Outstanding Practise

All of our Tiddlywinks Day Nursery branches and Out Of School Clubs have recently been inspected within the last 18 months and all inspections achieved ‘Outstanding’ with Ofsted. Our aim is to provide a High-Quality Childcare service ensuring your child will be in a warm, professional, secure and caring environment. We have continually and successfully developed and have been recognised for our standards and dedication to childcare through national initiatives including Investors in Children, Investors in People, Quality in Play and locally through Manchester’s QAF award. By offering families a high quality, flexible, child centred service where parents can be confident in the care and education their child will receive with us. We ensure each child’s individual needs and interests are catered for, enabling your children to grow and develop into confident and capable young learners by implementing the Early Years Foundation Stage within each setting. The EYFS, is a framework for children from birth up to the age of 5 years old, and the framework sets out seven key areas of learning around which we base our daily planning and focused activities. This framework is crucially important for children’s development and their progress whilst at Tiddlywinks, hence the reason we heavily invested on a childcare software suited for the EYFS and each member of staff has an Android device to guide them on the progress of each child in their key-group. The main focus of the software is upon the daily activities and observations for the children which can be viewed instantly by the parents whether they’re at home or in work. We have regular visits from City in the Community who engage in small groups of exercise and physical movements to help the children develop their motor skills. The sessions also teach children how to share with their friends in groups and enables children to understand the importance of exercise and being healthy.

Intent

Our vision for the curriculum at Tiddlywinks Day Nurseries is to encourage the all-round
development of the child paying attention to their emotional and mental well-being as well as their intellectual learning and development in a safe, secure and stimulating environment through reference to the Early Years Foundation Stage. We have high expectations of all  children and we encourage them to develop independence throughout their time with us. Our aim is for children to experience a curriculum that empowers them for their journey, not only  through school, but through life.

Implementation

Planning for children’s needs at Tiddlywinks Day Nurseries all children are supported in developing at their own pace and encouraged to reach their full potential. Our key carer system enables a planned curriculum tailored to the needs of each individual child. By means of developmentally appropriate play activities and a high level of staff support, we offer a play-based curriculum that uses the Early Years Foundation Stage as the guiding principles. The curriculum we create is responsive to individual children and families, and so changes and grows regularly as we meet new children. We believe passionately that children learn best  through high quality play where they can lead their own learning. Play helps children make  sense of the world, we give them time and space to explore these theories alone, alongside their friends and with the support of key carers around them.

The Role of the Key Carer as the co-constructors of learning

Supporting the children’s well-being and involvement is the foundation we create which then allows the children to interact with us (and us with them) with confidence. The role of the key carer is instrumental in building these strong bonds with their children which will allow them to become independent learners. Once our children have developed these secure relationships their key carer will use a variety of teaching techniques such as encouraging, modelling language, providing resources,  demonstrating a skill, exploring ideas, making links to prior learning etc. Our key carers  encourage children to lead their own learning and whilst also supporting children by having planned next steps for each child’s learning. However these developmental targets and next steps are implemented sensitively by engrossing ourselves in play and planned activities and experiences with children which allows them to develop these skills and next steps in learning overtime and in a way that is appropriate to their learning needs.

The Environment

At Tiddlywinks Day Nurseries our ethos is in line with Reggio Emilia approach which sees the  environment as the third teacher. Our aim is to develop age appropriate spaces for providing numerous opportunities for children to explore, experiment, develop their ideas, and test their theories. The role of the key carers is to ensure that the classroom environment is richly resourced, with materials creatively arranged, and designed to provoke and inspire research and inquiry. We provide continuous provision areas which are well thought out to readily engage the children’s attention. The key carers take time to consider what enhancements ​they may offer the child, which will support and challenge them in the development of their ideas/theories .

