Clapham Park Montessori and Infant Community

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Managers and staff are very in tune with children and how they learn. They have the highest ambitions for all children. Staff are highly knowledgeable and motivating. They provide an extremely inspiring curriculum that they implement exceptionally well. Staff are highly committed to their role. They ensure that all children have the best opportunities to develop and flourish as they grow, and become well-balanced and happy individuals. Staff are exceptionally nurturing. They gently guide and successfully organise the environment to promote and foster children to learn. As a result, children have an ample amount of space to freely explore, engage and indulge in their learning. All children make excellent progress.

Staff provide simple resources that children thoroughly enjoy. For example, younger children spend time exploring different musical instrument figures. They concentrate extremely well as they pick each item up and explore them, pretending to play each one in the correct manner. Older children participate in activities that enhance their communication, critical thinking and problem-solving skills. For instance, they discuss and work out how much water they need in the bowl to wash different items. Staff encourage children to predict how much water they will need, such as a 'full' or 'half' jug. They encourage children to compare the different sizes of resources they use, such as talking about 'large' and 'small' and the order in which they are placed. Staff skilfully use questions to engage children in discussions to build on their vocabulary and communication skills.

Children demonstrate that they are extremely happy in the company of their friends and staff. They are highly respectful towards each other and considerate, even from a young age. Children are highly confident and know the expectations for their behaviour, which is excellent.

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

• Managers are inspirational and have a very clear vision of what they want children to achieve. Children of all ages consistently demonstrate extremely high levels of confidence, interest and engagement. Staff meticulously plan experiences that successfully capture children's desire to learn. They recognise each child as a unique individual, and enthusiastically use their interactions to build on children's learning exceptionally well.
• Staff expertly provide a range of opportunities for children to explore and discover. There is a strong focus on supporting children to lead their own play from an early age, giving them the tools to assess risks, develop a 'can-do' approach and become resilient. Staff use their knowledge and interactions, along with books, to seamlessly promote the curriculum. For example, staff use different resources to help children to understand about Chinese New Year. They share stories and explain using pictures and discussions. This leads to a wealth of new vocabulary and imaginative play.
• Children of all ages are excellent communicators. They speak clearly and engage in meaningful conversations with staff. Children show exceptional recall and fluency as they sing their favourite songs to themselves as they play. Older children securely join in lengthy conversations with their peers. Staff pose questions and give children time to process their thoughts. They closely monitor children's language development and share detailed progress with parents. This ensures that children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and those who are learning English as an additional language, are confident speakers and achieve highly.
• Staff develop excellent relationships with parents. They keep them well informed about their children's development. Parents give high praise for staff's in-depth, face-to-face and online communication with them. They are very complimentary about the professionalism and support they receive and feel greatly involved in their children's education.
• Children are extremely confident and independent from a young age. Younger children take their time to take off their coats and hang them on the peg, and they put on their shoes with ease. Older children persevere as they attempt to zip up their coats. They politely refuse staff's help and say they can do it by themselves.
• Staff thoughtfully promote children's healthy lifestyles. Older children help to chop fruit for snack time. They know to wash their hands before sitting at the table when they are ready and competently use tongs to serve themselves.
• Staff are excellent role models. Children build exceptionally close bonds with staff and their peers. They are very kind and thoughtful and help their friends willingly. All children receive excellent support, including children with SEND. Managers and staff work very closely with parents and professionals to enable children to have the best experiences and enjoy the environment. Staff precisely identify any delay in children's development and target their support to swiftly close any gaps in learning.
• Managers continually reflect and evaluate the provision and staff's practice and make improvements. Staff receive consistent support and training which enhances their professional development. Managers give staff's personal well-being a high priority. This benefits all children immensely.