Hidden Garden Day Nursery, Oak Tree

Inspection of Oak Tree Day Nursery Bath Spa University, Newton Park, Newton St. Loe, Bath BA2 9BN

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Overall effectiveness Good

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

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The provision is good

Children enter this welcoming nursery happily and settle easily on arrival. They respond very positively to the friendly, caring staff. Children move around the play areas confidently and show as content and comfortable in the nursery. Children learn to behave very well. They interact positively with their friends and play cooperatively. They show kindness to others, such as when they pass a cuddly toy to a friend for them to hold. Children get to know the established boundaries that help them feel secure and know what will happen next.

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The provision is good

Staff get to know children well and use their knowledge effectively overall to provide a broad curriculum based on children's interests and learning needs. They plan a variety of activities to encourage children's early mark-making skills. For example, babies push cars through brightly coloured paint and make tracks. Toddlers push their hands through shaving foam and look with interest at the lines and squiggles they make with their fingers. Pre-school children use chalks to draw lines and circles on the outdoor playground. Children enjoy their play and make good progress overall.

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need to do better?

n The provider supports staff well to work as a team and continue with their professional development. For example, staff have raised their awareness of activities to provide to promote the younger children's learning. They have also completed leadership training that helps them recognise how they can support each other's practice in different ways. n Staff promote children's personal development effectively, such as through the established daily routines to support their self-care skills. They help children understand why it is important to wash their hands before eating or after playing outdoors to get rid of any germs. Children develop good independence skills from a young age. Toddlers try hard to do up their coats and put on their boots to go outdoors. Pre-school children know where to store their belongings. Staff encourage children's mobility and provide good opportunities for them to exercise. For example, children like to practise different yoga poses. Toddlers

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need to do better?

gain confidence standing on a balancing beam. Babies lie comfortably under an activity gym and start to reach up for the colourful toys hanging above them. n Staff observe and monitor children's progress and identify what they need to learn next. They focus on children's next steps of learning within planned activities and provide them with good support to achieve overall. However, at times, staff do not organise some group activities, such as circle times, to encourage all children's participation as well as possible. For example, most children enjoy singing and they listen to a favourite story. Staff recognise when children are getting restless and finish the activity. However, they do not fully

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need to do better?

21 February 2025 consider alternative ways to help children stay engaged and sustain all children's attention consistently well. n Children learn to understand and manage their feelings safely. Staff are consistent in their approach to supporting children's behaviour. They talk with children about their emotions and use related resources, such as stories, to help them learn how to think about their actions and use 'kind hands' with their friends. n Staff support children's communication well. For example, they reinforce the sounds babies make and repeat words to encourage toddlers to start putting two- and three-word sentences together. Staff ask children questions to extend their vocabulary and help them become confident in using words to describe their ideas. Pre-school children become absorbed mixing shaving foam and paint together and say, 'It feels soft and slimey and is a silver/black colour.' They tell

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need to do better?

staff they have found a 'special cog' hidden in the sandpit. n Parents give positive comments about staff. They say their children love going to nursery and staff keep them well informed of their children's daily activities and personal care. Staff share ideas with parents for activities to do at home with their children and provide continuity for children's next steps of learning. However, staff have not considered gathering further information about children's existing developmental skills at registration, for example, to help them plan activities that are more focused on supporting children's individual learning right from the start. n Children begin to develop their imaginations well within their play. Pre-school children like to mix sand into a pot and tell staff they have made a 'cranberry sorbet'. They cuddle their dolls and tuck them up in a cot. Toddlers like to act out experiences they have seen and help staff sweep the floor using a small

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

There is an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts children's interests first.

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should:

n strengthen staff's awareness of ways to adapt their teaching and the organisation of group activities to help all children stay focused and engaged consistently well n gather more information from parents at registration to enable staff to plan activities more securely based on children's existing skills and starting points on entry.

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Setting details

Unique reference number 2704571 Local authority Bath and North East Somerset Council Inspection number 10372432 Type of provision Childcare on non-domestic premises

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Registers

Early Years Register, Compulsory Childcare Register Day care type Full day care

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inspection

Total number of places 40 Number of children on roll 72 Name of registered person Buttercup Barn Day Nursery Ltd

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reference number

Telephone number 01225 875780 Date of previous inspection Not applicable

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Information about this early years setting

Oak Tree Day Nursery registered in 2022. It operates from premises sited on the campus of Bath Spa University and is one of four nurseries registered by the same provider. It is open Monday to Friday, from 7.30am until 6pm, all year round. There are 16 staff employed, including the nursery housekeeper. Of these, 12 hold relevant early years qualifications from level 2 to early years teacher status. The setting receives government funding.

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Inspection activities

n The inspector and the manager undertook a learning walk and discussed their curriculum and what they want children to learn. n The inspector observed children's interactions in play indoors and outdoors and had discussions with staff about children's learning and next steps of development. n The inspector viewed a sample of documentation, such as records of suitability for staff and safeguarding records. n The inspector and the manager completed two joint observations of children's activities and discussed the quality of education provided. n The inspector took into account the written and spoken views of parents.

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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

21 February 2025 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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Inspection activities

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