Impact

At Tiddlywinks Day Nurseries we understand that the true impact of high quality, outstanding early years education is far reaching and will have huge benefits for children across their lifetime. A crucial indicator for children’s later academic outcomes is the quality of their language and communication skills. As such, at Tiddlywinks our staff are committed to delivering a curriculum that is language rich and will support children to develop an extensive vocabulary. The impact of our pedagogy has been to strengthen children’s educational success by widening their network of social relationships and expanding their cultural horizons. Throughout their time at Tiddlywinks, children build their social capital through the friendships they make with people from all different backgrounds and their involvement in the local community. Children are offered a varied approach to learning which includes a rich language and literacy approach, as well as through trips to art galleries, parks, libraries and engaging with other cultural venues and experiences to expand all children’s cultural capital, no matter  what their background or home experiences is.

Links with Home

Tiddlywinks Day Nurseries recognise the vital role that high-quality Home Learning plays in your child’s lifelong learning and there is a good reason for this – research shows that what parents do with their children matters, whether this be reading a bed time story, baking together, or going for a local walk in nature. We believe parents play a key role in children’s development and it is essential for us to have  a strong partnership with parents to ensure each child reaches their full potential. We encourage parents to make contributions and share information about their child’s learning and development. We also regularly share information on children’s progress and next steps in learning. We often invite parents in for workshops or stay and play sessions to ensure our parents feel valued and they can develop good relationships with staff members.

Committed

Our nursery menus are designed to ensure your children receive a healthy balance of the advised food groups throughout the day. We use the ‘Tot it Up Food Calculator’ ensuring your child has a balance of different foods to help them lead a healthy life, both now and in the future. We have a qualified nursery cook in each setting ensuring we provide nutritious and delicious meals each day for your child. The Cooks meet throughout the year to review the menus, introducing seasonal vegetables and new recipes; occasionally there are changes to the daily menu, for example if we are celebrating a child’s birthday, a festival or special occasion.

Details of parental and children’s preferences and dietary requirements are kept up to date and all staff members are aware of these. The 4 weekly menu is displayed on our nursery welcome board in the entrance of all sites, informing our parents what your children have eaten that day. Children are taught basic hygiene daily. They are asked to wash their hands before and after meals, likewise for baking activities. Our staff plan regular baking or cooking activities for the children to participate in, helping them become familiar with preparing food; discussions also take place about foods and where certain foods come from.

The children sit together in small key-groups with their key-carer who promotes good table manners and encourages the children to eat their meals. The key-carer knows the children’s likes and dislikes and will be aware of this when helping the children serve themselves their meal. Teaching children about healthy foods and encouraging young children to enjoy a healthy, balanced diet will not only reduce their risk of conditions such as obesity and diabetes in later life, it will help guard against illness and infections now.

Outdoor play is a natural enhancement and extension of our indoor environment and the children can freely access our safe and secure outdoor play areas from the playroom. Playing outside provides opportunities for children to use all their senses, to experience wonder and enchantment, to work on a larger scale, to develop their motor skills, learn how exercise can be fun and to enjoy a greater sense of freedom and independence.

We see outdoors as a classroom in itself and we take the children out in all types of weather. Each week the children take part in a fun filled fitness program with our qualified sports instructor. This helps them develop their gross motor skills, spacial awareness and learn exercise can be fun.

Each Tiddlywinks Nursery has its very own “Mud Kitchen” in the sensory and planting area of the garden, this area is where children can explore the mud and soil using a variety of utensils, pots and pans. Using their imagination to rein act and role model whilst exploring their wonderful “Mud Kitchen.”

Exploring the outdoor areas and discovering in another environment is a ke aspect for the learning and development of children, at Tiddlywinks we aim to play outdoors whenever possible. From our most recent Ofsted inspection of Tiddlywinks Blackley site Ofsted said: “The outdoor learning environment is inspirational. Staff embrace the opportunities for children to learn outdoors and they recognise the many different ways in which children learn. For example, children plant seeds that help increase their mathematical knowledge and awareness.