Blooming Tulips Montessori Nursery School

Inclusion: Strong standard

Leaders and staff know children extremely well and swiftly adapt the environment, routines and experiences to remove barriers to learning and enable every child to participate fully. They work closely with parents and carers and external professionals to develop personalised action plans and ensure that strategies are consistently implemented. As a result, children receive highly responsive support and are fully included in the life of the setting.

Staff systematically monitor children's progress and make targeted enhancements to provision, helping children who face barriers to learning make significant progress from their starting points. For example, staff adapt plates for children who find mealtimes challenging, providing separate sections and a space for familiar foods, ensuring mealtimes are positive experiences.

Leaders gather information about children's home languages before they start and introduce key words, books and visual cues to support communication. Children learning English as an additional language benefit from transition cards and familiar words, such as 'nap time' in their home language, helping them to understand routines. Staff also sensitively support children through significant changes, such as the arrival of a new sibling, using dolls, photographs and visits to the baby room to help children understand and share their experiences.

Leaders and staff create a highly inclusive environment where every child and family feels welcomed, valued and respected. They recognise and celebrate the different family structures, cultures and religions represented within the setting.

Curriculum and teaching: Strong standard

Staff provide an ambitious, inclusive and well-sequenced curriculum that builds progressively on children's knowledge and skills from babies through to pre-school. They have high aspirations for every child, including for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, and use effective assessment to identify next steps and skilfully adapt teaching. Staff make the most of spontaneous teachable moments to deepen children's learning. For example, children develop practical life skills as they wash their wellington boots after muddy walks.

Children's communication and language is extremely well supported. Staff provide highly effective narration throughout play, consistently describing what children are doing and introducing new vocabulary. Staff use regular singing alongside visual cues to help children understand routines and communicate their needs. Books are readily used. Staff use puppets to bring stories to life, capturing children's attention and babies enjoy pulling down flaps to reveal dinosaurs, demonstrating curiosity and sustained engagement.

Mathematical knowledge is meaningfully embedded across the nursery. Children develop an understanding of measurement as they pour liquids using different sized pots and explore quantity and size through wooden resources. They manipulate 3-dimensional blocks to construct towers and use scales in the mud kitchen to measure ingredients and investigate concepts, such as 'heavy' and 'light'.

Staff interactions are highly effective and consistently support children to deepen their understanding. Staff position themselves alongside children at their level and adapt their teaching responsively to children's interests and emerging understanding.

Achievement: Strong standard

All children, including those who face barriers to learning, make sustained progress from their individual starting points. Children demonstrate a clear focus, curiosity and enthusiasm for learning and are remarkably well prepared for the next stage of their education. They are confident communicators who use increasingly complex language to express their ideas and describe their experiences. For example, children confidently use words, such as 'creamy' and 'sharp' when describing the fruits they taste.

Children demonstrate admirable self-discipline and independence throughout the day. They move confidently around the environment, use resources respectfully and independently tidy them away when finished. They instinctively tuck their chairs in and take responsibility for caring for their environment without prompting.

Children make excellent progress in their physical development. Babies confidently navigate different surfaces and balance along beams, while older children tackle increasingly challenging obstacle courses, use the climbing wall and develop coordination as they learn to ride trikes. Children interact harmoniously, persevere with challenges and demonstrate the skills needed for future learning.

Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines: Strong standard

Leaders have established especially high expectations for behaviour, with clear and consistently understood routines and expectations across the setting. Children behave extremely well and demonstrate kindness, courtesy and respect towards others. Staff model calm, nurturing and respectful interactions, resulting in positive relationships where children cooperate and play harmoniously. Children develop a clear sense of responsibility for their environment, independently returning resources neatly and helping to keep shared spaces organised. They show consideration for others by ensuring that resources are ready for their friends to use.

Children are supported to understand and manage their feelings and resolve differences respectfully. The 'peace table' and 'peace rose' help children to identify and communicate how they feel, listen to others, take turns and share resources. Children demonstrate highly effective self-regulation and increasingly manage their own behaviour successfully.

Staff know children well and provide support that reflects their individual needs, ages and stages of development. Transitions between rooms are carefully managed, with familiar key persons providing continuity and reassurance and relevant information shared effectively. Routines remain flexible, for example, lunchtime is brought forward when needed to accommodate children who require an earlier meal. As a result, children develop positive attitudes towards learning, interact harmoniously and confidently engage in their experiences. Leaders monitor children's attendance. They work closely with parents and carers to promote the importance of punctuality and regular attendance.

Children's welfare and wellbeing: Strong standard

Leaders and staff place children's welfare and wellbeing at the heart of everything they do. Care is highly personalised, with staff taking time to understand children's individual needs, routines and preferences and gathering detailed information from families to ensure continuity of care. Highly effective settling-in arrangements, including flexible stay-and-play sessions and gradual transitions, enable children to develop secure attachments with their key person at a pace that suits them. Dedicated one-to-one support ensures that children feel safe and quickly develop confidence in their new surroundings.

Staff consistently promote children's health, independence and wellbeing through carefully embedded routines. From an early age, children develop positive self-care and hygiene habits. Babies are encouraged to wash their hands after nappy changes, while older children independently use the self-care station to wipe their faces and blow their noses. Staff explain why hand washing is important, helping children understand how to keep themselves healthy.

Mealtimes are calm, purposeful and highly supportive of children's individual needs. Children confidently self-serve food, pour drinks, scrape plates and manage familiar routines independently. Staff encourage children to make healthy choices and talk to children about the food they eat. Children confidently pass serving bowls to friends and use polite language, demonstrating that these routines are deeply embedded. Consequently, children develop confidence, independence and a secure sense of wellbeing.

Leadership and governance: Strong standard

Leaders provide effective oversight and make decisions that prioritise children's needs and the quality of their experiences. They have a clear understanding of the nursery's strengths and use feedback from children, staff and parents to inform ongoing evaluation and make meaningful changes.

Parents speak very positively about their partnership with the setting. They describe their child attending the setting as a 'gift' and value the regular communication. Parents feel listened to and involved in decisions about their child's care and learning. A wide range of events and activities are organised for parents to engage with the setting and become involved in their children's experiences. Parent-teacher meetings provide regular opportunities for meaningful discussions about children's progress, development and next steps.

Leaders invest consistently in staff development. Comprehensive induction, regular supervision and ongoing professional development ensure that staff understand the nursery's expectations and develop the knowledge and skills needed for their roles. Recent training in outdoor learning and supporting babies has had a clear impact on staff's confidence and practice. Peer observations and tailored targets further support continuous improvement. Leaders place a high priority on staff wellbeing and workload. They make reasonable adjustments to roles and responsibilities and provide an open-door approach and regular wellbeing discussions. Leaders' actions demonstrate a sustained commitment to improving outcomes for children and supporting staff to deliver high-quality care and education.