Honey Bears Nursery

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children happily enter nursery and eagerly greet their friends and staff. Relationships between children and staff are very good.

Children separate from their parents and settle quickly into their play. They play in a secure environment. Children understand that they need to wash their hands regularly, and they learn to be independent in their own personal care.

Children learn about equality and diversity throughout the nursery. They talk about things they have done with their families and enjoy looking at photos of themselves which are displayed. Resources and books reflect discussions about various cultures and diffe...rences.

Children explore family backgrounds, and staff support children's awareness of differences, how families live and same-sex relationships. Children explore different textures through play. Babies mix flour, cocoa and porridge oats.

They scoop the mixture, and staff support babies' emerging speaking skills while introducing words such as 'soft' and 'cold', and they encourage the babies to smell the mixture. Older children add water to the flour and oats, and they copy staff in mixing them all together. This supports the development of their small-muscle skills as they squeeze, roll and manipulate the dough that they create.

Children are encouraged to extend their vocabulary as they use words such as 'oozy', 'squelchy' and 'swishy' as they recall a story of a family hunting for a bear in water, long grass and snow.

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

Managers and staff have made significant improvements since their last inspection and are committed to providing high-quality childcare. Managers are extremely supportive of their team.

Staff's well-being is given high priority. Effective monitoring of practice enables sharply focused training opportunities to be identified and accessed. As a result, staff are motivated and committed to continually developing their knowledge and skills.

Managers and staff demonstrate a secure understanding of the needs and abilities of the children in their care. They successfully plan a curriculum to support children's learning. Resources are used effectively to engage and support children.

There is a great focus on supporting children to develop good language and communication skills.Staff support children who speak English as an additional language well. They gather key words from parents in children's home language to use, to aid communication with children.

Pictures displayed within rooms help children to communicate their needs clearly to staff.Staff work in partnership with parents and other agencies. The ongoing monitoring of children's abilities enables staff to identify quickly where there are potential gaps in learning and work with parents to seek additional support for their child.

Children enjoy freshly prepared nutritious meals each day. Individual dietary needs and preferences are well known and incorporated into the food provided. Staff work closely with parents when babies undertake the weaning process, supporting them through the process.

Children access drinks throughout the day to remain hydrated.Children learn about foods that are good for their bodies. They confidently identify fruits, such as pineapple, blueberries, strawberries and grapes, during cooking activities.

Staff encourage their awareness of their safety when using tools and equipment. However, staff do not always fully encourage children's independence at these times as they serve food to children rather than encouraging them to serve themselves.Children thoroughly enjoy being physically active and benefit from fresh air and exercise each day.

They carefully balance on raised blocks in the garden, and they run, jump and skilfully use wheeled toys.Behaviour is good. Children show kindness and consideration towards their peers.

Staff consistently build children's confidence and self-esteem through the praise and encouragement they give to them. They recognise children's efforts and achievements and encourage children to persevere with tasks and succeed.Parents are extremely pleased with the care and learning opportunities provided for their children.

They feel that staff are approachable, warm and kind. Parents are actively involved in the nursery and enjoy attending workshops to build their own awareness of different topics. They receive newsletters to involve them in the activities planned in the nursery.

Managers and staff actively seek the comments and views of parents who use the nursery. They use these to continually reflect, evaluate and make changes to the provision where appropriate. However, they have not fully considered ways of gathering the views of the children as part of this process.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.Robust recruitment and selection procedures mean that all adults working with children complete appropriate suitability checks and fully understand their roles within the nursery. Managers' and staff's knowledge of safeguarding children is secure.

They fully understand the signs that may indicate a child is at risk of harm or abuse and the required action to take to keep children safe. Staff maintain their knowledge of safeguarding through ongoing professional development. Children's safety is given high priority.

Effective routines ensure that children play in a safe and secure environment. Supervision of the children is good, and staff-to-child ratios are always maintained.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: review ways to further enhance younger children's independence skills consider ways to gather the views of children as part of the evaluation process.