Archangels Montessori Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff provide a warm and welcoming learning environment where children arrive eager to start their day. Children are happy and settled and know routines well. Staff praise children well during activities helping to build children's confidence. For example, during circle time staff encourage the children to think about what they have already learnt and support their critical thinking with regards to weather and seasons.

Staff support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) well. They work closely with SEND external agencies and parents to support children's next steps and working towards targets. Staff work together to assess children's starting points and to see how they can work on supporting children to get the right targeted support. Children make good progress given their starting points.

Staff have clear expectations for children. They teach them readiness for school, such as dressing and undressing, hand washing and self-serving their own snack. Children are taught the importance of listening and turn taking. Children behave well. Children have plenty of opportunities to develop their fine and gross motor development. Staff make good use of Montessori resources for children to practice these skills.

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

• Leaders have worked hard on actions set at the last inspection. They now complete regular risk assessments, making sure that play areas are safe for children to use. They are now proactive in checking resources daily to prevent risks for children. This all helps to keep children safe.
• During focus activities, staff do not consistently adapt them to provide extra challenge for most-able children. For example, during a craft session staff cut out the items for the children to stick onto their work.
• Leaders have started to work with local early years teams. They are working together to improve the overall quality in the setting. Although staff practice is starting to improve it has not yet been fully embedded into practice.
• Staff and leaders now have a clear understanding of child protection and safeguarding concerns. They are alert to local safeguarding trends. They all know reporting procedures and the importance of attending meetings with external agencies, helping to keep children safe.
• Children have a positive attitude towards learning. Staff make activities fun and exciting, engaging children well. Staff give children options of what they wish to carry out next, for example giving them options of singing or story time. This encourages children to build confidence in answering questions and allows staff to work with children's interests.
• Staff ask good-quality questions, helping children to think about their answers. This helps to support children's language development. During story time, staff and children talk about what is happening during the story. They also link this to outside of the setting, helping children to make links to what they have already learned at home.
• Staff have a clear understanding of their key children's next steps and how to support these when planning activities. They have started to use children's interests when planning to make them fun and enjoyable for the children to participate in.
• Children are skilled in using technology. Staff have taught them how to interact with smart speakers, enabling them to request different children's music and to turn it off when concentrating at activities.
• Children recall what they have been taught well. When discussing dates and calendars with staff, children remember what they have learned and sing a song naming the months of the year. Staff praise them well, helping to build on children's confidence and self-esteem.
• Leaders now complete regular staff supervisions. They review the quality of practice to help to identify training needs for staff. Recent training has supported staff to identify children's next steps in learning and how to successfully use these in their planning. This helps to progress children's learning and development.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to provide more challenge during activities for children to develop their independence further
• continue to evaluate the quality of the provision to maintain a high-quality learning environment.