Teddy Towers

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are happy in the welcoming nursery. They show that they feel safe as they separate from their parents with ease, keen to start their day. Children choose from a wide range of exciting activities, indoors and outside. They are eager to learn, leading their own play and happily joining group activities. Children make good progress in their learning.

Leaders and staff plan experiences to link with topics that children are exploring. This helps give children's learning real-world context and helps to broaden and deepen their understanding. For example, children bubble with excitement as animals from a local farm come to visit. They carefully take llamas for a walk and watch in awe as hens and ducks lay eggs. Children learn about generational differences as they visit and chat with residents of a nearby care home. Children learn to become thoughtful and responsible citizens.

Routines are embedded and children understand the expectations of them. They listen carefully and follow instructions, behaving well. When children encounter frustrations, staff quickly notice and step in to help. There is a strong focus on helping children understand their emotions and the impact of their behaviour on others. As a result, children are kind and thoughtful. For instance, children hold their friends' hands as they move around the setting to help keep each other safe.

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

• Leaders and staff work well together to plan a broad curriculum, based on their knowledge of what children already know and can do. Monitoring of children's progress is regular and shared with parents. Gaps in children's learning are quickly identified and plans implemented to support their learning. Activities incorporate children's interests, and they make good progress in their learning.
• Staff support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities well. They understand their individual needs and work with other agencies to ensure support is in place. Parents praise staff for their sensitive support of children's specific needs. Children make progress from their individual starting points.
• Staff support the communication and language skills of older children well. Children enjoy stories and songs throughout the day. They join in with familiar rhymes and show a good understanding of their favourite stories. They are confident communicators. However, implementation of the curriculum for the youngest children is less effective. For instance, on occasion, babies experience fewer opportunities for songs and stories from some staff than their older peers. This may affect their ability to build the strongest possible early language skills from the youngest age.
• The curriculum for mathematics is sound. Children learn about number, shape and space. For instance, children talk about the shape and size of eggs. Children understand early mathematical concepts, such as 'one more' and 'one less'. This helps children build strong foundations for their future learning.
• Staff promote children's physical development well. Babies climb and slide on the equipment in their room and all children have daily opportunities to practise their physical skills outside. Children run around, weaving in and out of the trees. They dig in the soil, exclaiming in delight as they find worms there. Children's overall well-being is considered well.
• Staff help children build independence skills and learn healthy habits. For example, when making their own pizzas for lunch, children choose peppers and pineapple as toppings. Children develop key life skills which help them in readiness for their move on to school.
• Leaders and staff work hard to build strong relationships with parents. Parents comment on the informative communications from staff, updating them on their children's learning. Staff help parents extend children's learning at home. For instance, the lending library is well used, allowing parents and children to share books at home. This helps to promote consistency of care and learning for children.
• Leaders and staff work together to make continual improvements to the setting. They also seek out and consider the views of parents to make sure they feel involved. Staff supervisions and training are appropriate and help improve their knowledge and skills. This helps to continually improve the quality of education and care for children.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen implementation of the curriculum for the youngest children, particularly in relation to communication and language.