Little Twinkles Childcare

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive with a smile, excited for the day ahead. They hang their own bags and coats up. Children take their shoes off before they complete self-registration. They confidently greet practitioners and go to explore their environment. They develop the skills they need for their move to school. Babies reach out to their key person when they see them. Practitioners are extremely passionate and very enthusiastic. They get to know all children very well. This helps children to form strong attachments with all practitioners. Children are ready to learn.

Practitioners use positive language and good manners consistently, always talking calmly. Children copy this behaviour, such as by saying, 'Excuse me', when they want their key person's attention. Staff teach children the importance of manners. Children share resources with their friends and learn to take turns. Older children provide encouragement to younger children. They hold their hand when they take risks jumping off crates. They excitedly encourage their friends to climb, saying, 'You are nearly at the top.' Children's laughter and excitement can be heard throughout the setting. Staff support them to develop social skills to form very positive friendships.

Practitioners support children to gain a deep understanding of the world around them. They take children to visit places of interest, such as hospitals, the coast and the foodbank. Practitioners teach them about people that help them. Children transfer their learning and create a seaside resort in the play shed. They develop their imaginations as they pretend to sell ice creams. Staff teach children about different forms of transport, such as when they travel by bus, rail and tram. They explore cultural and religious events with children. For instance, children eat at a Chinese restaurant. Practitioners encourage children to talk about members of their own family. Children gain a deep understanding about the similarities and differences between themselves and their friends.

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

• Practitioners use all opportunities to develop and extend children's communication and language. They complete thorough speech and language assessments on every child when they start. Practitioners provide targeted intervention. This results in children understanding language and words they hear before they use them to talk. Practitioners teach children words and their concepts from a young age, such as 'in', 'under', 'on', 'above', 'below', 'more' and 'less'. Staff teach children about the words for plurals, for instance, 'foot' and 'feet' and 'person' and 'people'. All children make excellent progress.
• Practitioners teach with passion, energy and purpose. Their interactions with children are of a very high quality. Practitioners actively listen to children and observe their non-verbal communication. This results in them asking thoughtful questions for children to describe their play. Children reply with detailed responses. Practitioners support children's language development and critical thinking extremely well.
• Children have exciting opportunities for physical play. Practitioners hold babies' hands lower than their heads to support their walking. Babies take a few steps, then stop. They look to their key person, waiting for them to clap, giggling as they do this. Practitioners teach children the skills to climb. They support children to position themselves using feet and hand holes on a climbing frame. Children pull themselves up to the top, developing their core muscle strength. Children excitedly arrange planks, crates and tyres to make bridges. Practitioners teach children about risk as they walk across them.
• Practitioners consistently plan a curriculum that builds precisely on children's knowledge and skills. They plan activities that are enticing to children. Practitioners are skilled in adapting them to children's age and stage of development. For example, when older children use their fingers to make marks in sand, practitioners give younger children cars to create patterns with their wheels. Children strengthen their small muscles and develop their hand-eye coordination and concentration.
• Managers provide extensive training to support practitioners' knowledge and enhance their practice. Practitioners observe children's behaviours for patterns in activities. This helps them to understand children's play better and to provide appropriately for each individual child. For example, when children show behaviours of connecting in their play, practitioners support this through teaching children the sequence of open and closing doors. Children have lots of opportunities to repeat and practise different actions. This helps their brain development and learning as they grow and develop.
• Partnership working is outstanding. The setting has strong links with schools and a wide selection of professionals to support children's continuity of care, such as early help, occupational therapy, health and inclusion teams. Practitioners provide fun activities to support children's learning at home. They share strategies to support children's behaviour and resources for visual learning. This ensures consistency in children's social development. Parents' and carers' feedback is excellent.