Tatton Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff build strong bonds with children. They have a superb knowledge of children's likes and dislikes and their individual stages of development. Staff are exceptionally kind and nurturing, creating an environment where everybody feels valued and cared for. Staff provide children with consistent praise and encouragement. Children's faces light up with delight as staff tell them the things they have done well. Children are highly motivated to learn and engage in activities for extended periods of time. They demonstrate excellent attitudes towards their learning.

Staff are highly effective in their interactions with children and provide an ambitious curriculum. They provide children with the skills that they need in order to do things for themselves. They help children work out how to find the end of the tape so that they can find it for themselves in the future. Children chop their own fruit, pour their own drinks and clear away their pots when they have finished. Children are highly confident in undertaking tasks for themselves.

Staff provide excellent support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Managers and staff are overwhelmingly committed to giving children the individual support they need. They liaise closely with other professionals to help children in the most effective ways. The swift interventions mean children's care and learning needs are fully addressed.

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

• Leaders and staff are passionate about providing a high-quality service for children and their families. They undertake a wealth of professional development activities. They continuously reflect on their practice and improve their teaching skills, the environment and the curriculum. Children consistently benefit from high-quality experiences.
• Leaders and staff have excellent knowledge and understanding of how children learn and develop. They use this superb knowledge to plan a broad range of purposeful experiences that focus closely on the knowledge and skills that children need to learn next. All children make rapid progress in their learning and development and are very well prepared for their next stage in learning.
• Staff provide an inspirational curriculum to support children's personal, social and emotional development. Children have a dedicated area where they can cuddle bears, read stories about how they feel and have a relaxing time. Children participate in mindful activities like yoga where they demonstrate peaceful bodies and minds. Children are calm, understand how they feel and can express their emotions using their well-developed vocabulary.
• Staff are highly effective at supporting children's communication and language skills. They create a language-rich environment with activities such as stories, singing and role play. Children are exposed to new language, engage in conversations, ask questions and share their thoughts.
• Staff provide an abundance of experiences to support children's physical development. Children practise toppling over on a cushioned mat. This is always available for them to go back to and try again. Children balance along beams indoors developing their stability and use spades to dig in the garden helping to build their strength. They use control to make creations out of dough, such as horses, with all the features of the legs and ears. The wealth of opportunities not only help them to learn new physical skills, but also deepens and reinforces their existing knowledge, meaning they constantly develop in a stimulating environment.
• Partnerships with parents are excellent. Parents are an integral part of the nursery. They attend stay and play sessions where they talk about children's learning. Parents share with staff children's achievements at home and new language that children have learned. Parents take home books that are wrapped as a surprise to intrigue children. Parents and staff work closely together to help children develop their next steps in learning. Children thrive and reap the benefits from the collaborative approach, consistent support and shared goals.
• Staff provide a very well-planned environment that supports all children to develop in a sequential way. For example, children play with letters in a tray, younger children match the same letters together, some children find the first letter for their name and older children use the letters to make their full name. Children show exceptional confidence in their literacy knowledge and have a solid foundation for future learning.
• There is an exceptional educational programme, which helps children to demonstrate high levels of respect for each other. Older children help younger children to undertake tasks without being asked. Children make comments about how they have been kind to their friends. Children have the knowledge and skills that they need to interact with others consistently in a positive way.