TeesActive Ltd Childcare

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The nursery provides an exceptionally nurturing environment where children's well-being is a priority. There is a strong focus on helping children to be confident and capable and to develop resilience. Staff build strong, trusting relationships with children and respond sensitively to their individual and diverse needs. Older children show a strong sense of belonging and play confidently and happily with their friends. Those who are new to the setting very quickly grow in confidence under attentive and personalised care from consistent, familiar staff. Interactions are warm and help children to feel safe and secure.

The curriculum is highly responsive and carefully sequenced. Staff have high aspirations for every child. They use information from comprehensive assessments to focus their teaching closely on what children need to learn next. They skilfully adapt their approach to match individual learning needs. This helps to ensure that every child is fully supported to make sustained and, for some children, rapid progress. Children experience a balance of adult-led learning and opportunities to lead their own play. Staff skilfully encourage them to explore, create and solve problems. Children develop a love of learning. They are motivated, eager and curious. They develop very positive attitudes that prepare them well for later learning.

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

• Leaders are rigorous in their approach. Staff receive timely and effective support that further sharpens their practice. They contribute to in-depth evaluations of care and learning, and areas for improvement are swiftly addressed. The whole team reflect at the end of each day, identifying what went well and how this can be built upon. This continuous cycle of reflection and action contributes significantly to the outstanding quality of care and education in this nursery.
• Children start nursery with a wide range of starting points. From the outset, staff identify priorities for children's learning and swiftly plan precise ways to help them to achieve. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities benefit from strong support. Staff adapt routines and activities to children's precise needs, which helps them to be fully included in nursery life and build skills quickly. All children access high-quality education that significantly supports their progress.
• Staff support children's developing language skills particularly well. They encourage children to engage in conversations, ask questions and listen, both in small groups and during play. Books and songs are carefully chosen to introduce new words in context, which helps children to understand and remember them. Children who are in the early stages of communication development benefit from targeted support, such as signs and visual cues, to help them to participate as fully as possible.
• Activities are based on children's interests and have clear learning objectives that support progress across all areas of development. Staff know children exceptionally well and consistently shape learning to help them build on their skills and remember more. For example, they thread numbers up to five throughout activities to reinforce early number recognition and counting. They model skills, such as using scissors, and challenge children to try new techniques to extend their dexterity and precision.
• There is a strong emphasis on helping children to understand what is right and fair. Carefully planned games help children to practise turn-taking and to work alongside others. During daily routines, staff encourage children to be as independent as possible. They set clear expectations and guide children to understand how to look after themselves and show care for those around them. Children learn what makes them unique and to respect the differences between themselves and others.
• Children respond positively to consistent and familiar routines and staff's clear expectations. Staff actively teach emotional regulation. They initially help children to name their feelings, and children then develop an increasing understanding of how to manage them. They boost children's self-esteem, for example offering a 'super duper high five' when they complete a task. Children are proud of who they are and develop positive relationships with others.
• Partnerships with parents and other professionals are exceptionally strong and underpin a cohesive approach to children's care and education. Parents are fully involved through daily conversations and regular updates, and they help to plan for their children. When children need additional support, leaders work closely with other agencies. They build strong professional networks that secure timely interventions. This helps to ensure that all children have the very best opportunities to thrive.