Treetots Childcare

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children and parents are greeted warmly by the friendly and professional staff. Most children settle quickly into the well-established routines of the nursery. Those who need extra support on arrival receive reassurance from staff, which helps them to settle. Children develop strong attachments to their key person and staff. As a result, children feel safe and emotionally secure. Staff help children to play alongside and with other children, teaching them to be kind, to share and take turns. This supports children's positive behaviour well.

Children are happy and busy throughout the day. They grow in confidence as they use the well-resourced environment indoors and outdoors. Children learn to independently manage themselves. For example, they take off their own shoes, wash their hands and collect their own plates and glasses at snack times.

The managers, who are also the owners, recognise the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on children. They focus their curriculum on supporting children's communication and language skills and building children's resilience to 'have a go' and to 'try again'. Children are keen learners and make good progress from their starting points. They demonstrate curiosity and show motivation to join experiences that are on offer.

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

• The managers are enthusiastic and dedicated to providing children with the best possible start in their education. They are passionate about their roles, share a strong vision for the nursery and strive for continuous improvement. For instance, the managers make every effort to create a range of learning opportunities for children indoors and as they explore the woodlands behind the nursery.
• Children have ample opportunities to be physically active and enjoy being outdoors. They walk in long grass, climb trees and negotiate their way down small slopes. Young children show great enjoyment in painting trees with water, and older children spend long periods of time collecting water in containers and making mud slides.
• Staff know the children in their care well and are confident about what they want children to learn and why. They plan activities that children enjoy, and which are linked to the curriculum and children's interests. For example, staff provide activities, such as making play dough, to teach children independence and to use verbs such as 'mixing' and 'stirring'. However, on occasion, staff are quick to solve problems for children, rather than encouraging them to find solutions for themselves. For instance, they tell children if they need more water or flour in their mixture. This limits the opportunities for children to solve problems, make predictions and test out their own ideas.
• Staff support children's communication well throughout the nursery. Younger children learn to use simple speech patterns through repetition and gestures, increasing their ability to express their own needs. Staff engage in conversations with older children, introducing new words to increase their vocabulary. For instance, staff introduce the words 'brambles', 'dandelions', 'magpie', 'spices' and 'lime' as children play. Children make good progress in their social skills.
• Staff provide children with a broad range of healthy snacks and home-made lunches. They encourage children sensitively to try new foods to expand their tastes and teach them about the importance of eating vegetables. Children are developing their understanding of a healthy diet.
• The managers ensure an effective supervision process, allowing staff to discuss children and their own professional development. Staff feel very supported by the managers in the nursery. Following recent training on communication and language, staff use visual cues and sign language, to help children understand routines and support their learning.
• Parents are happy with how quickly their children have settled into this home-from-home setting. They state that they feel well-informed about their children's learning and development through regular information in a variety of ways, such as verbal feedback. Parents know how to support their children's learning at home due to the support and suggestions made by their child's key person.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen staff's teaching skills further to encourage children to solve problems, predict outcomes and test out their ideas.