The Hive Day Nursery

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children are happy and busy from the start of the session to the moment they are picked up.

The manager and her staff team create a warm, welcoming and secure environment. Children, including those who are new to the setting, confidently settle into the daily routines because staff help them to feel safe and well cared for. Staff work closely with parents to ensure the transition to the nursery is smooth.

They follow routines from home to ensure continuity. For example, the manager rocked a baby to sleep, cradled in her arms, as this is how the child falls asleep at home. The manager and staff are passionate about the ...needs of children.

They are positive role models for the children in their calm and consistent approach to managing behaviour. Children listen to and interact well with the staff. Children's vocabulary is developed with singing and nursery rhymes.

Children enjoy playing alongside staff who support them to develop their knowledge and skills, for example, playing 'peepo' with children under organza fabric to support their sensory development. They skilfully develop babies' emerging language as they use single words and repetition to build on their understanding.

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

Children sing songs together and thoroughly enjoy performing the actions.

They explore making sounds with different instruments and eagerly play along. Children laugh with delight as they stamp their feet and curl up into little balls, before growing into enormous shapes and roaring enthusiastically.The manager takes the happiness and well-being of staff members very seriously.

As a result, the nursery retains highly experienced staff who have been at the setting for a long time. The manager has recently reviewed the nursery procedures for peer observation and staff monitoring. As yet these systems are not fully embedded or effectively identifying training needs of staff to develop the provision further.

The partnership with parents is extremely strong. Parents welcome the regular communication they receive through messages, photographs and weekly updates. They comment that staff are fantastic and are delighted with the strong bonds and relationships they form with the children.

Children's communication and language skills are supported very well. Staff provide a constant narrative as they chat to the babies in their care. Children enjoy sharing books with staff and happily snuggle up with adults, joining in with repeated refrains and familiar stories.

Although children experience a wealth of activities, staff do not consistently use information they gather from observations and assessments to develop children's next steps in learning.Children have opportunities to learn about the world around them and to enjoy fresh air and exercise outdoors. For instance, staff take children out in the community for walks and adventures.

Children enjoy exploring textures and playing in the mud kitchen. They become engaged for sustained periods of time, mixing the mud and water into different consistencies.The manager and staff have a good understanding of how they want the nursery to develop and improve.

The day-to-day management is effective and a commitment to build on the already good quality of care and learning is enthusiastically demonstrated.Staff give children lots of praise and encouragement to support their self-esteem, and promote children's independence. For example, staff sit and eat with children, discussing the variety of food and modelling good table manners.

Even the youngest children attempt to eat yogurt independently.Staff are enthusiastic and motivated practitioners. They get down to the children's level when playing and actively encourage them to join in with a variety of activities and new experiences.

For example, while playing outside the staff encouraged children to plant bulbs, talking about what they thought they would grow into and how they push them into the soil. They immediately compared this to sowing flower seeds in the wild garden.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

The designated safeguarding lead ensures staff are well trained in child protection procedures and wider safeguarding issues. Staff have regular training and their knowledge of child protection is refreshed effectively in staff meetings. All staff know the signs and symptoms to look for and the procedures to follow if they have any concerns about a child's welfare.

The manager carries out robust recruitment procedures to ensure that all staff working with children are suitable. Policies and procedures reflect the advice and guidance of the local authorities and are fully available to parents.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: strengthen the use of assessments, to help to plan more precisely for children's next steps of learning and help them to make the best possible progress build on the current arrangements for performance management of staff and peer observations, so that these focus more specifically on raising the quality of teaching to a consistently high level.

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