Chatter Tots

Chatter Tots
Unique reference number (URN): 2545242
Address: Kemsley Community Centre, The Square, Ridham Avenue, Kemsley, Sittingbourne, Kent, ME10
2SL
Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises
Registered with Ofsted: 06/01/2020
Registers: EYR
Registered person: Chatter Tots Ltd
Inspection report: 4 March 2026
Exceptional
Strong standard
Expected standard
Needs attention
Urgent improvement

Expected standard
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.
Achievement Expected standard
Children, including those who are disadvantaged or have other barriers to their learning,
progress well from their starting points. They gain the key skills needed for their future
learning. Typically, children are confident communicators. For example, pre-school children
spontaneously approach visitors to show off their artwork, explaining what they have created
and the different colours used. From a young age, children learn to manage tasks for
themselves, such as putting their coats on for outdoor play and getting a tissue for their
noses. Pre-school children pour their drinks, cut their fruit up and put away their rubbish
after mealtimes. Two-year-old children develop hand–eye coordination and hand strength
with tools, such as stirring the coloured water and scooping it from one container to another
and when digging sand. Children are interested and motivated to learn. For example, babies
stack cups and get great enjoyment by filling and emptying them again with colourful
animals.
Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard
Leaders and staff create an interesting and inviting environment. They help children learn to
share and take turns with their friends and ask for help when required. For example, children
approach staff when they are upset that another child has taken their toy or if someone has
been unkind to them. Staff generally manage this well, responding gently and fairly. Staff
sensitively support children to manage disagreements. They encourage turn-taking and help
children learn about managing their emotions through practical strategies, such as coming
down to their level and speaking calmly and clearly. However, staff are not always consistent
with their reminders. This leads to occasional unwanted behaviour, for example children
climbing on furniture. Staff encourage turn-taking and cooperative play, supporting children's
personal and social development effectively.

Pre-school children enjoy helping others, such as fetching the paints and aprons for their
younger friends to use. Relationships between staff and babies are sensitive and nurturing,
helping the youngest children to feel safe, secure and comfortable. For example, staff
recognise when babies are tired and offer them their comforters and cuddles until they fall
asleep. Parents share positive views about the bonds their children have formed with their
key persons.
Leaders implement the new procedures for monitoring children's attendance well. This
includes prompt contact with parents to follow up on any absences. Parents are familiar with
the nursery's procedures and know to report a child's absence.
Children's welfare and wellbeing Expected standard
Relationships between staff and children are respectful and warm and promote children's
wellbeing. Staff are responsive and caring. They know the children well and support
children's individual needs. All children have a strong sense of belonging, including
disadvantaged children and those who may face other barriers to their learning and/or
wellbeing. Care practices take into account the personal needs of each child. For example,
leaders and staff adapt settling-in times and modes of attendance to help children feel
settled and secure. Children, particularly babies, feel comfortable to go to their key person
for cuddles when they are upset or need reassurance.
Children know the daily routines and practise self-care skills confidently, such as washing
their hands before eating, and they help to tidy up. However, staff do not always give full
consideration of children's family and community culture to promote children's identity and
self-worth.
Leaders and staff encourage healthy eating. They offer nutrition advice to parents who
provide packed lunches and ensure that the menu for hot meals and snacks is nutritious.
They are clear about children's individual dietary needs and any adaptations they require to
promote their health and welfare. Children enjoy being active during daily outdoor play. Staff
encourage and support them to develop their strength, balance and coordination in the fresh
air.
Curriculum and teaching Expected standard
Leaders have developed a broad and balanced curriculum that supports children's learning
across all areas. Staff place a strong focus on promoting children's physical, personal, social
and emotional development. Children show they feel safe, secure and confident as they
move around the setting to play and explore. However, this is not always the case during
some routines, such as coming in from play in the garden. Some children find it hard to
manage this change, and it leads to a slightly disordered environment and briefly affects
children's engagement.
Staff assess children accurately, identify their next steps and plan activities that build on
what children already know and can do. Children access a wide range of experiences that
encourage curiosity, creativity, imagination and enthusiasm. The curriculum is largely child
led, with adults extending children's interests to create meaningful and enjoyable

