Thornhill Day Nursery - Tommies Childcare

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children settle really well due to the individual attention and support they receive from staff. Babies happily explore their environment while staff sensitively encourage them and provide reassurance to help them to build their confidence. Babies explore things in their own time as staff slowly introduce them to the different resources in the room. Staff quickly get to know the children very well and are very attentive to their needs, such as their individual sleep routines.

Children of all ages develop good physical skills. For example, babies concentrate as they throw and roll balls. Children in the next age range develop their balance and coordination skills as they use the slide and get on and off chairs themselves. Children in the toddler room carefully pour liquid into cups and carry a full cup across the garden without spilling it. Pre-school children move in a variety of ways during their dance class, such as tapping their feet alternately and spinning around on the spot. They are respectful of other children participating in the activity and maintain their own space.

Children develop their communication skills. They listen carefully and follow instructions from staff, even from an early age. They learn new words, which staff introduce to them to extend their vocabulary. Older children initiate conversations and are able to make their needs known.

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

• The passionate and committed manager has a clear vision that places children at the centre of everything. Her dedication to providing the best possible opportunities for all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, is admirable. The special educational needs coordinator is experienced and thorough in her assessment of children's needs. There is excellent partnership working with other agencies and professionals to ensure that children's care, well-being and support needs are swiftly supported. Staff provide parents with detailed updates about their child's achievements on a frequent basis. Parents and carers talk about the 'amazing support' their children receive to help close gaps in their development.
• The manager has devised a curriculum that has clear aims for what she wants children to learn. The curriculum has a 'golden thread' of knowledge, skills and understanding that children build on as they move through the different ages, preparing them well for their move to school. Staff are confident in the curriculum aims and how they use children's interests to further their learning. They ensure that activities give children a variety of experiences, some of which they may not have had the opportunity to do before. However, occasionally, staff do not extend an activity well enough to build on children's learning further. For example, when children demonstrate that they are confident counting to two, staff repeat this rather than extending the counting.
• The manager makes very good use of information gained from monitoring children's progress to identify where staff need to focus their support. Furthermore, in the relatively short time she has been in post, she has devised a thorough and supportive performance management process. This ensures all staff have the knowledge and skills to undertake their role. The manager pays particular attention to ensuring that staff have a good foundation knowledge of child development in order to support children's learning.
• There is strong partnership working with parents and carers. The manager provides additional support, guidance and information on a regular basis, such as information about oral health. Staff provide regular and detailed updates of what children have learned and how parents can support children with what they are learning next. Parents and carers value the lending library, which enables them to read with their children at home.
• All staff are very knowledgeable about the children. They can explain their stage of development, interests, likes and dislikes in detail. They use this information well to engage children in learning. For example, young children enjoy exploring the resources inside a basket. However, on occasion, staff are too quick to introduce another toy when children are focused on what they are already doing.
• The cook prepares healthy meals, taking into account children's dietary needs. There are robust procedures in place to ensure children are given the correct food.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to build on their interactions with children to consistently extend children's learning to help them to make the best possible progress
• support staff to give children time to fully focus on their chosen activity.