The Teepee Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

In this highly inclusive and inviting environment, children flourish. Staff and leaders dedicate themselves to valuing and understanding each child's needs. They plan an ambitious and sequenced curriculum that provides a challenge to extend and build on children's current skills and learning. Staff use assessment effectively to review learning and have high expectations of what children can achieve.

Children engage and focus for extended periods of time in their chosen play. They show a positive attitude towards their learning and behaviour. Staff focus on and engage in play with the children, modelling positive behaviour through their purposeful interactions. Children know and understand the routines and the room rules. They talk about these with each other and staff. Staff provide excellent teaching and communicate using a wide and varied vocabulary that supports children's communication and language development.

Staff build strong bonds with children that supports their personal, social and emotional development. Children show they are confident and secure in the setting as they quickly join friends and staff in activities.

Children develop excellent physical skills as they explore a range of activities that support fine and gross motor skills. Children learn to walk, climb and balance in a large garden space where they enjoy dance groups learning to move their bodies and listen to the rhythm of music and copy this in their movement. Staff enthusiastically join children in moving their bodies to the music.

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

• Leaders go above and beyond the expected. They are highly successful at working with parents, staff and children to create rich-learning experiences that promote children's learning and development. Staff skilfully build on children's next steps to help them gain a deep understanding of the world around them and promote their sense of self. Children learn about their bodies and healthy lifestyles, exploring and developing their knowledge of where food comes from. They engage in planning and preparing vegetables for the meals and snacks within the setting.
• Children have a wealth of opportunities to develop their skills and interests. Staff present information clearly to children. They engage and encourage discussion that is age and stage appropriate about what it is they are teaching the children. They communicate incredibly well using a range of communication and language strategies to secure children's communication and language skills. For example, staff use Makaton alongside verbal communication. Children are skilled in communicating in Makaton and have exceptional language skills.
• Leaders and staff know the children and families incredibly well. Regular meetings and discussions with parents help staff to extend and challenge children's learning and development. For example, staff plan focused weeks for their key children. They consult with parents about their children's current interests and current progress. They work together to create targeted teaching that builds on and extends children's skills. Parents and staff openly share activities that children have enjoyed and how these are continued in the home.
• Children show consistently high levels of respect for each other and the adults who care for them. They are socially and emotionally confident. Children understand the rules and expectations of their behaviour especially well. This is modelled by staff in how they interact and engage positively with the children. Children know and understand how their actions have an impact on others. As a result, they are kind and caring towards each other in their play. Children are highly motivated and are keen to join in sharing and cooperating in their play.
• Staff teach children how to keep safe. For example, children are encouraged and invited to take part in completing risk assessments for the garden. They have lists and tick off all the areas they have checked. They identify risks and talk with staff about how they can remove the risks. Staff support children's skills in problem-solving through effective interactions. Additionally, if children have an accident, they can complete their own accident forms where they report where they hurt and talk about what happened. Staff talk with them about it and how they are feeling as well as how they can prevent it from happening again, providing first aid as needed and recording the accidents in line with the setting's procedures.
• Leaders provide excellent support, training and coaching for staff. They focus on developing highly motivated and exceptional staff through individual and effective support and mentoring to support continuous professional development. Staff have expert skills and knowledge in areas of particular interest. This ensures that the provision continually improves and maintains its high-quality care and education.