Burgh Wood Montessori Nursery School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Leaders and staff place children firmly at the centre of their exemplary setting. They recognise the importance of supporting children to value their own individual uniqueness. Children gain a deep understanding of the cultures and beliefs of their friends, which helps them to be extremely respectful of similarities and differences between themselves and others. Leaders value input from parents very highly and welcome them to share their traditions with the children, such as reading traditional stories and cooking special food for them to taste and enjoy. This is very successful in enabling all children to gain an exceptional knowledge of the world around them.

Staff expertly apply their knowledge of the children to adeptly create an engaging and stimulating learning environment for them. This evokes children's curiosity to explore their surroundings, which supports them to become independent learners. For instance, children self-select the resources they need to create a birthday party experience. They dress themselves in costumes and cooperate with each other to organise their 'party'. Children readily invite their friends and staff into their activity, and they beam with delight as they act out their imaginary game. Staff enrich children's learning by encouraging them to think about how they can enhance the experience further. Children enthusiastically share their ideas with each other and chat about how they can extend their activity. This enables children to develop their creative and social skills.

Leaders and staff have very high expectations for children's behaviour, which are successfully embedded in children's daily routines. For instance, staff use group times to discuss the nursery rules with children. During their play, children actively remind their friends of the rules, such as when they hear the tidy up song being played. When children need support to regulate their behaviour, staff skilfully support them, which helps children to learn how to modify their behaviour.

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

• Leaders put exceptional time and effort into building highly effective partnerships with everyone who is involved in children's care and development. This includes parents, staff, local schools and other agencies. Leaders ensure that they develop strong lines of communication with all parties to ensure that children receive the best possible care and support. Leaders extend this by providing parents with targeted information about how they can further promote their child's learning at home. This enables staff and parents to work harmoniously together to ensure that all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), flourish.
• Leaders have very successfully embedded strategies to ensure that staff have detailed knowledge of all the children who attend the setting. Staff conduct home visits before children start at the setting. This helps them to develop cohesive partnerships with parents and enables children to become familiar with their key person. Staff regularly ask parents to share relevant information, which staff incorporate in their planning to enrich children's experiences. Staff set up highly effective systems so they can quickly access essential information about children's interests and next steps. This enables staff to precisely meet the needs of all children exceptionally well. Consequently, staff have excellent knowledge of all children and they use this information to successfully help each child to reach their learning goals.
• Leaders are highly reflective of the service that they provide for families. They recognise the importance of supporting staff in their well-being and professional development. This ensures that the quality of experiences for children are of a consistently high standard. As such, staff have formed a strong, supportive and inspirational team that works together to provide the best possible care and teaching for children. Leaders willingly take on board any feedback and ideas from staff, parents and children. They promptly implement any necessary changes and improvements to ensure that children continue to receive an exceptional education.
• Leaders and staff have placed a strong focus on behaviour and communication skills as a result of the ongoing impact of COVID-19. They have actively sought support from other agencies, such as the local authority and childcare professionals. They have also completed specialist training to support children whose progress has been impacted by the pandemic. They are proactive in sharing this information with parents so that children receive the best possible support to reach their expected levels of development.
• Staff plan exciting activities to stimulate children's interest and engagement. For instance, staff spark children's curiosity to learn about their world around them by actively encouraging them to plant carrot seeds. Staff clearly explain the activity so they understand what is expected of them. Children immerse themselves in the sensory experience of learning to care for the seeds and discovering how they will grow. This enables children to have a deep understanding of growth over time. Children are inspired by their superb learning environment to build on their knowledge even further. For example, they proudly make links with their activity and the pictures on the walls. Staff are highly effective at engaging children in stimulating conversations to talk about the activity. This helps children to process and apply what they have learned.
• Children are resilient and they readily welcome opportunities to overcome challenges. For instance, children thrive as they learn to safely manage risks. Staff know each of the children exceptionally well, which enables them to know how much support they need to give to each child as they engage in risky play. Staff expertly adapt the levels of encouragement and support they provide depending on the individual abilities of each child. This provides children with excellent tailored support to fully embed their learning.