Busy Bees Day Nursery at St Albans Hatfield Road

Inspection of Busy Bees Day Nursery at St Albans Hatfield Road 601a Hatfield Road, Smallford, St. Albans, Hertfordshire AL4 0HL

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Overall effectiveness Outstanding

The quality of education Outstanding Behaviour and attitudes Outstanding Personal development Outstanding Leadership and management Outstanding Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Outstanding

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The provision is outstanding

Children flourish and thrive in this amazing nursery. They receive support from staff who nurture and encourage them. All children separate from their parents and carers happily and with ease. Older children self-register, choosing which coat peg to place their photo on. Younger children find their own belongings from their labelled pegs. This enables all children to have a sense of belonging from the time they start their journey at the nursery.

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The provision is outstanding

Children explore with awe and wonder in the inviting environment. Older children grate chalk and add it to a coffee pot, explaining that this is to make coffee. Babies find toy animals from a farm as staff sing 'Old Macdonald had a farm'. Children revisit previous learning to further embed their knowledge. For example, they look at a carrot top and can remember what vegetable it comes from and what they must do to remove it from the ground.

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The provision is outstanding

Babies enjoy a wide range of songs and rhymes. They sway back and forth during the singing. Older children retell stories they have previously heard. They use the book and props to aid their storytelling. This enables children to have excellent language and communication skills.

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need to do better?

n The centre director has a commitment to ensuring every child reaches their full potential while attending the nursery. She has a curriculum that ignites children's interest to explore and show curiosity in their environment. She uses her professional knowledge to adapt the curriculum, ensuring this continually meets the needs of the children. This enables all children to achieve and make exceptionally positive progress. n All staff show a great understanding of how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted on children's development. They are particularly aware of delays in language and communication. Staff use their knowledge of the children to provide suitable activities to support them. For example, staff have set up a book library to enable parents and children to access books on a regular basis. Parents feel this is particularly beneficial to their children. n The special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) has a clear passion for her

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need to do better?

role. She ensures that relevant paperwork shows a precise understanding of children's needs. Meetings take place with parents and other professionals to produce targets. The SENCo ensures that all staff understand the plans and targets. This ensures that all children make excellent progress. n Support for children who speak English as an additional language is exceptional. Staff show respect for all cultures. Children add their own photograph to flags from around the world to show which country their family originates from. All

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need to do better?

22 March 2023 children have a strong sense of belonging. n All children show superb concentration levels. Young children use their fine motor skills to add cereal hoops to sticks of uncooked spaghetti placed into dough. Staff sensitively adjust the activity when the children are ready to move on. They add leaves to the table and talk about hedgehogs. Children change what they are doing, snapping the spaghetti and making the dough into hedgehogs. n Babies experience a highly positive settling-in process. Parents spend time with the key person. This ensures that staff have all relevant information before the child attends. There are no limits set on how many sessions it should take for a child to settle. Staff see each child as unique and requiring an individual plan to enable a positive settling-in experience. n Parent partnership is a major strength of the nursery. Parents praise staff and talk about the exceptional progress their children make. They feel fully involved

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need to do better?

in the nursery through the parent-partnership group. Parents visit and share information about their own jobs. For example, dentists visit to talk about the importance of oral hygiene and cleaning teeth. n Staff feel valued by the centre director and state that her door is always open if they have any worries. The centre director meets regularly with staff as a team and individually. The staff team works highly effectively together. This helps to provide a first-class learning environment for the children.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

All staff have an extremely robust safeguarding knowledge. They are clear about recognising signs of abuse and their reporting procedures. Staff understand their responsibility in regard to the 'Prevent' duty and wider issues, such as county lines. They know precisely what to do if they have a concern about a colleague. The centre director employs new staff through a strict safer recruitment process. New staff complete an intensive induction. All staff update their personnel records regularly and checks are undertaken to ensure their continued suitability to work with children.

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Setting details

Unique reference number EY233068 Local authority Hertfordshire Inspection number 10280772 Type of provision Childcare on non-domestic premises Registers Early Years Register Day care type Full day care

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inspection

Total number of places 76 Number of children on roll 120 Name of registered person Busy Bees Nurseries Limited

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reference number

Telephone number 01727 833980 Date of previous inspection 15 August 2017

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Information about this early years setting

Busy Bees Day Nursery at St Albans Hatfield Road registered in 2001. The nursery employs 19 members of childcare staff. Of these, 16 staff hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 2 or above. This includes one member of staff with qualified teacher status. The nursery opens from Monday to Friday all year round, from 7am until 6.15pm. The nursery provides funded early education for two-, three- and four-year-old children.

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Inspection activities

n This was the first routine inspection the nursery received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The inspector discussed the impact of the pandemic with the provider and has taken that into account in their evaluation of the setting. n The centre director and inspector completed a learning walk together of all areas of the nursery and discussed the early years curriculum. n Children communicated with the inspector during the inspection. n The inspector talked to staff at appropriate times during the inspection and took account of their views. n The SENCo spoke to the inspector about how they support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. n The inspector observed the quality of education being provided, indoors and outdoors, and assessed the impact that this was having on children's learning. n The inspector observed the interactions between staff and children. n The inspector spoke to several parents during the inspection and took account of

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Inspection activities

their views. n The centre director showed the inspector documentation to demonstrate the suitability of staff.

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Inspection activities

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.

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Inspection activities

22 March 2023 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.

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Inspection activities

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Inspection activities

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Inspection activities

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