Tykes @ Stocks Lane

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are fully engaged in their learning at all times. This is because staff provide an environment that sparks children's curiosity and imagination. Children learn to play alone and alongside others, and they listen to staff as they teach them new skills. Children share photos of people that are special to them and pictures of their own homes. These photos are displayed by staff and help to spark conversations about children's homes and families. This is helping children who have only just started at the nursery to feel safe and secure and to settle quickly.

Staff use words such as 'help', 'share' and 'carefully' to teach children what is expected of them. This helps children to play well together. Children's emotional development is exceptionally well considered. Thoughtful teaching is planned to help children understand and regulate their own emotions. Staff help children to stay calm and recognise their feelings. They support children to resolve conflict and encourage them to take turns or share their toys. Children learn what is expected of them and learn right from wrong.

Staff are highly skilled at supporting children's communication and language skills. They comment on what children are doing as they play. They ask open-ended questions about the models they have made. This encourages children to describe their models in their own words. Children use a wide range of vocabulary and language. They know the names of many objects that they use every day and speak with fluency and confidence.

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

• The manager has carefully considered the skills children need by the time they go to school. For example, children sit in large and small groups and concentrate for long periods of time. They find their own coats and shoes and confidently put them on. They are independent and confident. This ensures that children are more than ready for school when the time comes.
• Staff ensure that there are spaces and opportunities for children to work together. Children work together to build towers out of different-shaped wooden blocks. They take turns to test out different shapes and see if they will balance. They persevere and encourage each other. Children learn to be valuable members of the group and listen to each other's ideas.
• Staff are skilled at adapting teaching to fit in the knowledge that they want to teach children. For example, they incorporate number and the days of the week into singing time. Children thoroughly engage as they count forwards and backwards from 10. They all join in and sing a song about the days of the week.
• Staff provide many opportunities for physical play. Children learn to take risks as they balance on crates and obstacle courses. Staff teach them to put their arms out to the side to balance. Children remember this and confidently walk along beams, using this new skill that they have learned.
• Staff find out about children's prior experiences and the local area. They provide experiences for children to help them understand the world around them and how they are part of the community.
• Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are extremely well supported by knowledgeable and caring staff. They ensure that children receive very tailored yet ambitious plans for their learning. This ensures that children with SEND make good progress alongside their peers.
• Parents speak very highly of the staff team at the setting. They feel very well informed about their child's progress. They are provided with support to help their child's learning at home. They say that the transition on to school is very well managed, so that their children settle quickly when they go to school.
• The manager implements highly effective performance management systems. Staff benefit from regular supervision sessions to talk about children's development. They identify interventions that will support children's learning and development. This is contributing towards the rapid progress that children make.
• The manager is constantly striving to improve outcomes for children. She engages in support and mentoring from other settings to develop practice across the setting. This has a particular impact on the support for children with SEND and children who need additional interventions to develop their communication and language skills.