Sunbeams Nursery

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children are very happy and settled. They feel secure and have made strong attachments to their key person and other staff.

Children delight in opportunities to sing, dance and be physically active. Older children sing songs and enthusiastically join in with the actions. Toddlers explore their surroundings confidently, both indoors and outside.

Children are independent and take responsibility for their environment. They care for their vegetable patch, watering it and picking the fruit and vegetables for their snack. Children thoroughly enjoy hands-on learning experiences and broadening their use of vocabulary, using wo...rds, such as 'juicy, segments' and 'peel' when observing fruit.

Children's behaviour is very good. They listen to staff and respond accordingly. They play alongside one another collaboratively and support each other to ensure nobody is left out.

Toddlers listen to stories well and enjoy the opportunity to engage in activities, which focus on their communication skills. Leaders and staff know children particularly well. They use their knowledge to plan a curriculum based on key themes and incorporate the children's interests, which supports each child to make good progress whatever their starting point.

They identify children's next steps in learning and use these to plan a curriculum.Leaders supported parents and children well with home learning during the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic closure. They delivered resources and care packs to maintain links with the children and their families and additional support materials were also made available online.

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

Staff plan activities which focus on developing language through engaging, hands-on experiences. Staff place high importance on singing and stories and providing opportunities for children to speak and listen. Families are supported with ideas to develop their child's communication skills at home via the home-learning packs.

Children's behaviour is good. They demonstrate high levels of curiosity, enjoyment and concentration. Children take it in turns selecting which song they wish to sing during circle time.

There is a positive and respectful culture and children are praised for using their manners.A well-established key-person system helps children form secure attachments. Relationships between babies and their key person are sensitively managed.

Staff find out about babies' likes and dislikes and adopt a flexible approach to induction visits. This helps babies to feel safe and secure.Staff support children and families to adopt a healthy diet and provide a range of opportunities to be physically active.

Children engage in wake and shake sessions daily and a specific area of the garden has been designed to support physical development.Children are encouraged to be independent when managing their own personal needs. The 'snuffle station' is used to support children with maintaining high levels of hygiene.

However, good practice is not always maintained when outside, which compromises the nursery's usual hygiene standards.Leaders provide strong leadership for the staff team. There is a strong focus on improving practitioners' knowledge.

Frequent opportunities for professional development and supervision support the staff in their knowledge and development.Engagement with parents is excellent. Parents are happy with the progress their children make and with the provision.

Staff work very well with parents to help them continue to support children's learning at home. For example, a library borrowing system was established to support reading at home. Parents compliment the setting on the support received during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Staff take their lead from children's interests. However, the environment is not always tailored to children's preferred learning styles and some children choose not to access some areas of provision. For example, staff provide limited opportunities for children to engage in early writing and mathematical activities in some areas, such as outside.

Consequently, staff do not consistently support children's learning in all areas of the nursery.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.Staff have a good knowledge of child protection issues and are clear about their role and responsibilities to safeguard children.

The manager and staff keep their safeguarding knowledge up to date. They know the signs that indicate a child may be at risk of harm and know how to report concerns. There are thorough recruitment and vetting procedures in place to ensure that all staff are suitable to work with children.

Staff carry out daily risk assessments to ensure that the environment is safe to use.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: make sure that the nursery's usual hygiene routines are maintained consistently when outside.review the way in which staff plan and use the environment to give children the best possible learning opportunities both indoors and outside.