Blackwell Montessori Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are warmly welcomed into this calm, nurturing and safe environment, by staff who understand their unique personalities and needs. Each child is given the time they need to wash their hands and pour their drink and carry it to the table. Even the youngest children show high levels of independence and confidence during this time. Children benefit from story sessions and enjoy looking at books independently during the session.

Children are encouraged to explore, discover and investigate their environment indoors and outdoors. They show high levels of interest and persevere in their chosen activities. For example, children independently access the Montessori resources, which are focused on promoting their fine motor skills. Activities quickly capture children's imagination. For example, children make dens for the pretend insects with the natural materials provided. Staff skilfully help children to recall what they have been learning about insects. Children recall how bees make honey and the life cycle of the butterfly and talk about grasshoppers and tarantulas. During the forest walk, toddlers easily follow instructions to keep safe. They listen to the sounds they hear and are encouraged to talk about the animals they might see. Pre-school children thoroughly enjoy the phonics session as they link sounds to letters of the alphabet and sing.

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

• The experienced manager provides an educational programme that uses aspects of the Montessori approach to help promote children's learning across all areas. The environment is set up daily with the development needs of children in mind. The main focus is to allow children to freely play, explore and discover at their own pace. Staff place a high focus on building children's confidence and independence through the routines and their play.
• Using the natural world to engage children and support their learning is a prime focus. Staff provide rich, first-hand experiences for children to learn about the natural world and living things. For example, children learn about the life cycle of plants and trees as they regularly walk through the local forest and learn about seasonal changes. They learn about the local wildlife as they watch video footage captured of animals, such as rabbits, foxes and magpies visiting the grounds.
• Staff support children to learn about their similarities and differences and talk about their families and home lives. Children learn to respect each other and be kind. They begin to value other languages through the French lessons provided. However, staff do not create enough opportunities for children to use their home languages and learn about people and communities beyond their own experience.
• The motivated staff team speaks highly of the manager and the support they receive. The manager works alongside the staff and provides regular staff supervision, coaching and training to help develop and extend their knowledge and teaching skills. However, the manager has not identified that during group sessions, staff do not always plan diligently for the mixed-age group of children taking part. Consequently, on these occasions, the youngest children do not fully participate and get the very most from the experiences on offer.
• Promoting children's good health is a clear strength. Children have plenty of opportunities to be outdoors in the fresh air and use a range of challenging equipment to be physical. They benefit from weekly music and movement sessions and learn that exercise is good for their health.
• Staff build strong relationships with parents and collate useful information about children's care and development. Parents report that they are impressed by the progress their children make. They are grateful for the electronic system used, which gives them instant access to their children's progress and learning. Parents state they find this information useful in helping them support their children's learning at home.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to help them plan more robustly for group activities, so that the youngest children can fully participate and get the most from the experiences on offer
• increase the opportunities children have to use their home languages and learn about people and communities beyond their own experience, to help further support their understanding of diversity.