Totally Kids

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children show that they feel safe and secure at the nursery. They have a good bond with the staff, who are kind and caring. Children enjoy making independent choices about their play and access a variety of toys and resources that support their interests and engagement. Staff frequently give children lots of encouragement and praise. This helps to build children's confidence and self-esteem. Staff teach children about expected behaviour and boundaries. As a result, children behave very well.

Children enjoy participating in a range of sensory play experiences. For instance, they delight in exploring shaving foam, and staff encourage them to discuss how it feels and smells. Children also have fun experimenting with water, and staff help their discussions about different-coloured boats and balls. This helps to develop children's vocabulary and their awareness of different colours and sizes. Furthermore, children have fun participating in mark-making activities and using stickers to create collages. This helps to develop their fine motor skills, creativity and imagination. Children also show good listening and turn-taking skills as they play interactive board games and develop their knowledge of different foods and how to sort and match.

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

• The setting is run by a knowledgeable manager who has a clear vision about delivering quality education. Since their last inspection, staff have worked hard on improving their practice. There has also been improvement in the way in which staff are deployed to support children's overall learning and engagement.
• Staff have been receiving valuable support from a local authority early years consultant on how to further enhance the quality of their interactions. Overall, children receive good support with their learning. However, less-experienced staff do not always maximise opportunities that arise to fully extend children's language skills and learning to the highest level. This aspect of their practice requires embedding further.
• The manager has increased staff mentoring and supervision sessions to further support staff in developing their teaching skills. Additionally, staff have been engaging in more training and professional development to continue to strengthen their skills and extend their knowledge.
• There are effective arrangements to support new children to settle in well. For instance, staff obtain helpful information about children's interests, routines and needs when they join. Staff then use this information to plan activities to help to close any gaps in learning. It is evident that children make positive progress in relation to their starting points.
• Partnerships with parents are well established. Parents express good levels of appreciation with the care and education their children receive. They state that their children enjoy attending and have good relationships with the supportive staff.
• Overall, children who speak English as an additional language receive helpful support to learn new words in English. Staff frequently change between speaking Yiddish and English to develop children's communication skills and understanding. Parents comment that this is an area in which they have witnessed good improvement in their children's development.
• Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities make steady progress. Staff build collaborative relationships with other early years professionals and implement their recommendations to help children move forward with their development.
• Children have daily opportunities to be active and play outdoors. For instance, children delight in jumping on a small trampoline and playing a variety of ball games. This helps to develop their physical skills and coordination. However, staff do not always maximise opportunities for children to access all areas of the curriculum outdoors, to fully promote all aspects of their learning.
• Children regularly visit places of interest in the local community, such as parks and shops. They also learn about the role of police officers and dentists. This helps to broaden children's knowledge of the wider world. Children have some opportunities to learn about different backgrounds through books and resources. However, staff do not consistently plan a wide range of activities to deepen children's awareness of diversity and lives different to their own.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• continue to strengthen staff interactions and focus on extending children's language development and learning in order for children to make the best possible progress
• continue to develop the outdoor learning space to provide children with more opportunities to engage in a wide range of activities that support their development across all areas of learning
• build on opportunities to teach children about their similarities and differences and deepen their awareness of diversity further.