Tic Toc Nursery School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive to nursery happy and leave their parents with ease. They are greeted by enthusiastic and smiling staff. Children seek out their key persons for a reassuring cuddle or smile while exploring the room. Staff know children well and build strong relationships with them. This helps children with their emotional security, helping them to feel safe and secure.

Children's behaviour is good. They understand the rules in the nursery. Staff role model their expectations well, gently reminding children of the rules, such as 'good listening' and 'kind hands'. Children play happily alongside each other and develop a strong sense of well-being.

Leaders have designed an ambitious and sequenced curriculum, with a focus on supporting children's well-being. Staff provide a range of activities to ensure that children make the best progress as they move through the nursery. They quickly identify children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and ensure that timely support is put in place. Children with SEND make good progress.

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

• Staff know children well. They use their understanding of how children learn through play to plan interesting and varied activities, which promote children's progress. Staff provide children with a wide range of resources and learning experiences.
• Parents feel very supported by the nursery and the staff team. They report high levels of satisfaction and highly delight in knowing their children feel safe and loved at the nursery. Parents appreciate all the staff and say that the team is like a family. They also appreciate all the additional opportunities that staff provide, such as parent events and the parent information area.
• Staff provide children with key vocabulary during activities. For example, they name different concepts, such as' reflection, mixing' and 'decanting', when children mix potions in silver pots. This supports children's understanding and language skills. However, at times, staff do not provide enough information to help children's understanding of new concepts. This means that children do not have the opportunity at these times to ask questions or extend their communication skills.
• Children participate in risk assessing the areas of the nursery they play in. For example, staff encourage children to make decisions on how high a tower should be or how far they can jump. This helps children to understand ways to keep themselves safe, as well as making decisions on things that might affect them. Children confidently discuss their differences with each other when problem-solving what to do next.
• There is a strong community focus in the nursery. For instance, children make visits to a local care home, where they develop strong relationships with others. This helps children to develop a sense of self and others.
• Children also learn all about other cultures. Staff encourage all children to create an 'All About Me' box, which showcases things that are important for them to share with others. The nursery also homes rabbits and chickens, which children learn how to care for and show delight when introducing them to visitors.
• Staff support children with SEND well. They understand the importance of early identification and have attended training from the local authority. There is an individualised training programme for staff who support children with SEND.
• Staff encourage children to become independent and develop their self-help skills. They introduce babies to self-feeding. Younger children learn to self-serve at mealtimes and older children try to manage conflicts themselves. This helps children to prepare for the next stage of their learning journey.
• Leaders focus on supporting staff and acknowledge that staff are their greatest resource. They offer ongoing coaching and mentoring support to all staff, especially for apprentices. For example, leaders have recently formed an apprentice support group to ensure that they are fully equipped to complete their training. However, staff do not have focused opportunities to develop their knowledge and skills further to ensure that they implement the vision for the curriculum.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• provide children with sufficient time to share their thoughts and ideas to further support their communication skills
• identify ways to further develop staff's knowledge and skills and support their professional development to extend children's learning even further.