The Tin Drum Nursery Ltd

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children thrive at this lovely nursery. Staff are friendly, warm and welcoming as children arrive and happily leave their parents, ready for a fun-filled day. Children love spending time with staff and friends, as they are nurtured and treated with respect and kindness, having all their needs met. For example, staff ask babies permission before they clean their noses with a tissue or wash their hands for lunch.

Staff have high expectations for all children. Children show that they feel safe and secure as they follow their own interests and lead their own learning. Children are absorbed in their play, and all are making strong progress. For example, young children show an interest in snails they find in the garden. Staff follow the children's lead, finding books that involve snails and giving them magnifying glasses to help observe the snails more closely.

Children's behaviour is very good. They are kind, gentle and mix well within the different age groups in the garden. Staff are good role models, using calm voices and getting down to children's level to speak to them. They know children very well, recognising when children need extra reassurance when unknown adults enter the room.

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

• The long-standing management are passionate about providing the best environment for children and staff. They have a clear vision of how to improve practice to benefit children. They work closely with staff to ensure that they all have the same goals. They recognise the importance of good staff and nurture their team well. For example, managers support staff to keep themselves up to date with current early years practice by attending courses and longer periods of study to gain higher qualifications. As a result of training, they have made changes to the environment to better suit their children, including painting the rooms in neutral colours to make it feel calmer for the children.
• Partnership with parents is strong. Parents love the 'family feel' of the nursery, with many sending multiple children to the setting. Parents get to know staff well during the thorough settling-in process, tailored to suit their child. The communication is very good, with parents sharing children's interests from home. Staff then give parents ideas of how they can extend children's learning.
• Capable staff make learning fun and relevant to the children. They incorporate skills children need to learn into their everyday play and interests. For example, when children bring them toy dinosaurs, staff help extend their vocabulary by using the correct dinosaur names. Additionally, staff help children practise simple mathematics, such as asking them how many dinosaurs they have altogether when children bring a second toy dinosaur in to the play.
• Children are generally encouraged and supported to be independent. They choose their own craft materials to construct with and decide if they would like to play inside or outside. However, staff do not consistently support their independence. For example, during mealtimes, although some staff encourage children to serve themselves and scrape their plates when finished, other staff complete this task for them. Not all staff help children to further their self-help skills.
• Children have many opportunities to develop their communication and language skills. Staff notice even the youngest children's attempts to communicate, and they acknowledge this. Staff recognise the importance of providing children with a wide variety of books and happily read to children regularly. Staff incorporate songs into the day, gently singing 'Row Row Row Your Boat' as babies rock on the toy horse.
• Most of the time, staff recognise and extend children's learning. For example, when children bring dolls to staff for them to dress, staff encourage them to connect the poppers on toy clothes. However, staff do not consistently support children's interests and build on what they already know and can do. For example, when children show an interest in spiders, staff provide them with a book but do not implement discussions around this to further challenge their thinking skills. Children then lose interest in finding out about spiders.
• The nursery gives children many opportunities to learn about the world and different people, both near and far. They learn about festivals and the other cultures of families and children who attend the setting, learning some words in children's home languages to help them feel valued. They regularly explore the local area, visiting local parks and attractions, and go to the seaside on the train. They visit the care home and enjoy games and crafts with the residents. Children learn to keep themselves safe. They know to listen to adults' instructions and hold hands with staff and peers when out and about.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to recognise when children can attempt to do things for themselves to develop their independence skills further
• consistently support children to build on what they already know and can do to further develop and challenge their thinking skills