Tudor Hall Private Day Nursery Ltd.

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are warmly welcomed into the nursery by caring staff. They form strong attachments with their key person. This helps them to settle quickly. Children are confident and independent in this well-resourced, child-centred environment. They are happy, calm and are eager to talk to staff and peers as they engage in conversation. Children demonstrate that they feel safe and secure.

Children develop skills in the outdoor area. For example, babies learn to walk by confidently pushing a wooden trolley. This helps their physical development. Furthermore, babies delight as they explore musical instruments and play peekaboo. Staff support and praise children, which helps to build their confidence. Children enjoy and explore a range of activities. For example, in pre-school, children engage in mixing ingredients in a variety of containers to make potions. Staff skilfully develop children's mathematical language as they introduce words such as 'full', 'empty', 'long' and 'short'. This provides opportunities to enhance skills that children have learned and practise and remember mathematical concepts.

Support for children who speak English as an additional language and for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) is excellent. Resources and activities meet their individual needs. For example, children benefit from a 'secret garden', which is a calming sensory area. This helps them to develop their personal, social and emotional skills.

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

• Leaders and managers confidently and passionately talk about the provision they provide for children. They offer excellent support and understand individual family circumstances.
• Staff are provided with many opportunities to continue their professional development. Staff's well-being is supported extremely well and they speak enthusiastically about their 'open door' time.
• Staff develop babies' early literacy skills through singing rhymes and songs. In pre-school, staff support children to recognise letters and sounds. For example, children play with letters and use these to confidently identify and say the sounds in their names.
• In pre-school, staff support children's knowledge of communities and enhance learning experiences. For example, they take children to the local fire station and teach them about differences. Staff provide opportunities for children to use well-selected resources in an imaginative way to celebrate how they are different from each other. However, babies and younger children do not consistently receive the same level of opportunities to enhance their understanding of themselves and others.
• Staff develop children's mathematical skills well. They model counting to children. For example, they help children to count the legs on bugs and use their fingers to guide their counting one by one. However, on occasion, staff are unclear about what they want children to learn and, as a result, children sometimes disengage.
• Children develop their independence. They wash their hands and pour their own drinks at snack time, supported by a member of staff. Care practices for children are excellent and well thought out. This helps to contribute to children's understanding of good health and hygiene.
• Children's behaviour is good. Staff are consistent in their approach and help children to learn and follow behavioural expectations to keep themselves safe.
• Parents speak highly of the nursery. They comment positively about the environment for their child and say it is clean, calm and happy. Parents know who their child's key person is and talk about the extensive support they receive. Parents are engaged with home learning linked to topics and themes and speak positively about this.
• Parents feel the nursery is inclusive and the support for children with SEND and for children who speak English as an additional language is excellent. Furthermore, children benefit from extra-curricular tennis activities. Leaders and managers talk positively about the activities and share how much children enjoy them.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• help staff working with younger children to fully understand the curriculum and what they want children to learn from activities, so that children stay focused and engaged
• provide opportunities for children to further develop their awareness of differences within their communities.