Busy Bees Day Nursery at St Albans Bernard Street

Busy Bees at Bernard Street 52 Bernard Street, St. Albans, Hertfordshire, AL3 5QN

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 03/07/2013 28/05/2009

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early years provision

This inspection: 1 Previous inspection: 2 How well the early years provision meets the needs of the range of children who attend The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children 1 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 1

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This provision is outstanding

 Children are enthusiastic and eager to participate in nursery activities. This is because the staff provide rich and imaginative experiences based on comprehensive observations and assessments of children and a detailed knowledge of what each child knows and can do.  Children make outstanding progress because they are provided with a delightful range of interesting and challenging activities, which are firmly based on the meticulous tracking of their individual abilities and interests.  Children have formed extremely secure emotional attachments to the staff, which provides them with a firm base from which to develop their independence and explore the world around them.  Staff give the highest priority to ensure that all children are safeguarded. They are fully aware of their individual responsibilities to protect children from harm and they quickly identify and successfully minimise any potential risks to children.

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Information about this inspection

Inspections of registered early years provision are:  scheduled at least once in every inspection cycle – the current cycle ends on 31 July

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Information about this inspection

 scheduled more frequently where Ofsted identifies a need to do so, for example where provision was previously judged inadequate  brought forward in the inspection cycle where Ofsted has received information that suggests the provision may not be meeting the legal requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage or where assessment of the provision identifies a need for early inspection  prioritised where we have received information that the provision is not meeting the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage and which suggests children may not be safe  scheduled at the completion of an investigation into failure to comply with the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector observed staff and children interacting in activities in the three main play areas and outside.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector held a meeting with the manager and area manager, talked to staff and key persons and carried out a joint observation of an adult led activity.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at various documents, including policies and procedures, children's records, evidence of the suitability of staff and safeguarding procedures.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector took account of the views of three parents spoken to on the day of the inspection.

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Information about the setting

Busy Bees at Bernard Street was registered in 1991 on the Early Years Register. It is situated in a purpose built premises in Saint Albans, Hertfordshire, and is managed by Busy Bees Nurseries Limited. The nursery serves the local area and is accessible to all children. It operates from three main rooms and there are fully enclosed areas available for outdoor play.

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Information about the setting

The nursery employs 16 members of staff. Of these, 10 hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 3. The nursery opens Monday to Friday all year round with the exception of public holidays. Sessions are from 7.15am until 6.45pm. Children attend for a variety of sessions. There are currently 84 children attending who are in the early years age group. The nursery provides funded early education for two-, three- and four-year-old children. It supports a number of children who speak English as an additional language and children with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

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To further improve the quality of the early years provision the provider should:

 continue to build on the excellent opportunities for children to access the stimulating and easily reached range of resources outside.

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who attend

Children thrive and are very motivated to learn in this extremely high quality nursery. Staff display excellent skills and knowledge of the learning and development requirements and they have a clear understanding of how children learn. The exciting, stimulating and extremely well organised indoor environment ensures that all children make rapid progress towards the early learning goals. Children are busy and the atmosphere is exciting. The children are keen, active learners and show high levels of confidence as they choose activities and resources while they explore and expand their play.

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who attend

Older children display high levels of concentration and interest as they describe and share items from their 'Chatterbox'. Children sit and listen to their peers and carefully look at favourite toys and children's holiday photographs. They are supported by highly skilled staff who sensitively encourage children to talk about their special item that they have chosen to bring in from home and share. Children of all ages are making excellent progress in the prime areas of learning. Communication is highly prioritised by staff. This results in children of all ages communicating well. Babies are sung to and chatted to; their expressions, gestures and gurgles are acknowledged by staff as communication. Children who speak English as an additional language are supported by very good partnerships with parents, ensuring that familiar words and phrases in their first language are known and displayed for reference. This ensures that all staff can understand and respond.

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who attend

Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are also very well supported in their communication. Staff expertly create fun activities, which incorporate speaking and pronunciation. For example, 'Mr Tongue' is a speech therapy exercise, which staff have made into a fun group activity to include every child who wants to join in. This also enables the children for whom the exercise is designed, not to feel different or excluded. Children's personal, social and emotional development is outstanding. Babies learn to be independent as they feed themselves and wipe their own faces. Toddlers help by giving the babies a wipe and by putting them in the bin when finished. They are always praised for their attempts and efforts, which give them a sense of pride in their achievements.

