Bear's House Nursery

Inspection of Bear's House Nursery 19 Grantham Road, BRIGHTON BN1 6EE

p.1

Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

The quality of education Requires improvement Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Requires improvement Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Not applicable

p.1

The provision requires improvement

Children enjoy their time at this friendly, nurturing and warm nursery. They form positive bonds with the caring staff and overall engage busily in a wide range of stimulating and enjoyable experiences. However, children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) do not receive consistent support. Staff do not use effective strategies to support their learning and enable them to catch up quickly with their development.

p.2

The provision requires improvement

Despite this, most children are gaining the skills they need in preparation for school and benefit from positive teaching and interactions. Since joining a year ago, the ambitious manager has worked hard to make changes to the nursery. Children now benefit from a broad range of trips and experiences in their local community. For example, they regularly visit the residents of a nearby care home, where they sing, share stories and play together. This has helped develop their respect and consideration for others, and children consistently show kindness to their friends.

p.2

The provision requires improvement

Babies feel safe, secure and happy. They are very well supported and staff interact with them sensitively, calmly and positively. At times, however, staff do not make the best use of their interactions with older children to offer further challenge and fully extend their learning.

p.2

need to do better?

n The dedicated manager and enthusiastic staff work well as a team overall, and show a strong commitment to improving children's experiences. They have started to follow children's interests more closely and are more reactive to their ideas. They have also focused heavily on broadening children's experiences, in particular, their outdoor learning. Children now enjoy regular forest-school sessions, where they observe and investigate nature and construct and create with natural objects. n The manager works closely with professionals, such as speech and language therapists, to identify children who need additional support. However, she does not share enough information with staff about children with SEND. Some staff working with children do not have a good understanding of the strategies in place to meet their individual needs. Due to this, there are times when children with SEND are not supported effectively and their communication and language

p.2

need to do better?

development is impacted. They are not being supported to reach their full potential. n Staff are strong role models for children and sensitively teach them expected behaviour. Children behave well and develop good social skills. They play together happily and show positive friendships, such as when looking through books together and riding tandem bicycles in the garden. Staff focus on teaching

p.2

need to do better?

18 October 2019 children to understand and regulate their emotions through mindfulness sessions. These are having a positive impact on their emotional well-being. n Staff assess children closely and key people plan well for what children need to learn next. They provide a stimulating environment both indoors and outside, which encourages children's good motivation in their play and learning. Pre- school children enjoy painting, exploring textures and counting toy dinosaurs. Staff build on their ideas well. For example, during the inspection, they challenged children to find different colours, sizes and shapes of leaves, which they later used to create artwork. However, staff do not always make good use of their interactions with children to extend their learning. Occasionally, they ask questions that are too simple and interrupt children's focus and engagement in their play. n Staff working with babies provide a calm, relaxed and loving environment.

p.2

need to do better?

Babies confidently explore their surroundings and crawl, stand and walk from an early age. Staff consistently describe what they see, do and hear and babies learn and use new words quickly. They particularly enjoy imaginary play and enthusiastically act out real-life experiences, such as mixing ingredients and making meals. n The manager supports her staff well in their professional development and works closely with them. She observes their practice, holds regular supervision meetings and offers further training to build on their skills. Staff comment that they feel valued and supported in their role and that the working environment is positive. There is, however, more work to be done with staff to fully embed new learning and to raise the quality of teaching to consistently high levels.

p.3

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

p.3

Safeguarding

The manager fully understands the importance of keeping children safe. All staff have a thorough knowledge of the signs and symptoms that may indicate a child is at risk of harm. They know who to contact if there are any concerns about a child's welfare. The manager ensures that she and all the staff keep their training up to date, including about wider safeguarding issues, such as the 'Prevent' duty.

p.3

Due date

18 October 2019 ensure that staff working with children with SEND have a good understanding of the individual plans and strategies in place to enable them to consistently meet children's needs. 30/11/2019

p.3

should:

n make the most of staff interactions with children to offer further challenge and extend children's learning fully n continue to support staff to develop their practice and skills to target and achieve consistently high levels of teaching.

p.4

Setting details

Unique reference number EY552028 Local authority Brighton and Hove Inspection number 10127006 Type of provision Childcare on non-domestic premises

p.5

Registers

Early Years Register, Compulsory Childcare Register, Voluntary Childcare Register Day care type Full day care Age range of children 0 to 4 Total number of places 40 Number of children on roll 37 Name of registered person Early Beginnings Nurseries Limited

p.5

reference number

Telephone number 01273 561100 Date of previous inspection Not applicable

p.5

Information about this early years setting

Bear's House Nursery re-registered in 2017 and is situated in Brighton, East Sussex. It is open from 7.30am to 6pm on Monday to Friday for 51 weeks of the year. The nursery employs seven members of childcare staff. Of these, six hold appropriate qualifications between level 2 and level 6. The nursery is in receipt of funding to provide free early education for two-, three- and four-year-old children.

p.5

Inspection activities

n The inspector observed children's play and assessed the impact of staff teaching. n The inspector was given a tour of the nursery by the manager and carried out a learning walk to discuss the curriculum. n The manager and the inspector discussed the play activities and children's learning during the inspection and undertook a joint observation of an activity. n The inspector took into account the views and opinions of the children and parents during the inspection.

p.5

Inspection activities

18 October 2019 We carried out this inspection 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.

p.5

Inspection activities

18 October 2019 regulates and inspects to 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 and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, 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, safeguarding and child protection.

p.6

Inspection activities

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

p.7

Inspection activities

You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/ , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk

p.7

Inspection activities

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.7

Inspection activities

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.7