Busy Lizzie's Montessori

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are exceptionally happy in this welcoming, inclusive and nurturing nursery. Staff are kind, caring and attentive, which helps children to form strong attachments with them. Staff encourage parents to stay with children on their first settling-in visit. They collect lots of information about children's interests, lives and stages of development. This helps children to settle into the nursery very quickly.

Children develop well across all areas of the curriculum and learn important skills and knowledge for their future lives. Staff provide a large range of well-planned activities in both the outdoor and indoor environment. Children are curious and motivated to learn through activities that interest them. Staff use children's engagement effectively to introduce new vocabulary and basic mathematics.

Staff have high expectations for children's behaviour. They model respect and kindness to children, which positively impacts children's treatment of others. Staff provide children with clear boundaries and routines. They use visual cues to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), which supports their well-being effectively. Staff are skilled at identifying and supporting children who need additional help. All children make sound progress from their starting points.

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

• A key strength of the pre-school is the overall positive attitude of the staff and the very high focus given to supporting children with SEND. Staff who work with children with SEND are highly passionate about their role. They ensure that children who need extra help make good progress in the pre-school.
• Practitioners sit with children at story times and ask children questions to support their language development. However, sometimes, the organisation of whole group times does not help children to fully engage in learning. This is because transitions between activities are not consistently well communicated to the children. Some staff do not give children, who are engrossed in other tasks, a warning that it is time to move on to the next activity, such as when it is time for everyone to sit down for a story. This interrupts children's focus and concentration on their original activity and makes it harder for them to concentrate during story time.
• Overall, children become absorbed in their play and learning and they behave well. When children need help to manage their behaviour, staff speak to them quietly and at their level. They give gentle rule reminders. This supports children to make the right choices. When staff praise children, they explain what they are doing well. This promotes children's self-esteem.
• Children develop their independence as they serve their own snacks and meals.
• They show an understanding of basic hygiene routines. For example, children wash their hands independently after a messy activity. However, when children find tasks, such as cutting fruit, challenging, they are not given consistent opportunities to persevere and manage the tasks independently. This is because staff, in their enthusiasm, are sometimes too quick to manage these challenges for children.
• Staff ensure that children receive care in a safe and secure environment. Staff receive training on how to support and plan for children who need a more targeted approach. Additional funding is used effectively to support the individual needs of children. For instance, leaders use funding to extend the opportunities and experiences for children outside in the garden.
• Children who speak English as an additional language benefit from targeted support to ensure that they make good progress in their development of English. Many staff are multilingual. They use their knowledge of other languages to support children and their families well.
• Partnership with parents is strong. Parents comment that communication is good and that staff are attentive and kind to their children. They say that their children cannot wait to arrive at the pre-school. Parents praise the support that they have received with their child's development, as well as the holistic help provided to meet the needs of the family.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• provide children with clear and consistent information that supports their understanding of the routines and expectations
• ensure there are consistent opportunities for children to manage challenges independently.