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who attend

Older children are very well prepared for school as they join the 'Academy'. Their skills and understanding are honed in readiness for school. For example, they serve the other children's lunch, take books home as part of a library service, and have the opportunity to dress up in school uniforms from local schools.

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who attend

Assessments for all children are clear, precise and sharply focused and include contributions from all those involved in each child's learning. They are based on staff's comprehensive knowledge of the children and their families and a successful system for tracking and analysing children's learning and progress. As a result, staff provide vibrant and exciting tailored experiences and challenges for children. This results in children making excellent progress in relation to their starting points. This ensures that any children who are, or could possibly fall below their expected levels of development, are identified quickly. They receive targeted support and appropriate intervention if necessary. Detailed recording and monitoring clearly shows that any gaps in children's learning are closing rapidly.

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who attend

Very good partnerships with parents ensure that assessing children's starting points and monitoring their ongoing progress is a shared process. Parents are fully involved in extending learning at home. Parents are informed of what the children have been doing and are included in plans for their next steps. Babies have daily diaries, shared between key persons and parents, with detailed care and welfare information and their achievements and milestones. Older children choose books from the library to share at home and choose items from home to talk about in their 'Chatterbox' activity.

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who attend

The outdoor environment is freely accessible and enables children of all ages to have freedom to explore, be physically active and have first-hand experiences of the changing seasons and weather. Children have daily opportunities to develop their large muscle control and coordination as they climb, run, slide and balance. Babies are supported in developing their small muscle control and skills by exploring objects they can feel, pull, push, squeeze and move. There are excellent opportunities for children to choose resources in the outdoor area. which can be built on to extend their range and accessibility even further.

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The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children

Children are happy and confident and they thrive in this vibrant nursery. They have formed very close bonds and attachments with each other and their key person. This is because staff are highly skilled in gaining a detailed understanding of the individual needs of each of the children in their care. Key persons provide a nurturing approach to reassure all children and parents when they first start. This results in children settling quickly and showing they are happy as they eagerly explore and investigate. Babies smile and gurgle as they reach out to a familiar face; older children freely hug staff and climb onto their laps for a story and a cuddle.

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The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children

Highly effective procedures and skilled key persons ensure that children are extremely well prepared for the next stage in their learning. Prior to starting at the setting, parents and children visit and meet their allocated key person. Staff effectively use this opportunity to find out all about the children from their parents and to begin to build positive relationships with the children and their families. Parents comment that they feel they are well informed and involved in all aspect of their children's welfare, learning and development. They comment that their views are valued and their children are very happy, often wanting to stay a bit longer.

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The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children

Excellent use is made of the 'Academy' for children who are moving onto full-time school. This is a set of carefully planned activities specifically to ensure that all children are ready for school. Babies and toddlers are very well supported when moving to their next stage within the nursery. Parents and key workers decide together when the children are ready, and staff, wherever possible, move children with another familiar child or friend. 'Friendship buddies' from the older group help introduce children to the room and resources. The transition will only become permanent when the children are comfortable.

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The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children

Children show a very good awareness of their personal safety. For example, they are taught how to use cutlery at meal times and how to use all equipment safely. Their behaviour is very good and even two year olds show awareness of the safety of their friends as they share paint, brushes and paper, moving round the easel without daubing each other with paint. Children's behaviour is excellent due to consistent management methods known and practised by each member of staff. This gives children a clear and dependable message about behaving safely and responsibly while having fun.

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The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children

Children show an exemplary understanding of good hygiene procedures. As they explore and feel the snail in the garden, children discuss washing their hands and they show how they vigorously rub their hands saying 'rub a dub dub'. Children enjoy a wealth of nutritious snacks and meals. Their individual dietary needs are known by all staff and robust procedures are in place to ensure that children are provided with meals containing appropriate ingredients that meet their individual requirements. Babies are supported with their individual weaning programme because staff work extremely closely with parents to ensure continuity of their dietary needs and routines. Children learn about the need for healthy food and fresh air and the effects of exercise on their bodies as they participate in 'Wake and Shake' activities and have free flow access to outdoor activities. Each playroom has a cosy area where children can rest and a sleep area for those children who want a

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The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children

Children show their excellent developing independence and social skills as they help each other with tasks. For example, they give out plates, spoons and cutlery at mealtimes, pour their own drinks and serve their own food. These are social occasions when staff encourage children to chat with friends and staff about their home and family and interests.

