Alba - Teeny Boppers Montessori School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive happy and very eager to start their day. They quickly settle and make independent choices from a range of planned activities and accessible resources. They develop secure attachments with staff, confidently approaching them when they need reassurance. Staff show awareness of children's emotional well-being. This helps children feel safe and secure. Children are motivated to learn and develop their skills. For example, younger children test out their ideas and enjoy exploring resources in the role-play area. They practise new skills, such as using chop-sticks to move pom-poms between bowls. Older children use scissors and combine materials as they learn about the different parts of a flower. This helps to promote their small-muscle development and early literacy skills. Children learn to move in different ways and have good opportunities to develop their core strength. They enjoy regular yoga and mindfulness sessions.

Children behave well, manage their own conflicts and take turns with others. They listen intently and follow instructions. Staff have high expectations of children's behaviour and model good manners. They support and praise children who are learning to share and take turns. This means that children quickly learn what is expected of them, supporting their self-esteem and well-being. All children, including children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), make good progress in their learning from their starting points.

What does the early years setting do well and what does it need to do better?

• The new leadership team has a strong vision for the nursery. Leaders have clear plans for a well-sequenced and ambitious curriculum with appropriate learning outcomes for children. However, this has not had sufficient time to be fully embedded. As a result, not all staff are aware of the curriculum intention and some activities are not pitched at the right level. This means that, at times, some children do not demonstrate high levels of engagement in their learning.
• Children are learning about the world and their local community. They go on trips to local shops and places of interest, such as parks and playgrounds. Children learn about a variety of festivals, which helps them to develop an understanding of the lives of their friends and life in modern Britain.
• Children are developing a secure understanding of mathematics and numbers. Staff have a good knowledge of how to bring the teaching of mathematics into everyday routines. They model mathematical words to compare sizes, such as 'big' and 'small', which children use in their everyday play.
• In the main, the provision in place for children who speak English as an additional language is generally effective. There are many strategies that are working well. However, the procedures staff use to support families and children who speak English as an additional language are not as effective as they could be. Keywords in children's home language are not always in use. This does not enable children to value their home language or to help increase their sense of belonging.
• Children benefit from a language-rich environment. Staff engage children in conversations and provide a narrative while they play. They support children to develop a love for books and reading. Children thoroughly enjoy joining in with storytelling and singing at group times. However, staff do not always recognise when quieter children would benefit from their interaction. As a result, quieter children do not always get the same level of interaction with staff as the confident communicators.
• Partnership working is strong. Links with external professionals and the local authority are good. Parents speak highly of the staff at the setting. They comment that they are kept well informed about their child's care, learning and development. Parents feel that since attending the nursery, their children have made good progress in many aspects of their development.
• Children with SEND are supported well. The special educational needs coordinator works closely with the local schools and other professionals. She is vigilant to any signs that a child might need additional support.
• The leadership team have a good understanding of what the setting does well and what it needs to improve. Staff feel supported and benefit from regular staff meetings and ongoing professional development.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen staff's understanding of the curriculum intent so that their teaching is consistently focused on what they want children to learn
• provide more targeted support for children who speak English as an additional language to help them make even better progress
• strengthen the monitoring of teaching so that all children's needs are met with equal support and consistently high quality interactions from staff.