URN 2852894 · Inspected 2026-08-13 · Published 2026-09-28 · Inspector: Su Lavercombe
Tiny Tots Day Nursery Unique reference number (URN): 2852894 Address: Tiny Tots Day Nursery, Gloves Lane, Blackwell, Alfreton, DE55 5JJ Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises Registered with Ofsted: 18/08/2025 Registers: EYR Registered person: Lisa Liston Limited Inspection report: 13 August 2026 Exceptional Strong standard Expected standard Needs attention Urgent improvement Safeguarding standards met The safeguarding standards are met. This means that leaders and/or those responsible for governance and oversight fulfil their specific responsibilities and have established an open culture in which safeguarding is everyone's responsibility and concerns are actively identified, acted upon and managed. As a result, children are made safer and feel safe. How we evaluate safeguarding When we inspect settings for safeguarding, they can have the following outcomes: Met: The setting has an open and positive culture of safeguarding. Not met: The setting has not created an open and positive culture of safeguarding. Not all legal requirements are met. Strong standard Achievement Strong standard All children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and children who face barriers to learning, make excellent progress from their starting points. They build positive relationships with peers and staff and confidently take turns, share resources and negotiate during play; for example, during a singing session, children chose songs for the group with assurance. Children are highly motivated, engaged and curious as they explore the indoor and outdoor environments. They show pride in their achievements, such as eagerly sharing drawings with their key person. These interactions strengthen children's motivation to try new things, persist with challenges and take ownership of their learning, ensuring that they are well prepared for their next stage of education. They sustain concentration well, particularly when using technology robots to develop computational thinking, spatial awareness and early coding. Staff place a strong emphasis on independence, enabling children to develop the confidence and self-assurance needed for their next stage of education. Younger children are well prepared for transition into the next room by practising simple self-help skills, following familiar routines and making choices with sensitive guidance that builds readiness and resilience. Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard Leaders and staff foster a respectful, nurturing and inclusive culture where every child is valued and supported. They provide warm, clear interactions that help children feel safe and secure, and they build trusting relationships by listening carefully and offering reassurance when children are unsettled. Adaptations to routines enable all children to participate fully, supporting emotional regulation and sustained engagement in play and learning. This was evident when children used a resource sack to talk confidently about feelings and healthy lifestyles. Staff manage transitions calmly and consistently, helping children understand what will happen next and move smoothly through the day. Younger children benefit from time alongside older peers, and strong partnerships with local schools further enhance transition arrangements, with teachers visiting the nursery. Parents also spoke highly of how well their children are supported during transitions. Leaders and staff maintain positive relationships with families, and routines are fully embedded. Babies seek comfort from familiar adults and initiate cuddles, demonstrating secure attachments. Staff act as excellent role models, showing kindness, respect and calm interactions that children mirror in their own behaviour, for example being mindful of peers who have recently moved into their room. This contributes to positive relationships and positive attitudes towards learning. Absences are monitored promptly, supporting children's safety and wellbeing. Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard Leaders and staff create a welcoming, inclusive environment where all children and families feel valued. Children's welfare and emotional wellbeing are consistently prioritised. Staff gather detailed/relevant information from parents. They have a secure knowledge and understanding of children's individual needs, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and children who face barriers to learning. Leaders and staff gather meaningful information from parents and use an online application to share children's learning, enjoyment and photos. Reports clearly outline children's progress and identify future priorities, ensuring that parents remain well informed and involved. Settling-in arrangements are carefully tailored. Leaders take a flexible, child-centred approach, following familiar routines and offering calm, consistent support. Parents and carers express strong confidence in staff's care, noting their understanding of children's routines, preferences and needs. Leaders also share key information with parents, including safer sleeping guidance. Healthy lifestyles are promoted through daily routines and rich opportunities for physical development. Children enjoy active, exploratory play, such as climbing, sliding and growing fruit and vegetables in the garden. The key-person approach is embedded and effective; staff know their children exceptionally well and create a supportive, consistent environment that enables them to feel secure and ready to learn. They use everyday activities purposefully to extend children's learning; for example, bubbles are incorporated to motivate children and enhance their language development through rich vocabulary, turn-taking and shared enjoyment. Children feel safe, show a sense of belonging and engage in purposeful play. Staff are nurturing, respectful and demonstrate genuine care in all interactions. Curriculum and