Beckett House Montessori Nursery School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Leaders and staff greet children with a warm welcome. Children enter the nursery with confidence. They take off their shoes and coats and put on their indoor shoes before they enter the main room. They demonstrate that they feel safe and secure. Staff know children well. They follow children's interests and next steps in learning to plan interesting activities.

Children are keen to get involved in the activities on offer and show positive attitudes to their learning. For example, they copy pre-printed patterns to make their own structures from coloured blocks and proudly share these with staff. Children develop a keen interest in reading. They choose to look at books and enthusiastically listen to many stories that staff read during the day.

The nursery follows the Montessori approach, and children thoroughly enjoy experiences that staff provide for them. Staff support children's independence and self-help skills well. The curriculum is ambitious for all children. It has a clear focus on helping children to acquire the key skills they need for their future learning, such as communication and language, mathematical and literacy skills.

All children benefit from trips to the local park. They walk safely with staff and explore the community while building their physical skills and learning about road safety. Staff are consistent in their expectations of children's behaviour. They give children clear guidance and instructions. Children know what to expect and how they should behave. Staff give children positive praise for their achievements.

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

• Children have lots of opportunities to develop their hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills. This supports their early writing skills. Children concentrate as they access practical activities. For example, they skilfully use small wooden spoons to transport pom-pom beads into their containers.
• Staff support children's communication and language development and early literacy skills well. They read books enthusiastically and encourage children to interact with the stories. For example, staff encourage children to interact with the story of 'Space Tortoise', and children follow the moves as they pretend to be spaceships traveling into the sky. Children have access to a book area, where they listen to stories. This supports their growing vocabulary and their love for reading.
• Staff embed and weave mathematics well throughout children's activities. Children learn to identify numbers and problem-solve as they match the counters with the numbers. They make good use of the Montessori resources in the play environment. For example, children enjoy using number rods to understand the length of each rod and how it corresponds to the numbers.
• Children take part in regular trips to the local community. For instance, on outings to the local park, staff encourage them to explore the environment, make large marks on the ground using chalk and run freely with their friends. This helps to strengthen children's physical skills.
• Generally, staff offer good support for children's learning. However, at times, staff do not consistently extend children's learning during adult-led activities. This limits children's play and learning.
• The manager and staff provide a well-planned curriculum, which is based on the early years foundation stage and the Montessori method. Children build on their previous learning and regularly practise their skills. For example, staff teach children about birds and trees, such as through puzzles, and introduce new vocabulary to the children.
• Parent partnerships are strong. Parents talk highly of the nursery and comment that the nursery has a family feel and that staff are caring, approachable and warm. Parents receive updates on their child's learning and development. They are happy with the progress their children make and highly recommend the nursery to others.
• The manager's intent for children to become independent is implemented well. Children select their own activities and clear away when they finish playing. They manage their personal needs well. For example, children independently take themselves to the toilet and wash their hands, blow their nose and put their tissue in the bin. This helps children to become independent.
• Staff plan opportunities for children to explore art activities using a range of tools, such as glue and scissors. However, some activities do not always support children to develop their creativity and make choices. For example, staff give children a set of pre-cut shapes to build their own penguin. This does not always support children to freely express their own artistic ideas and be creative.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to develop their teaching skills to challenge and extend children's learning consistently at all times
• extend opportunities for children to develop their creativity and imaginations during adult-led activities.