Busy Bees Day Nursery at Blaydon

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children enjoy their time at the nursery. They arrive excitedly, leave their parents with ease and are eager to investigate the activities provided. Children have formed close bonds with their key worker and the wider team.

They make friends and enjoy one another's company, chatting as they play together. Children's behaviour is good. Babies settle quickly as nurturing staff provide a cosy and homely environment.

They are attentive, offering cuddles and reassurance, and ensure their individual routines are followed.Older children excitedly make their own play dough and talk about how it feels as they add the different ...ingredients. They have great fun as they manipulate the dough by squashing, squeezing and rolling it.

This helps to promote their small muscles in readiness for developing further skills, such as pencil control. Toddlers find endless fascination in water play. They transport jugs from the role-play area and fill them up before emptying them and starting over.

Staff are close by to offer support. They talk to toddlers about what they are doing, introducing new words to help extend their language.Outside children are not deterred by the rain.

They use rainwater and brushes to make marks. They carefully catch the raindrops in buckets and other containers commenting on how full they are getting.

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

The manager and the staff team have worked hard to successfully meet the actions set at the last inspection.

Senior staff are clear about their roles and responsibilities. When temporary staff are used to meet adult-to-child ratios the staff are consistent and familiar to the children. The key-person system works well.

This helps them to build secure relationships with children and parents. The manager oversees the deployment of staff to help ensure that children are always supervised.The manager develops an inclusive curriculum that supports all children and their individual learning needs.

She is clear about what she wants children to learn. However, not all staff have a clear understanding of why activities have been planned and how these build on the children's existing abilities. This means that although all children enjoy the activities provided, some staff are less sure of the learning intentions and how to support children to make the best progress.

Staff build on the children's home experiences. For example, staff turn the role-play area into a vet's. They provide toy animals, books and bandages.

Children are eager to show how they care for their toy dog and concentrate hard when putting a bandage on the dog's leg. They show a great sense of achievement when they are successful.Children show an interest in all activities.

During small-group activities toddlers begin to learn about pattern, matching and comparisons. Older children learn use mathematical language, such as 'full', 'empty' and 'heavy'. However, occasionally, opportunities to further develop children's early mathematical skills, such as counting are overlooked.

Staff support children's language and literacy skills well. They speak clearly and model words for children to repeat. Younger children show great interest in books as they listen attentively to familiar stories.

Staff and children are often heard singing familiar rhymes and songs. Staff play alongside the youngest children, repeating keywords and naming actions and sounds. As a result, children become confident communicators and readily chat to visitors.

The nursery chef provides healthy, nutritional meals and snacks throughout the day. Mealtimes are sociable occasions, and independence is encouraged in all age groups. Older children serve their own food and pour their own drinks.

Babies and young children are encouraged to feed themselves and to experience different foods. Staff provide many opportunities for children to be physically active. They allow children ample opportunity to play outside where they run, jump and explore freely, while benefiting from fresh air and exercise.

Staff work well as a team and are supportive of each other. The manager uses effective strategies, such as regular supervision meetings, to promote the positive wellbeing of staff.Staff share information with parents online and provide daily feedback at collection times.

Consequently, parents are kept informed about their children's achievements. Parents are very complimentary about the staff and the progress their children make.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Staff have a good understanding of the signs and symptoms which could indicate a child is at risk of harm or abuse. They complete regular child protection training to keep themselves aware of current guidance, such as what to do should they suspect a child, their siblings or parents are at risk of radicalisation. Robust recruitment procedures ensure that staff are suitable to work with children.

There is a good induction process in place that helps staff to understand their roles and responsibilities. Effective staff deployment means that all children are well supervised and cared for.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: strengthen staff's understanding of the learning intention for planned activities to enable them to shape activities more precisely to the learning needs of children support staff to make even more use of opportunities during activities and routines to teach children early number skills.