Butterflies Day Nursery

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

The nursery manager has kept drop off routines under review as COVID-19 restrictions have changed. Currently, parents still leave their child at the nursery doorway at drop off time.

Children arrive happily and receive a warm, friendly greeting from the caring staff. At the end of the day, parents can now go in and collect their child from their group room if they wish.Children are confident and well behaved.

The nursery management place a strong emphasis on supporting children to manage their feelings and behaviour. Most children have a genuinely warm bond with the staff in their group rooms. The children are able to ...use a range of dedicated play spaces, such as a sensory room and exploration room, in addition to their group room.

These provide spaces for small groups of children to quietly concentrate on specific topics.Children are very physically able. All children regularly access the extensive outside play spaces, which are used to support all aspects of the curriculum.

For example, mathematical language is woven into hide and seek games. Older babies develop their determination, strength and stamina as they learn to safely climb the stairs back to their group room. Even younger babies are encouraged to develop their coordination and strength as they tap out a rhythm using spoons and pots.

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

The manager and staff have a shared vision of what the children in each group room need to learn. This is drawn from staff's regular assessments of children's development. The manager understands that children need to practise their abilities and build towards more advanced skills.

For example, staff provide activities which strengthen children's fingers or organise opportunities for children to make large movements. This provides the basis for mastering finer movements and early writing skills.Communication and language development is key throughout the nursery.

This results in many confident children, who enjoy sharing their views with staff, their friends and others. Staff identify any speech and language issues children may have and implement activities to support them. They work with other professionals to implement strategies for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

However, some staff are waiting to be trained on a recently implemented communication system, which inhibits their ability to fully support the next steps in learning for some children.The nursery manager and her staff are supported by the senior management team from the wider nursery group. This ensures, for example, that recruitment processes follow robust guidelines.

The quality officer provides training via video links and coordinates online groups, where staff exchange best practice.The manager currently has only limited time to monitor how the curriculum is being implemented and to provide targeted feedback to staff about their general teaching. This reduces her ability to fully support them in improving their practice.

This is particularly important in rooms which do not have a consistent room leader.Parents are happy with the nursery. They feel well informed about what their children are doing.

This is achieved through conversations with staff and the online system, which provides photos and assessments of their child's progress. Parents believe that their children's attendance at the nursery has positively contributed to their children's good development and overall confidence.The children enjoy a wide range of freshly prepared meals.

Clear processes are in place to ensure staff are aware of children's dietary needs and preferences. For example, separate meals are clearly labelled for children who require different ingredients. Mealtimes are social occasions with even older babies developing their independence as they start to feed themselves.

Good oral hygiene is encouraged. Older babies and toddlers learn to use a toothbrush on a model of a set of teeth. Staff build on these skills as children move on to dry brushing their own teeth.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.The nursery group has an online training system. Staff can undertake a wide range of short training courses and most have recently reviewed their child protection training.

Staff have a clear understanding of their personal responsibility to keep children safe. They understand what would constitute a safeguarding concern, both regarding children and colleagues. The nursery did not inform Ofsted of a concern that the local authority has recently raised with them.

The manager and operations manager acknowledge that they should have followed their safeguarding policy and the legal requirement in the 'Statutory framework for the early years foundation stage' to notify Ofsted. However, in this case the fact that Ofsted was not informed had no impact on the safety of the children.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: review the deployment of staff, so that all rooms have a strong and consistent room lead to support staff to develop their delivery of the curriculum nensure staff understand how they can fully support the next steps in learning for all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities nimprove the monitoring of staff's delivery of the curriculum in all rooms to help them to develop their teaching skills even further.