Tinytoons Pre-school & Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children receive a warm welcome from staff when they arrive at the setting. Staff provide comfort to children who are returning from holiday feeling a little unsettled. They are kind, offering comforting words and reassurance that help children to feel secure and ready to play. Staff make sure that there are plenty of varied play experiences available for children to choose from. This helps children to quickly find the experiences that interest them most.

Children behave well much of the time. They benefit from the clear guidance that staff provide to help them to regulate their behaviour and to interact appropriately with other children and staff. Children often show that they understand how to behave responsibly. They help to tidy up the resources and support other children to care for their belonging, for example, by making sure hats are returned to pegs.

Children thoroughly enjoy learning about numbers. Staff encourage them to count the children present as part of the registration session. Children count accurately in sequence from one to 10, and staff support them to count the additional children. Outside, children count blocks as they build, and they fit pieces together to make up the number mat. Children search for and find the numbers, correctly fitting them into the right spaces.

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

• Staff understand the early years foundation stage curriculum. They know what children need to know and do by the time they move to the next stage of their education. Staff plan experiences that are designed to help children build a range of skills and develop their understanding. Staff help children to become independent, confident and sociable. They promote children's communication and language skills effectively with lots of speaking and listening activities. Children enjoy lively exchanges with staff as conversation forms a big part of children's play and interactions with staff.
• Staff interactions with children are consistently good. They are attentive to what children say and do. Children have lots of opportunities to share their thoughts and ideas. Staff use effective questioning to encourage children to share what they know and to support their thinking skills. For example, when building towers with bricks, staff asks children about the number of bricks and how they can make the tower more stable and steady. Staff offer a range of experiences that children are keen to do. Children enjoy the sounds activity and the interactive singing and movement sessions. These activities encourage children to practise following instructions and listening and to recall the familiar songs and rhymes. Children show that they remember the experiences and they participate with enthusiasm.
• Staff plan well for the small-group focus activities. They take account of children's individual learning needs and decide how best to make sure that children have the best chance to achieve. Children demonstrate good levels of concentration as they listen attentively to stories that staff read with great expressiveness. However, some children find it difficult to concentrate and engage in extended large-group activities. Although staff support children and supervise those who choose to leave the activities, this is not always sufficient to help all children gain the maximum benefit from the available teaching.
• Staff know their key children, what interests them most and what they need to learn next. Staff carefully tailor their interactions to help children to learn more and to help them assess what children need to learn next. Staff make accurate assessments of children's development. They identify any gaps in learning and work with parents and others to help children make good progress. Staff establish effective partnerships with other settings and agencies that work with children and their families. These help to ensure continuity of care, learning and well-being.
• Parents speak highly of the staff and what they provide for children and their families. They appreciate the support that is available and the feedback about children's learning. Many families use the setting for more than one child over time. They report how well their children are prepared for school.
• Staff support each other well. Experienced staff support those at an earlier stage of their career with guidance and clear explanation along with well-defined expectations. Staff share new information with others in the team. This helps staff to build their skills as they gain experience and to keep up to date with current practice.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• review the organisation of large-group activities to ensure that this supports all children to gain the maximum benefit from the intended teaching.