Butterflies Montessori Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff focus on building positive and caring relationships with children and their families. They offer a warm and friendly welcome to children and parents at this nurturing nursery. They provide an in-depth settling-in period when children first start that is individual to each child's needs. Children quickly settle into the nursery and come in eager to see the staff and their friends.

There is an ambitious curriculum for children that focuses on developing children's confidence, communication skills and independence. Staff use regular observations and assessments of children to identify relevant next steps. Gaps in learning and development are identified swiftly and interventions put in place. All children make progress from their starting points. Children build the confidence to communicate their needs and share information about their lives. For instance, young children ask for help, and older children tell staff about what they have been doing with their families. They build skills of independence and self-care. For example, children choose their own snack and put their dishes into washing-up bowls. They also know to wash their hands after coming in from the outside and before eating, and they do this without adults having to remind them.

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

• There is an effective key-person system in place. Staff know the children well. They use daily discussions and half-termly meetings to discuss children's progress as a team. However, although staff know children well, they do not always use this information to provide individual support and challenge for some children. At times, these children are not fully engaged in purposeful activities that maximise progress. For example, these children sometimes wander unengaged and spend long periods observing and watching others.
• Children develop a knowledge of words. Staff use books and other opportunities to introduce new vocabulary. For example, children learn the terms 'leaf beetle', 'habitats' and 'insects' while playing in the garden. They are keen to use these new words and tell other children and staff what they have learned.
• Staff offer children some opportunities to develop their understanding of respecting choices and valuing the opinions of others. For example, they ask children to vote for the song they would like to sing first and count the number of hands for the winner. However, staff do not fully support children to understand the impact of their behaviour on others or consistently reinforce the behaviours expected of them. For example, they do not always support children to resolve conflicts positively. Also, they do not always set clear boundaries and expectations for transition times, such as lining up to go inside from the garden and organised group times. Consequently, children are not always aware of how to behave. For instance, staff do not reinforce the rules of sitting well and listening during group activities. Some children do not join in these activities or lose focus, which does not fully support their learning and development.
• Staff regularly share information with parents, outside agencies and other settings children attend. For instance, they meet with children's key persons from other nurseries and provide updates on what children have been learning and their progress. They chat with parents each day the children attend and provide activities to further develop children's learning at home. Children benefit from this sharing of information that supports their progress.
• Staff support children's transitions to school. For example, they invite children's new teachers into the nursery to meet the children and discuss children's progress with the key person. Children develop skills and habits that prepare them for school. For instance, they build a love of counting and exploring mathematical problems. They enjoy reading books with adults and retelling stories.
• Leaders conduct regular observations of staff's practice and offer guidance to support continuous professional development. For example, they model activities to less confident staff and offer supportive feedback. However, staff's training is not always targeted to meet the individual needs of the children and update staff's knowledge of how to better meet these needs. As a result, although staff know what they want individual children to learn, this is not consistently delivered through their practice.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• ensure that all children receive appropriate challenge and support, so they are engaged in purposeful learning that meets their needs and interests
• provide clear and consistent boundaries and support children to know and display the behaviours expected of them
• provide staff with training that continuously develops their teaching so that children benefit from individual challenge and targeted support.