Tudor House Day Nursery @ Altom

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff warmly greet parents and children into the nursery. Staff are keen to find out what children have been doing at home with their families. Staff use some of this information to further enhance the intended curriculum. For example, they are currently implementing lots of activities about travel and the world. This is because many of the children are soon to embark on different trips and holidays. Staff provide time during drop off and pick ups to ensure that parents can talk to them about their children. As a result, children separate from their parents with ease and are keen to find their friends and start their day.

Leaders have high expectations for children. They have designed a curriculum that helps children to build on their existing skills as they move through the nursery. Leaders and staff create exciting learning environments for the children. These encompass children's interests and are designed to help children to learn in the moment by using all of their senses. For example, babies use their fingers and various utensils to prod and poke dough. Older children mix soil and water to make a 'mud pie'. Leaders work with parents to ensure that children who are receiving early years funding can access their funded hours flexibly. This supports the changing needs of children, as well as their parents.

Staff are excellent role models. They value each child's uniqueness and work with parents to ensure that all children's needs are met. The bilingual staff team supports children who speak English as an additional language. In addition, children have close and trusting bonds with staff and display a good level of self-confidence and self-esteem. Parents say that they feel 'highly valued' and 'fully included' in the setting.

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

• Staff understand the importance of helping children to develop good physical skills. Babies are encouraged to crawl, cruise furniture, and feed themselves using a spoon. Older children embark on a wide range of activities, such as swimming and music and movement sessions, and are taken for walks in the local area. As a result, any identified gaps in children's physical development have closed.
• In the main, staff support children's communication and language skills well. Staff model single words to babies as they play alongside them. For example, they encourage them to 'pat', 'push' and 'prod 'as they experiment with dough. Older children are encouraged to recite familiar songs and recall past events, such as a trip to the zoo. Staff offer some extension to further children's speaking. For example, they challenge children to name the animals they saw and discuss the different sizes of the animals. However, at times, staff mispronounce words and miss opportunities during these back-and-forth conversations to extend children's growing vocabulary and speech even further.
• Staff provide good support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Partnership working with parents and other professionals involved in children's learning and care are strong. Parents highly value the support they receive from the manager and staff. Staff make good use of the parent app, stay-and-play sessions, and general day-to-day chats to keep parents informed about their child's learning. This further supports children's good progress.
• Overall, staff interactions with children are positive and nurturing. Babies snuggle into staff and enjoy a cuddle while they are read and sung to. Older children invite staff into their play and are eager to share their ideas. However, on occasions, staff do not quickly identify when children need more stretch and challenge to enhance their critical thinking skills. Furthermore, at times, they are not alert to when less-confident or quieter children need further encouragement to take part and be more involved. This leads to some children wandering off, and, consequently, their learning is not fully extended.
• Staff receive endless support from leaders. Staff access basic training and there are robust procedures in place for staff to access further professional development opportunities. Staff take part in regular supervision and well-being meetings with leaders. Staff embrace feedback from these and use it to further improve their practice. As a result, staff feel listened to and say that they 'really enjoy' all aspects of their work.
• Staff support children to develop good social and emotional skills. Staff encourage all children to share, take turns and respect other's wishes. Staff provide gentle reminders to children about what behaviour is expected. As a result, children play harmoniously and display kind and caring attitudes to their peers and the staff.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen the curriculum for communication and language to ensure that all staff implement the intended curriculum to consistently high levels
• support staff to provide consistently strong interactions with children that further challenge their critical thinking and support them to remain highly involved in their play and during activities.