Twinkle Toes Nursery

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

The leader and manager are both passionate and dedicated to developing better outcomes for children at this nursery. Both the leader and manager are very hands on and are involved with the day-to-day running of the nursery.

As a result, self-evaluation is accurate. Children are happy, well cared for and settled. Staff are attentive to children and know them and their individual needs very well.

The key-person system is effective.Staff are aware of what they want children to learn while at nursery. They develop their activities around improving children's communication and language skills.

Staff understand the ...importance of this and parents are encouraged to follow through with this at home. For example, children are given a sticker to wear, such as 'ask me about the helicopter.' This promotes conversations between children and their parents at the end of each day about something they have enjoyed or learned at nursery that day.

Children are confident to safely explore the setting and the many exciting activities on offer. For example, younger children enjoy making marks with paintbrushes in oats, while older children try to free dinosaurs from ice. These exciting activities encourage children to develop their imagination and freely express themselves.

Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are well supported. Leaders use additional funding to buy resources that support children's interests and further their development. Nursery staff work well with other professionals involved in children's development.

As a result, children with SEND make good progress.

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

Leaders and managers have developed a curriculum that is specific to their current group of children. They regularly review this and change it if necessary, based on the children attending.

For example, the setting currently is focusing on developing communication and language through all their activities. This is because research shows that a high percentage of children in the area are less developed in their communication and language skills.Overall, children have a positive attitude to learning and are kind to their peers.

They enjoy helping each other when struggling to put on their aprons before a cooking activity. However, staff do not always recognise when children are becoming distracted in their learning. This is because activities can sometimes last too long; as a result children are not always engaged.

Staff support children to develop their communication and language skills in many different ways. For example, they discuss their snack items before they choose a snack in their daily activity of 'snack and chat.' Children who may have a speech and language delay are recognised early as staff screen their development.

This means they can quickly put interventions into place to support children to become confident communicators.Overall, children's personal development is supported well. Staff teach children about oral health through discussions around hygiene and making healthier food choices.

Children also brush their teeth after lunch each day. However, staff are not consistent in supporting children to develop their independence skills in preparation for school. For example, some staff intervene too quickly to help when children are putting on their coats.

Furthermore, staff often wipe children's noses for them, rather than encouraging them to do this for themselves.Parents speak highly of the nursery team. They say their children have developed well and become more confident since attending the nursery.

Parents comment on how they are well informed of the daily routine of their children and what they are learning. This promotes continuity of care between home and nursery.Staff promote children's physical development well.

Babies enjoy crawling through messy play activities in low-level trays. Older children use knives to cut up vegetables to prepare a soup to enjoy. This helps to strengthen children's small-muscle movements, in preparation for early writing.

Leaders and managers place high value on the progression and support for their staff team. New staff take part in a detailed induction process that continues throughout their early stages of employment. Staff comment that they are well supported and are eager to develop their knowledge.

Staff have input on their future targets and progression. As a result, supervision is effective.Staff regularly assess children's development through their professional knowledge and observations on children.

They use the information from assessments to plan future learning. As a result, children make good progress.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Staff undertake regular training in line with safeguarding and child protection issues. As a result staff are confident in the procedures to follow should they be worried about a child. Staff are also confident in their knowledge of the nursery's whistle-blowing policy.

Leaders and managers are aware of their responsibilities and attend regular meetings to support children who may be at risk of harm. Most staff hold a paediatric first-aid qualification. This means they are aware of how to deal with an emergency first-aid situation if required.

Staff effectively risk assess the nursery environment and remove any hazards. The nursery's equipment and resources are well maintained.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: support staff to recognise when children are ready to move on in their learning, to achieve high engagement levels from children nencourage staff to allow children to develop their independence skills more frequently, in order to prepare them for school.