Towers Tiny Tots Day Nursery

Two rooms, a large garden and space for babies to play separately give Towers Tiny Tots Day Nursery a clear identity. Based in its own building on the Towers School site in Kennington, Ashford, it cares for children from three months to four years and has 32 places in total. The outdoor offer includes a classroom, a covered area and guinea pigs that children help to care for. These are useful extensions of the indoor day, rather than simply somewhere to run around.

At its 15 June 2022 inspection, Ofsted judged the nursery Good and found safeguarding effective. That assessment also came with practical improvement priorities: more consistent responses to behaviour and better support for less-experienced staff to extend older children's learning.

Attendance spans an extended day, a shorter day and a morning session. The combination gives families several ways to use the same nursery as their working hours and children's needs change.

Rooms and Ages

The baby room takes children from three months to two and a half years, moving to the over 2’s room when ready; singing, stories, sensory exploration and early language sit alongside sleeping space and a separate garden play area, giving babies dedicated space for rest and outdoor play.

In the over 2’s room, books, imaginative play, art, sand and water broaden children's experiences alongside learning about occupations, insects and everyday events; direct garden access and a covered outdoor area support daily outdoor play.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage is the shared framework for children's learning, development and care. Here, play and key person observations inform individual activity planning, connecting children's interests with their next learning steps.

In June 2022, a child's interest in dinosaurs prompted a sensory activity using rocks and cereal as pretend soil. Another activity involved testing objects in water and predicting which would sink or float. These examples show the kinds of questions and investigations that formed part of the inspection-time day. Children also encountered unfamiliar vocabulary through ordinary conversations, including discussions about drinking water in hot weather.

The June 2022 improvement priorities qualify that picture. Some opportunities to deepen older children's learning were missed, and less-experienced staff needed more guidance. For families approaching the preschool years, the important distinction is between providing an appealing activity and using it to develop a child's ideas further.

Outdoor and Community Life

Balancing, climbing, wheeled play and larger messy activities give the garden a physical emphasis. The outside classroom extends learning outdoors, while caring for guinea pigs gives children living creatures to observe and a responsibility to share.

Relationships and Communication

Every child has a key person who works with parents or carers. Settling sessions help children become familiar with the team, allowing for different speeds of adjustment.

Tapestry, the online learning journal, records observations and photographs of new learning. Uploads are not daily. Parents contribute interests and development from home, helping the key person plan activities and giving families a way to follow progress.

In June 2022, parents received learning suggestions and shared home achievements. Staff gathered children's interests, food preferences and dietary needs before they started, connecting home routines with nursery care.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

A dedicated special educational needs and inclusion coordinator works with families, and the nursery uses starting strong guidance as part of its support arrangements. At its June 2022 inspection, Ofsted found that simple signing helped children with speech and language delay or special educational needs and/or disabilities express their needs and feelings. That is a concrete example of support, rather than a general promise about inclusion.

Child protection lead roles and staff paediatric first aid training form part of current arrangements. An intercom controls entry, and visitors other than parents must carry identification and sign in.

Behaviour was a separate improvement priority in June 2022. Staff did not consistently apply the same strategies, and situations could escalate. Predictable adult responses matter to young children, so this deserves attention alongside the positive examples of communication and relationships.

Sessions and Attendance

The nursery address is Towers School, Faversham Road, Kennington, Ashford, TN24 9AL. It opens Monday to Friday from 7.30am to 6pm for 50 weeks of the year, closing on bank holidays and for two weeks at Christmas. Families need to plan around those closures even when using year-round care.

The paid booking options are a 10.5-hour day from 7.30am to 6pm, an eight-hour day from 8am to 4pm, and a five-hour morning session from 8am to 1pm. Additional hours can also be purchased. These are different attendance choices: the opening window does not require every child to stay for its full length.

Once sessions have been agreed, they become the child's regular booking. Increases or reductions require a month's written notice, while changes to funded sessions are made termly and depend on availability. Private fees remain payable during sickness or family holidays. The nursery can be contacted on 01233 665573, and waiting-list forms are available through the manager; families are contacted when a place becomes available.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded early education includes the universal entitlement for three- and four-year-olds, working-parent entitlements from nine months and Free for 2 for eligible two-year-olds. Funding can be stretched: the 15-hour entitlement becomes 12 hours a week, and the 30-hour entitlement becomes 24 hours, over 47.5 weeks. A term-time arrangement for 15 funded hours uses three five-hour sessions across 38 weeks. Eligibility conditions apply, and private hours beyond the funded arrangement are charged separately.

Zebedees, an outside catering company, prepares lunches using a three-week menu rotation, with dietary requests discussed in writing with families and the caterer. Private fees include food according to the sessions attended, including snacks and drinks; on funded days, cooked lunch and snacks attract a separate contribution, with a healthy packed lunch as the alternative.

Nappies, formula milk and jars of baby food are excluded from fees. A deposit and non-refundable registration charge apply when securing a private place, while children attending solely for free early education pay neither. The deposit is offset against final fees when a month's leaving notice is given; insufficient notice means losing it. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation, with the attendance terms explained on its fees and funding page.

Although the nursery occupies the Towers School site, attendance does not guarantee a Reception place. Nursery care and a later school application are separate decisions.

• Older children's learning and behaviour. The June 2022 priorities concerned extending learning and using behaviour strategies consistently. On a visit, ask how staff now develop an older child's ideas during play and maintain consistent responses across the team.
• A baby room with a broad age span. Children can remain in the baby room until two and a half, with transitions guided by readiness. Ask how sleep, play and the move to the over 2’s room are organised for your child's stage.
• Funding across the calendar. Stretched funding runs over 47.5 weeks, while the nursery opens for 50. The written quotation should distinguish funded attendance, private hours and food contributions so the yearly pattern is clear.
• Food and care supplies. Dietary requests are discussed with the caterer, and nappies, formula milk and baby-food jars are outside the fees. Families managing an allergy should confirm current food arrangements, alongside who supplies these everyday care items.

Towers Tiny Tots suits families choosing between an extended day, an eight-hour day and a morning session, with funded arrangements adding another way to organise attendance. Its strongest practical attractions are the separate provision for babies, direct outdoor access for older children and a garden that supports physical play and animal care.

The key person system and Tapestry give parents a clear role in sharing children's learning. Balance those arrangements against the June 2022 priorities around behaviour and extending older children's thinking. This is a nursery whose appeal rests on tangible spaces and everyday care arrangements, with those teaching priorities deserving a focused conversation.