Tiddlers Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are confident, content, busy and happy. They happily explore the play environments, both indoors and outdoors, moving equipment from inside to outside to extend their experiences. They develop close relationships with established staff. Staff know families well, developing reassurance and bonds with families over the years, due to providing consistent care for siblings.

Children show an increasing positive attitude to their learning. They are eager to participate in adult-led activities, to discover new skills. They question new situations, showing intrigue as to how things work and to solve problems. For example, they roll cars through large tubes to see where they go to and which one goes the furthest.

Children's communication and speech is continuously promoted throughout their time in the setting. Staff talk constantly to the children using effective questions to support their curiosity and thirst for knowledge. Staff support babies' babbling by using repetitive sounds and songs. Staff use repetitive stories and rhymes to introduce new vocabulary to increase children's speaking skills. Children show confidence to express their needs through words, gestures and expressions.

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

• Children learn to use new skills to develop their independence. They help to clean the tables for lunch and snack time, developing an understanding of hygiene and cleanliness as part of their routine. They learn to put on their coats for outside play, using trial and error to work out the best way to do this themselves.
• Staff are eager to develop their professional knowledge. They attend training as a team and as individuals, sharing their new found knowledge to develop their practice. However, staff do not consistently show a confident use of their knowledge of individual children and how they learn best to enhance the learning opportunities for children's ongoing progress.
• Children show an increasing enjoyment through imaginative play. They act out experiences they have seen with their parents, at home and with staff in the setting. Staff introduce concepts into their role play that they may not always experience. For example, they use money to buy food at the supermarket. However, children have limited support to express themselves through different creative materials or to use their individual imagination to create with paint and other materials.
• Children behave well towards their peers and the staff. They show respect and care towards younger children, helping them, supporting them and learning to play in a gentle manner. They show affection towards their special friends, hugging and cuddling them when they arrive. Children listen to staff instructions to support their cooperation and negotiation in their play. This helps to support their readiness for school.
• Staff work effectively with other professionals to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). They use information well and adapt the environment to promote an all-inclusive setting. This helps to welcome all children regardless of their abilities, knowledge and backgrounds.
• Parents make positive comments about the care and learning children receive from the setting. They talk about the support they gain towards children's learning at home and their ongoing development. Parents talk positively about the transition made to school. They feel that their children at school excel using the skills they acquired in the setting.
• Toddlers gain reassurance to make the move to their next place for learning. Staff provide opportunities for young children to engage with older children during outdoor play and group activities. For example, babies and toddlers join older children for song time, sitting on their key person's lap learning the songs with actions. Babies and toddlers have lunch with older children and staff, developing friendships and bonds with them to make the transition to the larger playroom easier.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• develop staff's confidence to use their existing knowledge and understanding of how children learn to enhance children's ongoing development to their full potential
• provide further opportunities and materials for children to freely design, create and use their imaginations using different materials and media.