Tiggers @ Tetbury Private Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff create a warm and welcoming environment for all children and families at this spacious nursery. Children confidently separate from their parents and carers, ready for their day. Children seek staff for cuddles and enjoy interactions with them. For example, children take staff's hands and lead them to activities. This shows they feel safe and secure.

Each room is thoughtfully set up. Staff plan the curriculum to meet children's developmental needs, ready for the next stage in their learning. They focus on children's communication and developing their independence and physical skills. For instance, younger children explore sensory activities with baskets they can access independently. Staff speak clearly to all children, modelling language as they play. Children listen to stories and sing songs with actions to build their language skills. Staff develop children's curiosity. They plan activities such as exploring ice. Children use tools to break it up, finding hidden 'baby dinosaurs'. They mix paint powder into the melting ice to see what happens. This helps to develop their small hand muscles for early writing. All children receive lots of praise and encouragement, motivating them to learn more.

Children play well together. Staff tend to babies' needs sensitively. They model actions for 'please' and 'thank you'. Older children respond to staff requests and finish playing ready for their next activity. Children are respectful to staff.

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

• Leaders and staff monitor the progress of all children. Staff work with parents and use assessments to make referrals to outside agencies when needed. Staff check children's progress and plan next steps to close any gaps in children's learning.
• Staff support children's emotional well-being. They help children to learn self-regulation and social skills. For example, children learn to listen to others and engage in group activities. However, at times, the noise level in some rooms is high when children are playing indoors. This level of noise means children speak louder, impacting on their attention, engagement and listening.
• Staff develop children's communication and language skills well. They speak clearly and label items as babies play, helping to develop their emerging speech. Staff repeat nursery rhymes, supporting children to learn more language. Older children develop conversation skills. Staff read stories and use questions to encourage children to share their ideas and thoughts. Children take it in turns to speak and listen to each other.
• Staff actively join in with children's play. However, there are times when younger children wander around and are not engaged in meaningful activities. Staff do not plan carefully enough for busy routine times, such as nappy changing and getting ready for sleep.
• All children learn mathematical skills throughout the nursery. Staff support younger children to use mathematical language in their play by naming shapes. Children play with the sand timer and notice the sand getting 'bigger' and 'smaller'. Older children learn about mathematical concepts such as size. They use their shoes to fill the space of the footprint of a 'triceratops'. Staff encourage children to predict how many and practise counting to 20.
• Children have lots of opportunities to develop their physical skills and core strength muscles. Outdoors, children run around playing games together. Staff provide younger children with low-level furniture to stand at and strengthen their legs for early walking.
• Leaders care for the staff and support their well-being. They ensure staff receive regular supervision and provide new staff with mentors to strengthen their knowledge and skills from their induction training. Staff reflect on their practice and access training to improve their skills further. For example, they attended training to deepen their understanding on how to support communication for all children.
• Staff encourage children to learn about different cultures and traditions. They engage parents and families in a broad range of celebrations, such as Diwali, pumpkin carving and Pride month. This helps children to learn about diversity and the wider world around them.
• Parents speak highly about the nursery. They are pleased with the progress their children are making. Parents share how staff have helped with supporting their children's behaviour and learning.
• Children learn about leading healthy lifestyles. They have a choice of fruit for snack and healthy meals, which are prepared on site. Staff talk to children about good health. For example, they explain that eggs are a good source of protein to help us grow strong muscles.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• ensure noise levels do not distract children's attention, engagement and focus in their learning
• strengthen the planning of key routines, particularly for younger children, so that they remain engaged in meaningful play and learning opportunities.