URN EY375779 · Inspected 2026-09-09 · Published 2026-10-05 · Inspector: Tina Lambert Amelia Abdullah
Little Tinkers Unique reference number (URN): EY375779 Address: Scocus Barn, Five Ashes, Mayfield, East Sussex, TN20 6JJ Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises Registered with Ofsted: 04/03/2009 Registers: EYR, CCR, VCR Registered person: Hanna, Ellen Inspection report: 9 September 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 make excellent progress across all areas of learning. This includes children who face barriers to their learning, such as children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Children are very confident and are able to express themselves clearly as they talk about their home experiences with staff. Babies babble and quickly adopt new language, such as 'ball' and 'roll'. They demonstrate their delight as they negotiate obstacles and successfully kick a ball for the first time. Children enjoy staff joining them in their celebrations, which helps babies to feel a real sense of achievement and pride. Older children demonstrate their impressive and growing knowledge of the environment around them. They are learning how to care for the natural world and the benefits that this brings, such as boosting happiness and reducing anxieties. Children are calm and respectful of living things. They are consistently highly focused as they build on their teamwork skills. Children are building lifelong habits for the future. Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard All children are highly motivated in their learning. They have excellent perseverance skills. For example, babies actively explore their surroundings. They learn through their persistent trial and error efforts, such as when attempting to kick a ball or stack a building block on top of another. Their curiosity and repetition help them to successfully test cause and effect, which supports future learning experiences. Older children eagerly invite others to play with them. This supports their understanding of others' opinions and feelings and turn-taking skills. Children form special friendships with each other. They treat each other with respect and kindness. Children are beginning to develop empathy and share their ideas with others. Staff are excellent role models throughout the nursery. They are kind and gentle and extremely responsive to children's changing needs. This is particularly important for those children who face barriers to their learning. The secure attachments that staff form with children help them to feel safe and more able to regulate their emotions. As staff effectively model patience and gentleness, children learn how to resolve conflicts peacefully and cooperate with others. Leaders discuss with parents and carers the importance of regular and timely attendance. They make adaptations for those children who face barriers to this, adapting routines and sessions. Parents are aware of the link between better future outcomes for their children and regular attendance. Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard Leaders and staff know children and their families extremely well. They have a clear understanding of each child's unique needs and respond quickly to any changes in family circumstances. Staff are particularly aware of those children who face barriers to their learning and make careful adaptations for this, such as regular quiet times, small groups or one-to-one interventions. Leaders and staff demonstrate a genuine care for children's wellbeing. They place a high focus on children's positive emotional, social and personal development. Staff support children extremely well to recognise their feelings and understand how their behaviours can impact others. Leaders and staff plan the environments very carefully. Children receive support to understand risk and make sensible choices as staff teach them how to use farm tools safely. Children demonstrate a high level of enjoyment as they learn to appreciate the benefits of continuous planned learning experiences on the farm. Leaders carefully consider how to ensure that children know what a healthy lifestyle is and the importance of making the right healthy choices. Children are exposed to a large range of healthy foods, which they plant, harvest and eat. There are consistent times for children's meals, snacks and sleep times. Staff are vigilant in their supervision of children when children are eating or sleeping. Children settle quickly and transition between rooms with ease. They show consistent high levels of confidence in the nursery environment. Curriculum and teaching Strong standard The curriculum is well considered and links extremely well to children's learning and development needs. Staff are skilled in making adjustments to activities to ensure that children who face barriers to their learning, such as children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, are able to participate in all activities. Throughout the nursery, staff teach children excellent communication, literacy and language skills. Even the very youngest of children demonstrate high anticipation and excitement as staff announce that it is time for a story. Babies delight as they point to the pictures in books and pull faces as they attempt to look 'sad' and 'happy', learning new vocabulary as they go. Older children are invited to offer their thoughts on what may happen next during story time. They are confident to discuss the characters and join in with familiar phrases. This helps children to feel valued and recognised. It also supports their self-esteem and confidence when talking in front of others. Children of all ages are learning to appreciate that books contain interesting and often exciting information. Staff support children's physical development skills extremely well. All children are very physically adept at negotiating both the inside and outside spaces. Babies quickly learn to crawl and pull themselves up onto equipment. They are beginning to understand the sequence and the concept of taking turns when using the indoors slide. Older children expertly negotiate obstacles as they climb and run around with their friends in the fresh air. Staff weave mathematics expertly throughout the curriculum. They use every opportunity to encourage children to count and discover concepts, such as volume, capacity and estimation as they use tools to dig in the garden. Inclusion Strong standard Staff are able to accurately identify when children need additional help in their learning. They use observations and daily monitoring to establish if any children require more support. Parents and carers are included at every stage of their child's