Tots and Time Out Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive at the nursery happy. They leave their parents at the door and come in excitedly. Children are curious and confident when exploring the environment. They are content and display a strong sense of belonging. Children show that they feel safe and secure. They form strong and trusting relationships with the staff, who are kind, caring and attentive in their approach. Children readily seek them out for cuddles and comfort.

Children's independence, self-care and self-confidence are well supported. For example, staff encourage children to put their coats and shoes on before going outside. Children have a can-do attitude and persevere even if they find something difficult. They are praised for their efforts. Children are supported to take appropriate risks. They build their own obstacle course and enjoy climbing and balancing on tyres. This helps children to develop their physical skills and become resilient.

Children behave well. Staff give children timely warnings between activities. Older children understand the routine. For instance, they help tidy away resources before lunchtime. They show care and concern to others as they play together. Staff use age-appropriate language when communicating with children, which ensures that all children understand what is said to them.

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

• Partnership with parents is a strength of the nursery. Parents speak very highly of the management and the staff. They find them approachable and kind. Parents highlight the opportunities the management team offers them. For example, they are invited to participate in various courses, such as an emergency paediatric first-aid course. Parents comment on the good progress their children make since attending the nursery. Communication is good. Parents confirm that they are kept up to date with their children's learning and development. Staff encourage parents to support the children's next steps with ideas to continue learning at home. For instance, children bring home 'autumn bags' to collect sticks, acorns and leaves.
• Overall, staff competently support children's communication and language. They continuously talk to children and engage them in conversations. Staff listen well to children and introduce new words to the conversation, while explaining their meaning. For example, at the water tray, staff introduce the word 'ripple' and ask children to look at the shapes the stick makes. In general, staff ask children meaningful questions to support their language. However, at times, they do not give children enough time to think and respond.
• Staff plan experiences to help children learn about feelings and emotions. For example, children learn to name feelings, such as 'angry', 'sad' and 'calm'. However, staff do not fully recognise opportunities to extend children's learning further, such as by talking about what these feelings mean. Children focus well during activities. They listen respectfully to each other and adults. As a result, children develop a positive attitude towards learning. Staff encourage children to speak about what they are doing and what they want to achieve. For instance, children talk about where they live while creating houses from recycled materials.
• Mathematical language is woven into everyday play. Staff introduce mathematical language into the conversation, such as 'opposite' and 'half'. Children count spontaneously as they play. For example, while playing with blocks, children count the increasing number of squares successfully. This helps children to develop their mathematical skills.
• All children, including those with special educational need and/or disabilities make good progress in their learning and development. Staff work closely with parents and external services to provide for children's individual learning and developmental needs. They plan targeted support to help children make good progress.
• Staff's well-being is very important to the management team. The manager carries out regular supervision sessions and one-to-one conversations with the staff. They use these to identify staff's strengths and provide support where needed. For example, following staff requests, the management team recently organised sign language training. Staff comment on the approachable nature of the management team. They say that they feel happy and supported in their role.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to recognise and use opportunities to further challenge and extend children's learning
• allow children more time to process and respond to questions during interactions with them, to further support their speech and language development.