Tots 2 Teens daycare

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children receive a warm welcome from the caring and friendly staff team. They show enthusiasm for learning as they choose what they would like to play with from the wide range of activities staff have planned and prepared. Staff provide activities that encourage children to build positive attitudes towards learning and help develop their focus and concentration. For example, older children spend lots of time drawing a roadway for their bikes outside using chalk. Younger children enjoy filling and emptying different containers with water and babies explore the texture of paint and dough with their hands.

Children's behaviour is good. Staff provide gentle reminders about positive behaviour. They encourage children to use good manners and play cooperatively together. Staff promote children's good health. Older children are gaining the skills and confidence to independently use the toilet. Children are provided with healthy snacks and drinks. Staff help children to be safe in the sun, making sure they wear sun hats, have sun cream on and have access to their drinks. Younger children show their developing physical skills as they use the equipment to pull themselves up to standing. Older children develop their physical agility as they run and balance on tyres, which shows a good level of control. Staff praise children's efforts and achievement. This helps to build their confidence and resilience.

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

• Managers work closely with the dedicated staff team to provide good quality provision for children and their families. Regular supervision meetings take place, and staff are encouraged to engage with ongoing professional development opportunities to improve their practice. Staff report that their well-being is given a high priority. This contributes to a positive and happy environment for children.
• The staff team has created a curriculum that is clearly sequenced and designed to give children the skills and knowledge they need to be ready for school. The key-person system is firmly embedded and staff know their key children well. Staff gather information from parents to find out about each child's interests and needs from the start. They complete their own observations to monitor children's development. However, staff do not always make the most effective use of information to ensure that all activities focus on what children need to know and do next, so they receive the best support to make the most progress.
• Staff use a range of teaching strategies to engage, motivate and challenge children during adult-led activities. For example, they model language and repeat key words and phrases. They read books in an animated way which helps children to remain engaged and focused. Children delight as they confidently join in the actions of a familiar story. However, occasionally, staffs' interactions with children during free play, are not of the highest quality, which means at these times, children's learning is not extended.
• Staff help children to learn to be independent and confident in their abilities. Younger children are encouraged to get themselves ready for going outside. Older children use scissors to practise their cutting skills, showing control and good awareness of how to use the equipment safely.
• Children's transitions into and through the nursery are effective. Staff successfully help new children to settle quickly and offer them lots of comfort and affection. As children move rooms, staff share a range of information, including their likes, dislikes, interests and where they are in their development. This helps make transitions seamless and helps children to settle.
• Children benefit from lots of fresh air and exercise. They enjoy playing in the garden as they engage in a variety of activities that promote a range of skills, including physical, imagination and communication. Older children play imaginatively with their friends as they build dinosaurs out of bricks. They enjoy playing at the water wall. They practise filling, and emptying containers and pouring water down the different tubes. Children enjoy learning about numbers, colours, and sizes while constructing a roadway with chalk on the floor, to drive their vehicles.
• Managers and staff work extremely hard to develop positive partnerships with parents. Parents receive information every day about what their children have been doing and what they are working towards. This helps parents to continue children's learning at home. Parents comment positively about the care their children receive.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• plan activities more precisely so that they focus on what individual children need to know and do next
• ensure staff's teaching and interactions during child-initiated activities is consistently of a high quality to extend children's learning during these times.