Tic Toc Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff welcome children warmly, so children feel happy and safe in this homely environment. Children have formed good bonds with the staff, who are positive role models and know the children well. Care routines are sensitive, children have their voices heard and routines are embedded.

Staff plan and prepare activities based on what children already know to ensure they make good progress towards their next steps. Children have fun exploring the stimulating and organised environment freely. They spend good periods of time at a range of activities. They use their own ideas and concentrate to mix potions in the outside kitchen, or scoop sand and fill jugs for water play from the tap.

Staff help to motivate children to learn, so they show great interest in the exciting experiences. Staff explain what ingredients you mix together to make exploding volcanoes, and children follow recipes to make their own play dough. Staff set up a stimulating environment that means babies are able to be curious and explore. Babies paint with ice and develop their strength and core muscles as they climb and balance on obstacle courses.

Children move around the nursery with confidence and select resources. Toddlers join in enthusiastically. They work together to create a large abstract artwork and show a great sense of pride when they have finished. They are beginning to express how they are feeling and enjoy telling staff they have drawn themselves with a happy, smiley face.

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

• The environment is stimulating and meets the children's needs. The baby room is set up purposefully for play and exploration. Children are curious to explore natural objects and real fruits and vegetables in the home corner. They enjoy fun song-time sessions with shakers, scarves and favourite nursery rhymes.
• An ambitious curriculum design ensures children are at the centre of their learning. Staff follow children's interests and plan motivating experiences that broaden their horizons and vocabulary. They provide children with opportunities to learn about the world around them on local trips, experiment with science activities and use their own ideas with inviting open-ended resources.
• Children enjoy healthy snacks and lunches. They are increasingly independent and know about leading a healthy lifestyle and getting their bodies moving. The children help themselves to water at the hydration stations and serve themselves salad at lunchtime.
• Emotional well-being is fostered and children are developing the language to discuss their feelings and to self-regulate. Children know how to treat each other with respect and listen to one another. The cultural diversity of the nursery is celebrated as children find out where they each come from, explore those languages and use them to enhance experiences. Children behave very well.
• Children have developed good physical skills. They are very active in the large garden space. They use the climbing wall, slide and ladder with ease and use stepping blocks to build towers and obstacle courses. Younger children push themselves along on bikes and in cars and use rings and balls for rolling, throwing and catching.
• Staff and support assistants have developed good relationships with the children, who settle quickly and engage with activities they like. Staff work hard to use visual clues, clear language and to adapt activities for children who need extra support or for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). However, the use of these strategies is sometimes limited and could be strengthened to support all children's progress and development.
• Parents are happy with how well their children settle and are pleased with the communication from key persons. They know what progress their children have made and what they are working on next from discussions at parents' meetings. Parents are pleased to be invited into the nursery for special events and feel welcome when their children are settling. They speak highly of the nutritious vegetarian menu that is provided and how well their children eat at nursery. The menu is diverse and creative and reflects meals that children enjoy.
• Staff work hard to improve their practice. Through peer-on-peer observations they support each other to enhance their teaching and learning. They benefit from a range of professional development opportunities and have regular training and updates on how to be vigilant and keep children safe.
• The leaders and managers are passionate and reflective. They are dedicated to making changes and improving outcomes for children. They have a strong vision and ethos for the care and education they provide and strive for all children to succeed, be happy and become positive role models in society.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• make better use of all available strategies and resources to engage children with SEND in their learning so they make even better progress and get the most out of their time at nursery.