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The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children

The excellent professional partnerships between all adults and professionals in the children's lives, enhances children's well-being. This results in children being confident and capable of embracing new challenges in their life.

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provision

The safeguarding of children is of high priority. Extremely robust procedures, risk assessments and vigilance protect children. Any accidents, incidents, possible risks and any complaints are addressed promptly and thoroughly recorded. Every member of staff has received training on how to safeguard children and they have a detailed knowledge of the procedures to follow should there be a concern about a child. All staff are clear about their fundamental role and responsibility to protect children. They take swift action to minimise any potential hazards ensuring children are safe in the nursery. This results in children enjoying the freedom to explore, to choose and have fun in a safe environment.

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provision

Highly robust procedures are in place for employing staff and checking their suitability to work with children. Staff are regularly observed by the manager to ensure their practice is of high quality at all times. This enables the manager to identify the strengths and weaknesses of staff practice. Staff are rewarded by an employee of the month award and they are supported to improve their practice through professional development training. Peer observations are consistently undertaken to help staff to share knowledge and expertise and learn from each other. High quality systems for professional supervision are in place, which are based on staff appraisals and discussions during one-to-one meetings with the manager.

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provision

Highly effective partnerships between the nursery, parents and external agencies ensure that children's needs are quickly identified and exceedingly well met. These partnerships have resulted in the sharing of accurate information about the children and a cooperative response in successfully supporting all children to achieve.

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provision

The monitoring of the nursery's outstanding implementation of the learning and development requirements is constant and consistent. Improvements since the last inspection have resulted in the full involvement of parents in the assessments of children. Also in improved opportunities for children to make marks and explore early writing skills in all areas of play, indoors and outside. The nursery has established a very effective self- evaluation process, taking into account the views of all staff, parents and children. This information is meticulously organised to form action plans and implement improvements, which supports the nursery's strong drive for continuing excellence.

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Grade Judgement Description

Grade 1 Outstanding Outstanding provision is highly effective in meeting the needs of all children exceptionally well. This ensures that children are very well prepared for the next stage of their learning. Grade 2 Good Good provision is effective in delivering provision that meets the needs of all children well. This ensures children are ready for the next stage of their learning. Grade 3 Satisfactory Satisfactory provision is performing less well than expectations in one or more of the key areas. It requires improvement in order to be good. Grade 4 Inadequate Provision that is inadequate requires significant improvement and/or enforcement action. The provision is failing to give children an acceptable standard of early years education and/or is not meeting the safeguarding and welfare requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. It will be inspected again within 12 months of the date of this inspection.

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Grade Judgement Description

Met The provision has no children on roll. The inspection judgement is that the provider continues to meet the requirements for registration. Not met The provision has no children on roll. The inspection judgement is that the provider does not meet the requirements for registration.

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Inspection

This inspection was carried out by Ofsted under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 on the quality and standards of provision that is registered on the Early Years Register. The registered person must ensure that this provision complies with the statutory framework for children’s learning, development and care, known as the Early Years Foundation Stage.

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Setting details

Unique reference number 123546 Local authority Hertfordshire Inspection number 915177

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 5 Total number of places 50 Number of children on roll 84 Name of provider Busy Bees Nurseries Limited Date of previous inspection 28/05/2009 Telephone number 01727 860542

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Type of provision

set out in the guidance ‘Complaints procedure: raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted’, which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk.

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Type of provision

For the purposes of this inspection the following definitions apply:

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Type of provision

Full-time provision is that which operates for more than three hours. These are usually known as nurseries, nursery schools and pre-schools and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage. They are registered on the Early Years Register and pay the higher fee for registration.

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Type of provision

Sessional provision operates for more than two hours but does not exceed three hours in any one day. These are usually known as pre-schools, kindergartens or nursery schools and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage. They are registered on the Early Years Register and pay the lower fee for registration.

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Type of provision

Childminders care for one or more children where individual children attend for a period of more than two hours in any one day. They operate from domestic premises, which are usually the childminder’s own home. They are registered on the Early Years Register and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage.

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Type of provision

Out of school provision may be sessional or full-time provision and is delivered before or after school and/or in the summer holidays. They are registered on the Early Years Register and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage. Where children receive their Early Years Foundation Stage in school these providers do not have to deliver the learning and development requirements in full but should complement the experiences children receive in school. achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, work-based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children,

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Type of provision

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Type of provision

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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