opportunities. Staff support learning well, offering encouragement to ensure that all children
participate.
Staff support children to learn number names and count through everyday opportunities.
Older children benefit from more focused small-group activities where they count, identify
numbers and sing number songs. Leaders recognise that further staff training would
strengthen the delivery of the mathematics curriculum, and this is already planned.
Leaders and staff have also developed an exciting outdoor area, including a bug hotel, mud
kitchen, climbing equipment and sensory resources, which promote exploration and physical
development. Staff model language effectively, introducing new vocabulary during activities.
For example, they offer words such as 'seedling' and 'budding' when planting sunflowers
with the children. They also ask simple questions when children are exploring the mud
kitchens with different textures and colours, using different implements to experiment to
encourage children's communication skills.
Inclusion Expected standard
Leaders and staff work closely with parents and other professionals to consider how to meet
the individual needs of all children, including those with special educational needs and/or
disabilities (SEND). Staff know their key children well, and they work closely with those
responsible for leading practice for children with SEND to identify when children may require
additional support. They regularly review children's individual plans to ensure that they
reflect the children's progress and identify what they want them to learn next. Leaders and
staff make timely referrals for extra support when needed and ensure that additional funding
is used to provide children with the help they need to close the gaps in their learning. Staff
implement recommendations from external agencies and generally share updates with
parents when working towards children's targets.
Leaders meet with staff frequently to discuss their key children's progress, individual needs
and any other potential barriers to children's learning and wellbeing. They use what they
know about the children to plan how to adapt the support they provide. For example, they
consider children's communication, interaction and understanding. They identify that
implementing a new system for communication through the use of simple hand signs and
symbols will support all children's language development. This helps children to feel a real
part of the nursery.
Leadership and governance Expected standard
Leaders reflect accurately on the nursery. They identify areas for improvement, such as to
develop the quality of the delivery of the curriculum for mathematics. Parents comment
positively about their children's progress. However, staff do not consistently incorporate all
children's backgrounds and cultures and community into the curriculum.
Staff report that leaders prioritise their welfare and wellbeing, providing support for them
personally and professionally. Consequently, staff morale is high, and they enjoy coming to
work. Leaders provide effective support and coaching for staff, which enables staff to reflect
on their practice and share their ideas. Leaders listen to staff and use their individual
interests and skills to enhance children's care and learning. For example, leaders have

implemented a new system for communication through the use of simple hand signs and
symbols. This has successfully supported children with special educational needs and/or
disabilities and children who speak English as an additional language to communicate their
needs.
Leaders and staff carry out risk assessments of the premises and activities to ensure that
children are safe and secure at the nursery.
What it's like to be a child at this setting
Leaders and staff create a welcoming environment. They work closely with parents and
provide a flexible and sensitive settling-in process to ensure that every child feels
emotionally secure at the nursery. Children new to the setting form strong attachments with
their key person, developing the confidence to play and explore while knowing they can
seek comfort and reassurance from staff when needed.
Children enjoy their learning and play with creativity and curiosity. Adult-led activities are
planned around children's interests, such as learning about different transport after the
children enjoyed identifying this on their way to nursery. Staff encourage children to repeat
and practise skills to develop children's confidence and understanding. For example, staff
repeatedly top up the sensory bowls in the mud kitchen for 2-year-old children, who scoop
and pour and experience the different textures and colours to repeat key words.
Babies and toddlers develop balance, coordination and leg strength to crawl, stand and walk
to explore the toys and resources. They climb down the slide and balance on the see-saw,
giggling happily when they succeed. Pre-school children play imaginatively with their friends
and explore colours when mixing paint. Children develop a love of books. They choose to sit
and look at books independently and are supported by staff when needed, concentrating
well as they look at the pictures and turn the pages. When children notice staff reading a
book to other children, they eagerly hurry over to join the small group and gather around,
listening and watching with interest. Smaller group activities are planned for older children to
help with concentration and to prepare them for school. Children behave well and play
cooperatively for the most part. For example, pre-school children work together to invent
their own imaginative games and spontaneously cuddle their friends.

Inspector:
Mandy Mooney
About this setting
Unique reference number (URN): 2545242
Address:
Kemsley Community Centre
The Square, Ridham Avenue, Kemsley
Sittingbourne
Kent
ME10 2SL
Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises
Registration date: 06/01/2020
Registered person: Chatter Tots Ltd
Register(s): EYR
Next steps
Leaders should ensure that staff take a more aligned approach to managing children's
behaviour so that children experience positive responses from all adults.
Leaders should review the transition times to minimise disruption to children's learning
and play.
Leaders should strengthen the community and family links with the setting to ensure that
all families feel a sense of belonging and that all cultures and backgrounds are equally
valued.
About this inspection
The inspector spoke with leaders, staff, the special educational needs coordinator and
designated safeguarding lead 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.

Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 08:00 - 18:00
Local authority: Kent
Facts and figures used on inspection
This data was available to the inspector at the time of the inspection.
This data is from 4 March 2026
Children numbers
Age range of children at the time of inspection
0 to 4
Total number of places
50
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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