Tiny Tots Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff provide a bright and welcoming environment. Children are confident and have high self-esteem, which they demonstrate by happily talking to visitors and inviting them to join in with their play. Children smile as they arrive, and they are eager to explore the many exciting activities staff have planned for them. Staff form warm and caring relationships with children and value them highly as individuals. They ensure they take time to get to know all children and their families. This ensures that children settle with ease into the nursery. Staff have high expectations of all children, and as a result, they behave well. Children are confident and motivated to learn.

The manager and staff work hard to build good relationships with parents. This supports children's learning. Staff plan the curriculum effectively with a good variety of indoor and outdoor learning experiences. This ensures that all children make good progress in their learning. Staff are caring and praise children as they learn new knowledge and skills. Children have built strong friendships and look forward to playing with one another. They feel safe and secure as staff interact with them warmly during transition times, such as nappy changes and rest times.

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

• The manager ensures that the curriculum is well sequenced, ambitious and challenging for all children. Staff know the children very well and regularly observe and track their progress. They plan exciting activities based on children's interests, what they know and what they need to know next. Any gaps in learning are quickly identified, and next steps are put in place. All children make good progress across the seven areas of learning.
• Children behave well and are curious to learn. They build positive relationships with their friends and staff. Children persevere at tasks when things become difficult and receive praise from staff, which encourages them to carry on.
• Group and circle-time activities support children's language development well. They provide opportunities for staff to introduce new words and vocabulary. However, there are times when there are too many children in the activity. This means some children can lose focus on the activity because they are distracted by the larger group size.
• All children are confident communicators. Young children enjoy singing songs and joining in with the actions. Older children listen to familiar stories and discuss what is going to happen next by looking at the pictures. They are excited to show their knowledge of dinosaurs and talk about their favourite ones, such as 'stegosaurus' and 'T-Rex'. They build on this and discuss that a 'diplodocus' has a long neck so it can reach leaves on trees.
• Children have a wide range of opportunities to develop their independence.
• Children make choices in their own play and independently access resources. At meal and snack times, children confidently serve themselves and access water. Staff teach children how to put on their coats, wash their hands and put on their shoes. Children know when they need to rest. They are developing valuable self-care skills for the future.
• Children successfully learn about how to make healthy choices and lead healthy lifestyles. Staff teach children the importance of regular handwashing and having regular daily exercise. Children look forward to eating the healthy snacks and meals.
• Partnerships with parents are strong. Parents talk positively about the setting and the progress their children make. They are seen as partners at the setting, and there are respectful relationships between staff, parents and children. Staff provide regular updates on children's progress and information on what children are learning and their next steps.
• The manager supports staff in their practice well. Supervision arrangements are used effectively to identify and support staff's needs. This has had a positive impact on children's learning and staff well-being. To build on this and ensure teaching is at the highest levels across the setting, further self-evaluation and review should be explored.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• consider the organisation of group activities to ensure that children can remain focused
• further develop opportunities for self-review to support teaching to the highest levels.