teaching Strong standard Leaders ensure that the curriculum is inclusive and ambitious, firmly rooted in the setting's context and community. Staff consistently deliver a wide range of meaningful, high-quality experiences that reflect children's interests, current experiences and clearly identified next steps. Provision is sharply focused for those who face barriers to learning, with staff using their in-depth knowledge of each child to plan activities that close gaps and promote sustained progress. They have a secure understanding of child development and know each child well, enabling them to deliver focused, purposeful experiences that extend learning. Staff consistently prioritise children's independence, and this is deeply embedded across daily routines. Older children demonstrate strong self-help skills; they wash their hands, make informed choices about what food and drink they would like, and confidently serve and pour these themselves at lunchtime. Younger children are sensitively encouraged to have a go first, with staff providing just enough support to enable success. As a result, children develop increasing autonomy, confidence and ownership over their own care needs. Mathematical development is promoted highly effectively across all ages and is woven seamlessly into daily routines and play. Younger children build early number awareness through engaging rhymes and songs, while older children confidently explore more complex concepts such as full, empty, heavy, predicting and problem-solving during rich, hands-on experiences, for example, in the mud kitchen. For example, children estimated how many jugs of water were needed to fill a pan, demonstrating growing mathematical reasoning and the ability to apply their learning in meaningful contexts. Staff provide a well-balanced mix of child-initiated exploration and adult-led learning, underpinned by consistently high-quality interactions. They have a secure understanding of what children can already do, their next steps and any emerging gaps in learning, including those children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and children who face barriers to learning. Resources are deliberately selected to spark curiosity and enable children to revisit and practise key skills; for example, children return to baskets of toys to search for favourite cars, strengthening their persistence and problem-solving. Communication and language are consistently enhanced through rich vocabulary modelling and sustained, high-quality interactions. Staff skilfully differentiate their language to ensure highly effective teaching, adapting vocabulary and sentence structure, so all children can access and understand new concepts. Repetition is used purposefully in targeted activities for children who need additional support, including one-to-one story sessions, enabling them to consolidate key language and build confidence. As a result, there is a clear and continuous focus on developing children's vocabulary, oral language and comprehension, and children make strong progress in these areas. Inclusion Strong standard Leaders have a clear and accurate understanding of the community they serve. The team demonstrates consistently high expectations for every child, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and children who face barriers to learning. For example, leaders ensure that staff have the knowledge and skills needed to support individual children by identifying specific training needs and sourcing targeted professional development opportunities. This enables staff to respond effectively to children's varying needs and to provide high-quality, personalised support. Leaders have established an inclusive environment where each child is respected and supported as an individual. Staff know children and their families very well, enabling them to identify emerging needs quickly and make thoughtful adaptations to the provision. Leaders and staff take effective action to reduce barriers through inclusive practices, such as enhancing sensory-processing provision. Sensitive adjustments to the curriculum ensure that all children's needs are met. Flexible daily routines allow staff to provide planned and targeted support, including one-to-one language work or adaptations during mealtimes, helping children regulate their emotions and access learning alongside their peers. Staff use additional tools, including communication and language audits and sensory processing toolkits, to inform practice and tailor provision. The staff also make proactive use of outside agencies to identify services and interventions, which are shared with parents. Leaders use funding effectively to enhance and extend children's learning and development, for example, by sourcing additional resources that enrich the curriculum and meet identified needs. Partnership working with parents and carers is highly effective, supported by clear communication methods, such as an online application and daily feedback. Parents speak highly of the staff and eagerly share how rapidly their children progress and how happy they are at the setting. Leadership and governance Strong standard Leadership is purposeful, child-centred and guided by a clear vision, ethos and strategy that consistently prioritises excellence for every child. Leaders know the setting well, with an accurate understanding of its strengths and the actions needed to sustain continuous improvement. Recent adaptations, such as installing an additional canopy, adding air conditioning units during heatwaves and developing sensory areas, demonstrate thoughtful, proactive decision-making rooted in children's needs. Leaders recognise that the team is central to high-quality early years provision. They utilise tools to maintain a highly qualified and happy workforce with extensive experience in teaching young children and cultivate a shared set of values that shape everyday practice. Staff feel respected and valued; leaders consider wellbeing and workload