Tidbury Green Private Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The extremely warm relationships that staff develop with children create a warm and secure atmosphere where all children excel. The learning environment is wonderful and highly engaging for children. For example, outdoors, the children develop important physical skills as they excitedly perform egg and spoon and hurdle races as part of their topic of work, the Olympics. Children develop their body strength and coordination skills as they run between cones and manoeuvre their way along balance beams. Such activities allow children to learn from trial and error, take risks as they play and make gains in their social, personal and physical skills. Staff expertly share stories and skilfully adapt and sing songs and counting rhymes regularly throughout the day. For example, children confidently sing along to 'The Wheels on the Bus' and adaptions of 'Five Currant Buns'. This effectively supports their language and mathematical development.

Children excitedly learn about the world around them. For example, they learn how the foods they eat are grown. Children thoroughly enjoy growing and caring for different vegetables and herbs, smelling, feeling and tasting them as they grow. They especially enjoy using the outdoor campsite to prepare and mix these ingredients together to make magical potions and cakes. Children behave extremely well within a supportive and nurturing environment. They learn to understand and follow the nursery's 'golden rules' and routines. Children greatly care for one another, and they take turns and share when choosing their activities. Children are excited about their learning. During adult-led activities that punctuate the day, children join their chosen groups quickly, settling enthusiastically and concentrating well on the task in hand.

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

• Dedicated, passionate leaders and staff have high expectations of what children can achieve in this wonderful nursery. They have created a curriculum that is well structured, highly ambitious and reflects children's personal needs and interests. It is expertly organised to ensure that children practise and embed each step of learning throughout the provision. Staff make sure that all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), receive the support and guidance they need to thrive and grow in confidence in all areas of learning.
• Through home visits, initial observations and timely assessment, staff skilfully identify children's starting points for learning. Key persons know their children incredibly well and they establish strong partnerships with parents that highly effectively support their children's learning and development. Staff review children's learning and progress together to ensure that planning and learning opportunities are continually adapted and enhanced to support, challenge and extend children's ongoing learning.
• Leaders and staff have a sharp focus on developing children's communication and language skills. Staff are adept at modelling precise language to support children's vocabulary. They consistently engage in timely and purposeful conversations with children, skilfully introducing new language to them. For example, when children excitedly find a caterpillar outside, staff talk to them about life cycles, using language such as 'cocoon', 'chrysalis' and 'butterfly'.
• Children develop high levels of independence. For example, children serve themselves fruit and cereals at snack time and pour their own drinks from jugs. Staff effectively consider children's personal development when they plan learning opportunities that support children to offer personal opinions and make choices about their learning. For example, children create tally charts to identify their favourite sporting activity. As a result, children develop confidence and self-esteem and feel that they and their opinions are valued by others.
• Leaders are passionate about the nursery, and they work dynamically as a team, each of them taking responsibility for focused areas of nursery provision. They skilfully evaluate the ongoing quality of learning across the setting to implement a comprehensive programme of training that continually supports ongoing development. For example, training includes topics such as models in mathematics, rhythm and rhyme training and how to support children to regulate their emotions.
• Staff feel extremely well supported by leaders and appreciate that they consistently consider their well-being. They embrace the frequent opportunities made available to them to undertake continued professional development that greatly supports them in their roles. Staff feel lucky to work at this special nursery.
• Parents feel that their children are extremely happy and very well cared for in this nursery. They describe the nursery as a 'magical' place for their children to learn. The parents of children with SEND are especially complimentary about the work of staff and leaders. They appreciate how the nursery ensures that all children are fully supported to make the best possible progress. Parents greatly appreciate the many opportunities provided for them to undertake workshops and visits to the nursery. They believe that this helps them to understand more fully how to support their children's learning at home and helps prepare their children for starting school well.