learning, particularly those parents and carers who have children who face barriers to their learning. Leaders work Expected standard successfully with external agencies, such as health professionals and the local authority. They produce highly effective support plans to reduce the risk of children falling behind. Parents feed back that they have consistent and secure information from staff. They appreciate the time that staff spend explaining detailed information, including signposting to outside agencies. Parents feel that leaders and staff are extremely aware of their individual family circumstances. They comment that leaders and staff work hard to reduce any barriers that they may experience. Leaders ensure that there is an effective system in place to share relevant information with other settings that children may attend. They maintain close and effective partnerships with children's prospective schools. This approach makes a measurable difference to children's daily lives and long-term outcomes. Leadership and governance Expected standard There have been significant changes since the last inspection. Leaders have worked hard to ensure that those with lead safeguarding responsibilities understand their individual responsibilities. In addition, leaders now have a secure understanding of the correct internal and external protocols to follow if an allegation is made against a member of staff. Typically, leaders ensure that staff access appropriate statutory training to meet the needs of the children. However, there are no specific programmes to enable staff to pursue their own developmental goals within the nursery. Despite this, the lack of regular training opportunities for staff does not directly impact children's learning and development. Staff report that they enjoy working at the nursery and fully appreciate the benefits of working regularly in an outside environment. They feed back that their workloads are manageable and they attend regular supervision meetings. Leaders have established close and positive relationships with families. This supports the collaborative approach when meeting children's individual needs. Leaders are proactive in seeking external support and engage well with other professionals. Compulsory Childcare Register requirements This setting has met the requirements of the compulsory part of the Childcare Register. How we check if a provider meets the requirements of the Compulsory Childcare Register When we check if settings meet the Compulsory Childcare Register requirements, they can have the following outcomes: Met Not met Voluntary Childcare Register requirements This setting has met the requirements of the voluntary part of Childcare Register. How we check if a provider meets the requirements of the Voluntary Childcare Register When we check if settings meet the Voluntary Childcare Register requirements, they can have the following outcomes: Met Not met What it's like to be a child at this setting Children arrive anticipating an exciting day full of rich learning opportunities. Staff warmly greet children and families. Babies and children settle extremely well as staff take great care to find out about each child's individual wants and needs. Children demonstrate that they feel safe and secure. They form trusting relationships with staff and form close friendships with the other children. All children develop a sense of belonging as staff discuss children's home lives and the issues that are important to them. Inspectors: Tina Lambert Amelia Abdullah All children, including those who face barriers to their learning, make significant progress from their starting points. Staff's highly skilled adjustments to the curriculum precisely meet the needs of all children. Children are curious in their approach and are highly engaged in their learning. They receive encouragement to be inquisitive and take a lead in their own learning. Children know the routines well. They feed the nursery's animals and collect produce from the attached farm. Children are extremely confident in their environment and are fully aware of the rules and boundaries, which contribute to their safety. Babies are deeply absorbed in their exploration and play. Staff are always close, playing alongside them, such as inviting them to make pretend 'cups of tea'. They use every opportunity to support children's emerging vocabulary, physical skills and imagination. Older children receive encouragement to work collaboratively. They problem-solve when building a wooden train track together. Children are kind to each other and automatically share resources and toys. They are beginning to learn the skills needed to make friendships. This helps them with the next stage in their education, such as going to school. All children gather an excellent understanding of the world around them. They have an excellent awareness of the lives and cultures of other children. Children learn about the importance of inclusion and acceptance. All children, including babies, are extremely independent. They are able to confidently dress, toilet and feed themselves. Staff are available for help when needed but are skilful in recognising each child's capabilities and when they are able to do something for themselves. Leaders work hard with families to ensure that children attend regularly and on time. Next steps Leaders should ensure that staff have ongoing professional development opportunities to further develop staff's own personal training needs and goals and further support their wellbeing. About this inspection The inspector spoke with leaders, staff, children, parents and carers during the inspection. 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. About this setting Unique reference number (URN): EY375779 Address: Scocus Barn Five Ashes Mayfield East Sussex TN20 6JJ Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises Registration date: 04/03/2009 Registered person: Hanna, Ellen Register(s): EYR, CCR, VCR Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 08:00 - 18:00 Local authority: East Sussex Facts and figures used on inspection This data was available to the inspector at the time of the inspection. This data is from 9 September 2026 Children numbers Age range of children at the time of inspection 0 to 4 Total number of places 64 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. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk. You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence, write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk. This publication is available at https://reports.ofsted.gov.uk. Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn. 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