Cotswold Montessori @ Guiting

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The senior team and staff inspire children to achieve. They understand very well how children learn and develop. Staff find out what children can do when they start. They use children's interests, information from parents and offer different ideas or suggestions to extend learning and development brilliantly. They combine Montessori practice with the early years foundation stage framework successfully. As staff see children progress, they add to the complexity of activities or ideas, superbly enhancing children's skills and knowledge.

Indoors, low-level shelves hold exciting trays filled with accessible resources. Children are highly motivated to experiment and explore. Younger children have jugs and containers to pour water into and out of. Staff ask questions, getting children to consider whether different shapes of container will hold the same amount of water. Older children have similar activities, but staff include more tools. For example, children have pipettes that they have to squeeze to fill and empty. Staff ask questions and pose challenges for children to solve. Children build on their skills and take pride in their achievements.

Children's behaviour is exceptional. They show tremendous respect for others. Staff model this superbly. They listen intently when children speak, and provide time for children to think and answer questions. When there are disagreements, staff ask children to help find the solutions. For example, when children are reluctant to share some of the toy dinosaurs, staff encourage children to talk about which ones they want or need. They make sure that they give enthusiastic praise when children let others take some of the dinosaurs.

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

• Staff know the children and families intimately. Partnership with parents and other professionals is superb. Staff ensure that they use and tailor any additional support precisely to help children achieve well. All children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, or who are learning English as an additional language make fantastic progress. Staff focus on communication to help all children express their views and join in. They use signs as well as words, and home languages to make sure that children feel valued and included.
• Children remain focused and engaged in activities. Younger children explore dough. They talk about how to make it and what it feels like. Staff ask them about what they are doing. They make suggestions about how children can mould and shape the dough and use different tools. They praise children when they share the dough and tools with others. Older children explore a puzzle based on a map of the world. They match the colour of the country to the space on the puzzle. Children recall the names of countries. They talk about needing to take an aeroplane to get to Asia, but say that it does not look too far on the puzzle map. Children are making connections and forming ideas for themselves.
• Outdoors, children are eager to play with others. They recall digging for worms and where the best place is to find them. When they find the worms, older children remind younger ones to use gentle hands. They tell staff that the worm has to go back where they found it as that is its home.
• Highly qualified staff make the most of opportunities to extend and develop children's knowledge and skills. They model how to research and find things out. For example, they draw a farm and road with the children. When children ask them to draw animals, staff use online sources to look up the animals. They talk with the children about how to use the online materials and how they can stay safe. Children point out the animal pictures that they would like and help staff to add them to their picture. Children work together, cooperate brilliantly and have very positive attitudes to learning.
• Children develop superb self-help skills. Staff teach children how to care for their environment and resources. All items used are 'real'. There are crockery, glasses and real food in their pretend home play spaces. Children learn how to handle tools and objects that they would find at home. At snack and mealtimes, they patiently wait for their turn to get the fruit and pour their own drinks. Older children help to clean tables and sweep the floor. Children take pride in helping others and caring for their play spaces. They become independent and are well prepared for moving on in their learning and development.