Blue Nest Montessori School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children and parents are warmly welcomed by staff on arrival. Children leave their parents with ease and find their peg. They hang up their personal belongings and take off their jackets before starting their busy day, knowing the routine well. Staff support children who have recently joined the nursery by providing lots of reassurance and helping them to form close bonds. As a result, children feel safe and secure.

Children demonstrate positive attitudes to their learning. They are calm, relaxed and show high levels of curiosity and concentration in this nurturing environment. Staff have high expectations of children's behaviour. Children follow the 'golden rules' and show respect for each other. Staff use praise and encouragement to promote children's behaviour. Children listen and respond to instructions.

Staff put children at the heart of everything they do. They carefully tune into children's voices to plan a wide range of activities based on their interests and needs. Staff make sure that enough resources are available and organised for children to make choices, indoors and outdoors. For example, children have continuous opportunities to practise pouring with different resources to make it more challenging. The curriculum is ambitious, sequenced and builds on children's past experiences. All children make good progress in their learning.

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

• The manager and staff team are passionate about providing high-quality education for all children who attend. They evaluate the nursery and consider the strengths and areas of development, which helps them to identify further areas for improvement and make positive changes. For example, staff have carefully assessed the layout of the hall and recently changed it so that children have more space to move about and enjoy dancing.
• Staff support children to follow good personal hygiene routines. For example, recently, staff introduced a toothbrushing routine. Children learn the importance of oral hygiene and confidently brush their teeth after snack. Older children use the toilet and wash their hands independently, and staff support younger children. However, at times, staff do not maximise opportunities for children to carry out tasks for themselves. This impacts on children's ability to persist when some tasks are tricky.
• Parents are complimentary about staff, saying they are friendly and kind. The manager and staff have built strong relationship with parents. Parents appreciate the regular communication, verbally and via the online app. Parents comment that the nursery has a 'homely feeling'. They say that staff are approachable if they have any concerns or questions.
• Staff encourage children's early mathematical skills throughout the day. Staff introduce and use number language and calculating skills in everyday activities playfully. For instance, staff read the numbers as younger children press the toy telephone buttons to pretend to call their parents. Older children count how many bananas they cut with simple sums and use a sand timer during tidy-up time. They are excited to tidy up quickly to beat the sand timer.
• Staff swiftly identify those children who may need additional support. They provide support to children with special educational needs and/or disabilities to help them to reach their full potential. Staff work closely with parents and other professionals to plan appropriate targets for each child. They use additional funding effectively, such as early years pupil premium, to benefit the children who receive it. However, there are occasions when staff do not appropriately communicate key information about children among themselves. This mean that, in the absence of a key person, other staff do not consistently maximise children's learning at every opportunity.
• Children have plenty of opportunities to be physically active and build on their physical skills and strengths. For example, children use various-sized jugs, funnels and pipettes to measure water to develop their small muscles. They enjoy climbing the climbing frame, lifting themselves up to swing, and riding the bicycles, which helps to develop their large-muscle movements.
• Staff report high levels of well-being and receive good support. The manager carries out regular supervision meetings with staff and observes their teaching practice. This supports staff to continuously develop their practice and ensures that quality is consistent throughout the nursery. During supervision meetings, staff discuss their own professional development, training needs and set targets. They feel valued and supported in their roles.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen staff's practice to give children further opportunities to develop their independence in daily routines
• develop communication to ensure that key persons consistently share information about children's development and needs with other staff, to maximise children's learning.