Teeny tots Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children enter the inviting nursery with smiles on their faces. They soon settle to take part in their chosen activities. Staff develop good bonds with children and know them well. They quickly learn children's verbal and non-verbal cues, which helps staff to understand how children are feeling and supports their personal, social and emotional development. Leaders work diligently with staff, parents and other professionals, where needed, to plan individualised learning and provide specific support. This includes children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), who are provided with targeted plans of support to meet their developmental needs. This is proving effective in identifying and helping to bridge gaps in these children's learning.

Staff incorporate children's interests to help maximise learning opportunities. For example, dinosaur fossils are added to shaving foam. Children use brushes to find them, naturally making marks in the foam. This helps to develop the muscles in their hands for future writing skills. Children behave well and show consideration and kindness to their friends. Staff encourage children to share and take turns, using consistent and effective strategies to help them learn this skill. For example, a sand timer is used to help children understand when it is time to let their friends have a turn with a popular toy.

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

• Overall, staff support children's learning well. They use routine observations and planned assessments to determine what children need to learn next. However, at times, planned group activities are not adapted effectively enough to support the most-able children. This means that, at times, these children quickly lose interest and do not consistently benefit from the learning experiences.
• Supporting children's communication and language is a key feature of the nursery. Staff skilfully adapt their communication methods, dependent on children's ages and development stages. Children have opportunities to hear clearly spoken, repetitive language as staff narrate children's play. Staff understand children's non-verbal language, which helps all children to understand that their voice and opinions matter.
• Staff know the children in their care very well. This helps them to identify what children need to learn next, and how best to provide experiences to support this learning. They use children's interests and preferred learning styles to plan for their individual needs. For example, some children have developed a fascination with seeing how objects move. Staff have created a 'safe' throwing zone and ramps for rolling objects. Children learn about number order as they count forwards and backwards from three before throwing.
• Leaders and staff have identified a need to strengthen children's knowledge in early mathematics. However, effective strategies have not been put in place to support this area of development. Staff routinely count during everyday activities, but do not incorporate other mathematical ideas, for example volume, weight and measurement.
• Children are supported to understand how to keep themselves healthy and safe. For instance, staff promote healthy eating at snack times and provide parents with information on providing healthy lunch boxes. Children brush their teeth each day at nursery and are beginning to understand why this is important. Staff provide consistent boundaries and explain why these are in place. For example, why they need to go up the steps and down the slide.
• Children enjoy fresh air and exercise. They develop their balance and agility outside as they move along planks of wood and scramble over tyres and barrels. Children take part in weekly dance sessions, jumping and moving to the music. They engage in gardening activities, growing their own vegetables and harvesting them to eat and take home.
• The management team regularly looks at ways to make improvements to practice. They want to continue to develop the home-from-home support and strengthen the already good links with outside professionals to help all children thrive. The nursery promotes staff well-being and professional development. Most members of staff have been at the nursery for several years as they feel valued and supported. Supervision and appraisal meetings are used to identify staff's needs for training and support.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• plan adult-led activities more effectively to better support the most-able children, ensuring they remain engaged and extend their learning even further
• plan more opportunities for children to build on their mathematical skills during everyday play activities.