highest quality throughout the nursery.

Staff sensitively manage the needs of each child. Careful consideration is made to when and how children move into new group rooms throughout the nursery. Detailed information is shared between existing and new key persons to help maintain consistency.

This is reflected in children's confidence and continued motivation to learn.Children show a passion for books and stories. They are captivated by the expressions and actions staff use while they tell traditional and familiar stories.

Children join in, recalling new words they have heard. Staff support children's interests triggered by stories. For example, they help children write a letter to a zoo and display children's unique artwork relating to the stories.

Staff regularly assess children's progress to help them plan how to support learning. However, at times, some staff have over-ambitious expectations of what children should be learning next. Other staff do not always add sufficient challenge to children's activities to help them build on what they already know and understand.

Children have many opportunities to choose what they play with and experiment with during the day. However, staff in some group rooms do not effectively manage the time children need to wait for their food at mealtimes. This leads to children unnecessarily sitting and waiting without being occupied for prolonged periods of time.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.Managers regard safeguarding to be central in the daily running of the nursery. Printed workbooks, flowcharts and regular training and discussions help staff to identify, record and report any concerns they might have about children's well-being.

Managers have regular contact with professionals from the local authority to help ensure that information and procedures are up to date. From their first day of employment, staff know where to find information to help them keep children safe, including how to report any allegations they may have about other adults working in the nursery.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: recognise how to shape activities to focus on what children need to know and understand next review and amend how mealtimes are managed to reduce the length of time children remain unoccupied while they wait for their food.