Teepee Childcare Lytham Road

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff create a warm and welcoming environment for children. Staff work with parents from the outset and plan individualised settling-in procedures for new starters. This allows children to become familiar with their environment and their key person. Staff are knowledgeable, and they give children practical and emotional support. They are close at hand to offer cuddles and reassurance if necessary. This helps children build trusting bonds with the staff and to feel safe and secure.

Staff are good role models, and they manage children's behaviour effectively, overall. They create rules with the children, and these are implemented across the whole nursery. They fully explain the impact any unwanted behaviour has on others. Staff support younger children in sharing and taking turns and older children in listening and resolving minor conflicts. Children's behaviour is good.

Overall, staff plan a well-designed, sequenced curriculum to ensure that children make progress. Staff are enthusiastic and continually strive to meet the needs of children and their families. Effective ongoing assessments ensure that any areas for development are swiftly identified and appropriate support is provided. Consequently, all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), are prepared for their next stage of learning.

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

• Staff prioritise communication and language development in their curriculum. A wide range of teaching methods, such as basic sign language and objects, are used alongside spoken words. For instance, babies enjoy singing songs and clapping hands as they develop an understanding of rhythm and rhyme. In addition, staff skilfully introduce new words such as 'flow' and 'pressure' as they narrate older children's play. All children are continually developing their communication and language skills.
• Children with SEND are well supported. Staff work closely with a range of external professionals, recognising the importance of partnership working. They access targeted training and further advice to support children. Therefore, children with SEND receive the personalised support they need to make good progress alongside their friends.
• Partnerships with parents are strong. An effective key-person system ensures that the staff know the children well. They invest time in getting to know the children and their families before they attend. Parents speak highly about the friendly, welcoming staff and the excellent progress that their children make in their development.
• Staff begin to promote children's independence and to understand personal hygiene practices. For example, they support children to wash their hands before mealtimes and after they have used the toilet. However, when staff wipe children's noses, they do not always give them the opportunity to 'have a go' themselves or explain the importance of personal hygiene. Furthermore, staff are not consistent with handwashing after managing children's personal needs. This means that, at times, children do not receive consistent messages about effective practices that support their good health.
• Generally, children show positive attitudes to learning through high levels of curiosity and engagement. They listen and respond well to adults and each other. However, occasionally, the routine of the day means that during some times between activities, children are left waiting for long periods. Children lose focus and become distracted, and this impacts the otherwise good behaviour displayed.
• Staff support children's physical skills well, overall. They support babies to develop their early mobility skills. They develop their strength and balance as they learn to sit up unaided and manoeuvre around the furniture. However, staff do not consistently plan the curriculum for physical development well enough, particularly in the outdoor area, to build on what children already know and can do.
• Overall, leadership and management is good. Staff feel well supported within the nursery. They work collaboratively to provide advice and feedback to each other. Staff receive regular supervision sessions and appraisals where they can discuss their own professional development and training needs. However, the provider has failed to notify Ofsted of a change in managers. Leaders acknowledge this was an oversight, and they are now fully aware of their duty to notify Ofsted in the future. This does not impact on children.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen hygiene practices to help children to develop a deeper understanding of how to support their good health
• support staff to consistently manage times between activities more effectively to ensure that all children remain engaged in their learning
• develop staff's understanding of how to plan purposeful learning opportunities in the outdoor provision consistently to support children's knowledge and skills.