Tower View Nursery with Peelers out of School Club

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are happy at this warm and friendly nursery. During the COVID-19 pandemic, staff kept in touch with children and their families to support their well-being and their learning. An effective key-person system helps children to feel safe and to have a strong sense of belonging. Staff support children to understand how to manage their feelings and behaviour in an age-appropriate way.

Children have positive attitudes towards their learning. For example, they are excited to take a picture of the towers that they make with small blocks. Toddlers develop their small-muscle skills while filling and emptying buckets of sand and while making marks in paint. Older children engage in role play and decide that they 'need seat belts' to travel to the moon. They giggle with delight while running away from 'aliens'. Children practise their counting skills and number recognition. They collect herbs from the garden for the cook to use to make garlic bread for lunch. Children learn about the world around them and some of the ways that make them unique. For example, they can read messages from their families in 'wonderful me jars' and go on trips in the local community, such as to the farm. Children can partake in various activities, including yoga, dance and football.

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

• Leaders have a vision for a 'happy, secure, stimulating environment where children can flourish and achieve their full potential'. Leaders want the best for children, families and staff, and they strive to be outstanding.
• Children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, make good progress. Overall, staff provide children with a curriculum which follows children's interests and focuses on supporting them to lead their own play. For example, children use trial and error while exploring how to make play dough. However, staff practice and the quality of education they provide to children is not consistently high. For example, staff do not always extend or fully embed children's learning. In addition, while staff introduce children to new vocabulary, such as 'incubator', they occasionally model words and speech incorrectly. This does not support children's learning to a consistently high level.
• In the main, staff complete observations to enable them to understand what children know and can do, and what they need to learn next. That said, the arrangements for assessing children's levels of development are not always fully effective. For example, some parents are not fully included in the progress check for children aged between two and three years old. Leaders do not always make sure that staff complete assessments in a timely manner to help children to make the best possible progress.
• Strong links with schools and external professionals helps children's learning and continuity of care. For example, leaders work closely with the on-site school to assist with transitions. In addition, staff make good use of support from the provider's other nursery.
• Children access a wide range of books and staff read and sing to them throughout the day, which children enjoy. A variety of activities and books are sent home for children to complete with their parents and help them to continue their learning at home.
• Parents' comments are overwhelmingly positive. They say that the nursery is a 'home-from-home' and that staff are nurturing and 'really care'. Parents report that their children 'flourish' here and that they value the 'excellent' communication from staff.
• Staff support children's behaviour and their growing independence. For example, they encourage children to wipe their own noses while looking into mirrors. Children learn to use cutlery to eat and serve their own home-cooked meals. Older children help to set the table for lunch and help to clean up after play.
• Leaders say that the well-being of staff is a priority. Overall, they provide staff with an effective programme of training and support. This helps staff to continue to improve their practice and to feel valued. Staff say that they could not 'wish for a better place to work'.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• give more incisive feedback to staff, to support them in raising their practice and the quality of education to a consistently high level
• strengthen the arrangements for assessment, to help children to make the best possible progress.