Cawston Montessori

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children flourish at this wonderful setting. They are eager to arrive each day, keen to begin playing and learning as soon as they have found their pegs and put away their lunch boxes. Children exhibit extremely high levels of well-being and engagement. They explore the indoor and outdoor environments with curiosity and use materials in creative, imaginative ways. For instance, they delight in making 'potions' with interestingly shaped bottles, water and natural materials, such as rose petals.

Children build warm relationships with the caring, responsive staff. They seek out adults to proudly share their achievements, including things they have made. Staff respond to these interactions with genuine interest, which encourages children to engage in long conversations about their ideas and experiences. Children demonstrate that they feel highly valued and very safe in the care of staff. They grow in confidence and independence.

Children competently dress themselves in waterproof clothing to play out in the rain and invite other children to join their games. They build challenging obstacle courses and practise their physical skills on the 'whizzy dizzy' merry-go-round equipment. Staff have high expectations for each and every child. They use their expert knowledge of child development and individual children's personalities and interests to plan engaging and challenging activities. Children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, make superb progress and demonstrate a love of learning.

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

• This setting excels at putting children at the centre of everything they do. From staff development to the careful selection of resources and reviews of the environment and practice, everything is geared towards giving children the best possible start.
• The manager has developed a strong, child-centred approach. She is tenacious and works hard with her team to ensure every single child attending the setting receives the best care and support, including from external agencies. All staff are involved in evaluating the provision and considering how they can improve it even further.
• Professional and passionate staff deliver a carefully sequenced, rich curriculum that helps children to build their skills, confidence and knowledge. They work to widen children's experiences and promote their natural curiosity. For instance, children proudly tell the inspector about the potatoes and sugar-snap peas they grew and harvested for their snack. They tell her how they grew the potatoes and how they dug them up when they were ready.
• Children's behaviour is excellent. They are kind, thoughtful and eager to play and learn. Children listen carefully to staff and play cooperatively with each other.
• The manager's approach to staff development is exemplary. She encourages all staff to take part in peer observations, with clear feedback and coaching to develop their practice. Staff attend targeted training to develop their knowledge and understanding. This results in rapid improvements in areas of focus and the overall maintenance of outstanding practice.
• Staff report a high level of well-being and praise the way that the manager promotes their personal development, particularly high-quality teaching skills. They feel valued and appreciated.
• Children have a range of ways to express themselves creatively. They 'cook' and make 'potions' in the mud kitchen. Children enjoy complex pretend play with friends and explore materials. For example, they use tools to move, shape and mark dough. Children also play a diverse range of instruments, and relish the sensory textures of natural materials as they create fantastic miniature gardens that they have designed themselves.
• Staff cultivate superb parent partnerships, which enhance children's learning. Parents say that staff go 'above and beyond' to support children and families. They praise the fantastic relationships that staff build with their children. Parents comment on the wealth of knowledge and support that staff provide, which helps them to support children's learning and development at home.
• Staff are active participants in children's play, readily joining in and making the most of opportunities to extend children's learning. They are also highly skilled in recognising when it is more beneficial to take a step back and allow children to figure things out for themselves or persevere without an adult interrupting.
• Children become deeply engrossed in their learning and often remain at activities for extended periods of time.