carefully, and this contributes to a motivated, dedicated team focused on securing the best outcomes for children. Staff speak positively about the support they receive and welcome opportunities for purposeful professional development, including training and attending network meetings. Self-reflection is embedded in leadership practice. Leaders identify strengths and areas for further development with precision, resulting in targeted improvements that directly enhance the quality of provision and children's outcomes. Leaders extend learning beyond the nursery. Younger children take home the rhyme of the week, while older children select books to borrow and enjoy at home, strengthening their engagement with the numerous initiatives. Parents and carers articulated how their children enjoy taking resources home, including books and cars, and this strengthens the link between nursery and home learning. Parents spoke about how their child/children have developed and achieved so much while at nursery, highlighting the significant progress made across all areas of learning. Leaders work closely with families to identify and remove barriers, offering practical support, such as access to nursery facilities and guidance on claiming additional funding and services. What it's like to be a child at this setting Children thrive from the moment they arrive at this warm, nurturing and inclusive nursery. They settle quickly into purposeful learning and show high levels of curiosity, engagement and motivation. Staff build trusting relationships with children and their families; children feel safe, valued and respected. For example, younger children began to climb and are supported with calm encouragement and gentle reassurance, giving them the confidence to continue. During a feelings activity, children explored their emotions while staff stayed at their level, offering warm responses and reassuring nods. This secure foundation enables them to develop confidence, a strong sense of belonging and clear enjoyment in their day. Children achieve well, regardless of their starting points or circumstances. Staff know each child very well and adapt the environment to meet individual needs. Children who require additional help are included and supported, while others are offered meaningful opportunities to extend their learning. For example, children benefit from one-to-one sessions that focus on their next steps. All children are well prepared for future learning, including the transition to school. The curriculum follows children's interests and promotes exploration, independence and sustained concentration. Children remain curious and engaged as they investigate their surroundings. They benefit from strong community links, including visits to the local nursing home where children and residents take part together in shared activities, such as craft sessions. They learn to communicate with people of different ages, show kindness and patience, and experience a sense of belonging within the wider community. Children flourish in a calm, intentional and welcoming space, showing positive attitudes to learning, cooperating with others and developing increasing independence. Children develop highly positive social skills and demonstrate kindness, cooperation and respect for one another. They laugh and smile during activities, and rich opportunities to explore, investigate and solve problems help them build the knowledge, skills and confidence needed for future success. For example, during mud kitchen play, children show deep engagement and sustained concentration. Staff extend learning through thought- provoking questioning, encouraging children to think, reason and communicate their ideas. Next steps Leaders should continue to support staff to maximise children's learning opportunities during spontaneous play even further, so this has a transformational impact on children's achievement. About this inspection The inspector spoke with leaders, staff, children, parents and carers during the inspection. Inspector: Su Lavercombe About this setting Unique reference number (URN): 2852894 Address: Tiny Tots Day Nursery Gloves Lane, Blackwell Alfreton DE55 5JJ Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises Registration date: 18/08/2025 Registered person: Lisa Liston Limited Register(s): EYR Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 07:30 - 18:00 Local authority: Derbyshire Facts and figures used on inspection This data was available to the inspector at the time of the inspection. This data is from 13 August 2026 Children numbers Age range of children at the time of inspection 1 to 4 We carried out this inspection under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 on the quality and standards of provision that is registered on the Early Years Register. The registered person must ensure that this provision complies with the statutory framework for children's learning, development and care, known as the early years foundation stage. Total number of places 29 Our grades explained Exceptional Practice is exceptional: of the highest standard nationally. Other settings can learn from it. Strong standard The setting reaches a strong standard. Leaders are working above the standard expected of them. Expected standard The setting is fulfilling the expected standard of education and/or care. This means they are following the standard set out in statutory and non ‑ statutory legislation and the professional standards expected of them. Needs attention The expected standards are not met but leaders are likely able to make the necessary improvements. Urgent improvement The setting needs to make urgent improvements to provide the expected standard of education and/or care. The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) inspects services providing education and skills for children and learners of all ages, and inspects and regulates services that care for children and young people. 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