Mama Bear’s Day Nursery

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children enjoy their time at nursery.

All children settle quickly and develop secure attachments to staff who understand their needs well. There are good plans in place to help children move from room to room. This successfully supports children's emotional well-being.

The manager and staff team have high expectations of all children who attend and fully acknowledge and value children's diverse backgrounds. All children progress in their development and begin to meet their individual next steps, ready for the next stage in their learning. Children are very confident communicators.

Younger children join in with... singing. Older children tell staff and other children about books they are reading and confidently and competently narrate their own play. They talk confidently to visitors and share their experiences.

Children show positive relationships with staff. For example, they give staff cuddles when they arrive and leave the nursery. Children demonstrate that they feel safe and secure.

Children enjoy a wide range of activities and resources. As a result, they concentrate for sustained periods of time on activities they thoroughly enjoy. Children develop strong small-muscle skills.

They delight in the array of messy and exploratory activities provided. Children immerse their hands in sand, paint, play dough and cereal mixes. They use tools and utensils to explore, roll and create with different media and materials.

Children are kind to each other and play cooperatively. Older children negotiate between themselves to agree roles in their play. Younger children share and take turns with toys naturally.

Children behave incredibly well and are excited to learn.

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

The manager provides strong leadership. She has a clear vision for the nursery and has ambitious plans to improve the quality of the provision even further.

Staff benefit from ongoing supervision and training to enhance their skills. Staff are happy in their roles and morale is high. They feel well supported and benefit from monthly coaching meetings, helping them to improve outcomes for children.

Literacy and mathematics are promoted well throughout the nursery. Children frequently choose books and read with staff. Younger children join in confidently with action songs and rhymes.

All children have good opportunities to make marks. Babies and younger children experiment using their hands and dinosaurs to print with paint. Older children use an assortment of writing tools to write and draw their own stories.

In addition, toddlers confidently fill and pour using a range of containers. Older children understand about quantities as they make their own play dough. This supports children's early mathematical development.

Children enjoy playing outside, where they learn to manage risks in their play. Younger children push themselves along on ride-on toys or develop their balance and leg muscles using walkers and soft play. Older children run and jump as they play.

They extend their own learning as they look for bugs using magnifying glasses, comparing the different sizes and correctly identifying and naming what they have found.Partnerships with parents are strong. Staff share regular information to keep parents well informed about their child's learning and to support their learning at home.

Parents and staff work together so that all children complete '12 things to do' in every room. These activities help to extend the curriculum on offer and mean that children get to experience a wide range of activities and life experiences. Parents are very happy with the provision.

They comment on how much their children enjoy attending and the progress they are making.Staff place a strong focus on helping children to be independent. Older children and toddlers serve their own meals and pour their own drinks.

Babies recognise their photographs on place mats and know where to sit at the table. Children are generally learning good hygiene practices as they wash their hands before meals. However, there are times when staff do not always support babies to learn this, as they did not wash babies' hands before having lunch after playing in the garden.

The manager evaluates the effectiveness of the nursery. She gathers the views of staff, children and parents to help identify changes to the experiences children receive. Recent improvements to the environment offer older children more opportunities for focused learning, especially when they are taking part in small-group work.

However, there are times when staff start these sessions while others play games nearby, which makes it hard for some children to concentrate and hear discussions.Staff actively promote positive behaviour. They give children plenty of praise and encouragement.

Staff encourage children to persevere with tasks. For example, staff tell children to 'keep trying' when they struggle. They offer children suggestions and ideas.

Children develop a can-do attitude to learning.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.Staff are vigilant about children's safety and well-being.

They attend meetings and complete training to keep their safeguarding knowledge up to date. This ensures they understand their roles and responsibilities in keeping children safe. Staff know the indicators that may suggest a child is at risk of harm or neglect.

They demonstrate a clear understanding of how to obtain additional help from other professionals to help safeguard children. They are also confident about the procedure to follow should they have concerns about a member of staff.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: review the organisation of small-group time in the pre-school room to ensure that noise levels are minimised so children are able to concentrate fully support children in the baby room to learn good hygiene practices, such as washing their hands when they come in from the garden for lunch.

Also at this postcode