Tic-Toc Day Nursery

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children are eager and excited as they arrive at this safe and welcoming nursery. They happily greet their friends and confidently explore the toys and resources. Young children concentrate well as they accomplish tasks such as completing puzzles.

They show good levels of cooperation and perseverance as they try different ways to join the pieces together. Children demonstrate their growing imaginations as they immerse themselves in role-play games. For example, toddlers had fun as they took on the role of doctors.

They made links with their own lives as they spoke about making the dolls better by giving them medicine. ...During group activities, older children are keen to answer questions and join in with songs, showing great enthusiasm. Staff have high expectations for children.

They encourage them to share songs from their home languages, helping to create a friendly and inclusive environment. Children take part in vigorous exercise to support their physical health. They climb, balance and ride around on scooters outdoors.

Children are very well supported by staff as they settle in at the nursery and transfer between rooms. They demonstrate that they feel extremely confident and secure. For example, babies quickly form close and caring bonds with their key persons.

They communicate by smiling and babbling, and turn to staff for reassurance when needed.

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

Staff closely monitor children's progress, to ensure that they are developing well. They quickly identify any gaps in children's learning and ensure that appropriate action is taken to help close these.

This includes working alongside parents and other professionals to support children's progress.Overall, staff organise the learning environment effectively, to support all areas of children's development. However, staff do not consistently provide a wide range of textures, media and materials for children to explore.

Subsequently, there are fewer opportunities for children to develop their creativity and enhance their understanding of the world.Staff generally plan a good range of activities to support children's learning. However, they do not ensure that group times consistently give younger and less-confident children the best possible learning opportunities.

On these occasions, not all children are fully challenged and highly engaged in group activities.Staff support children's development in communication and language well. They introduce new words to children to expand their vocabularies and use songs to help them identify sounds and rhymes.

Children who speak English as an additional language quickly learn to understand and speak English fluently.Children behave well and show a good understanding of the expectations for their behaviour. For instance, older children enjoy special responsibilities, such as being 'helper of the day'.

Staff give lots of praise and encouragement, which boosts children's confidence and self-esteem. They provide daily opportunities for children to explore and talk about their feelings and emotions, which helps to enhance their emotional well-being.Children show a positive approach to their learning and are keen to take part in discussions about things that interest them.

For example, as they searched for dinosaurs hidden in the sand, children shared their knowledge of the names and characteristics of dinosaurs.The manager and staff regularly reflect on practice and talk through their ideas with each other. This ensures that they have a shared view about how to improve and develop the service.

The manager provides regular supervision meetings and is available for informal discussions at any time. Staff report that they feel very well supported by the manager and other members of the team.Parents give highly positive feedback on the nursery.

They talk warmly about the staff and the care that they provide. Parents say that they get excellent feedback on their children's learning. They report that their children make good progress and learn a good range of skills in readiness for starting school.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.The manager and two other members of staff have completed designated persons' training for safeguarding. This ensures that there is always someone available to provide staff with support and advice, should they have any concerns about a child's welfare.

Staff show a good understanding of the different types of abuse and how to identify the signs and symptoms that a child may be at risk. They are aware of the nursery's safeguarding policies and procedures. This includes what they should do if they are concerned about an adult working with children.

The manager and providers carry out robust checks when recruiting staff, to ensure that they are suitable to work with children. Staff check the nursery areas and equipment, indoors and outdoors, each day, to assess and minimise any risks and provide a safe environment for children.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: build on the strategies used during group activities, so that younger and less-confident children have further opportunities to be highly challenged and engaged in their learning develop further the opportunities for children to explore and experiment with a wide range of materials, textures and media, to support their creative development and enhance their understanding of the world.

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