Twizzle Tops Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Relationships between staff and children are a strength of this warm and welcoming nursery. Young children are quickly comforted by cuddles, and older children invite staff to join in with their games. Staff warmly interact with children, offering support and praise. Children feel safe and secure, enabling them to develop into confident young learners. For example, children work together drawing pictures in flour. They show high levels of engagement and enjoyment as they 'draw' collaboratively, listen to each other and confidently share their own ideas.

Leaders and staff have a clear understanding of what they want children to learn. They focus their curriculum on helping children to gain the skills that they need for the next stage of their learning. Older children learn to be independent and confident in their preparation for starting school. Staff focus on helping the youngest children to feel safe and secure and to build relationships with the staff who care for them. Children are curious and keen to investigate. They excitedly join in with activities and play imaginatively with their friends while developing the skills that they need for their future learning. For instance, children work together to make 'play dough' in the garden. They help each other by sharing the flour and water, and they use a range of tools to mix their ingredients.

Leaders and staff have high expectations for children's behaviour. There are clear routines and 'golden rules' in place. Children know what is expected of them, and they respond well to this. They listen to staff instructions and follow the routines well. This leads to a calm and purposeful atmosphere.

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

• Staff place a high emphasis on enhancing children's language and communication development. They use new vocabulary and encourage children to talk about their interests and share their experiences. They introduce sounds to younger children. They ask older children questions that promote thought and conversation.
• Leaders and staff recognise that some children who speak English as an additional language need more support with developing their language and communication skills. They closely monitor children's language development and check their understanding to provide more targeted support. While there is a high level of support for developing language and communication, at times, staff do not use correct grammar and vocabulary, which means that children do not always hear sentences and words formed correctly.
• Staff follow children's interests and use these to deliver the curriculum. Children enjoy choosing from the activities available, showing high levels of interest and engagement. For example, children work together to create 'clouds'. This demonstrates positive attitudes towards learning.
• Staff have a clear understanding of what children should learn for their personal, social and emotional development. Staff talk to all the children, including babies, about how they are feeling. With older children, staff discuss their emotions with them throughout the day. Staff support children to develop important social skills, such as sharing and taking turns. For example, they explain clearly to children that it is their friend's turn first and then it will be their turn. Developing important skills such as these helps children to form friendships.
• Children benefit from the nursery's strong link to external agencies. The special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) works closely with parents, other professionals and staff as she is responsible for meeting the needs and getting support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. There are multiple staff within the nursery who have benefited from the SENCo training, which means that any children with additional needs are quickly identified and appropriate referrals and support are put in place.
• Leaders have a strong understanding of their strengths and areas for continued development. They prioritise the well-being of their staff team, and staff comment that they are highly approachable and supportive. They make strong use of supervisions to support staff practice. However, some staff would benefit from further training and support to ensure they are confident in teaching all areas of the devised curriculum.
• There are good partnerships with parents. Staff share regular updates, both through the online app and verbally. They hold parents' evenings to share children's learning, and the nursery invites parents to events. Parents state that their children have made good progress with their communication, confidence and independence.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• ensure all the staff have the training and knowledge required to teach all aspects of the curriculum
• ensure all staff use the correct words and grammar when speaking to children, to support their language development.