Crossharbour Montessori Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are happy and settle well, and staff are kind and caring towards them. Children are keen to get involved with the activities. Babies move freely across the well-resourced playroom. They develop their physical skills as they handle dry pasta. They fill and empty bowls, pouring and feeling the size and shape of the pasta. Babies hold onto furniture to pull themselves up. Toddlers enjoy listening to stories during group sessions, which helps them to learn and embed new words. Older children cooperate with each other and build new friendships, as they share and take turns using the climbing frame and wooden steps during play outside. Children demonstrate positive behaviour and get on well with one another. Children develop a good range of independence skills. For instance, babies begin to feed themselves, toddlers clear away their plates after eating. Older children attend to their personal care during routines. Children talk about their holidays abroad and where their families live, as they look at the world map with staff. They gain a sense of pride and self-awareness as they share information about themselves with each other. Children make good progress from their starting points and gain skills for their eventual move to school.

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

• Parents are complimentary about the service they receive, and the feedback shared by staff about their children's progress. Parents have effective relationships with staff and feel the setting offers a supportive environment for the children and their families. Parents enjoy using the parent app to share and keep updated about their child's learning. However, parents are not regularly encouraged to extend their child's progress at home.
• Leaders work well together to ensure the curriculum is varied and ambitious and they have clear intent for learning across all areas. They are hands-on, as they work in the rooms with staff, their presence in the nursery supports a team-focused setting. They effectively evaluate staff practice and develop new ways of working. For example, the manager visits outstanding settings to learn about ways to raise the standard of care and education they offer to children.
• Staff work very well to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. They ensure all children engage in all activities together. Staff work effectively with external agencies to find out about and offer children additional help. Staff work closely with parents to devise plans to help children develop further.
• Staff support children to learn about each other's backgrounds. For example, staff invite parents to bring in family photos to display on the family board. These offer visual displays to help children learn about their friends and their families.
• Leaders support staff through regular supervision meetings. Staff have opportunities to reflect on their practice, explore any worries about children and plan for further training. However, staff are not all secure in their understanding of child development, to be able to challenge children during play to enhance their learning.
• Staff provide well-planned, safe and stimulating environment for children. They ensure children have access to the outdoor space at all times and enjoy fresh air and exercise. This helps them concentrate and build skills such as teamwork. Children learn the importance of physical exercise and healthy lifestyles.
• Staff have been working hard to support transitions between group rooms. Children are eased into their new rooms slowly and carefully, so that they are not overwhelmed, this helps to support them to adjust and form new attachments with staff.
• Staff support children to manage their self-care needs, children are skilled at using the snuffle stations, where they use tissues to blow their own nose, and know to throw away the tissue after use. All of this supports their skills needed for the future.
• Staff promote children's language and communication well. They learn key words from the child's home language, and staff who speak the same language support children and parents. Staff talk to children offering back-and-forth discussions.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to deepen their understanding of child development to understand how to challenge children in their learning through their interactions with them
• further encourage and share with parents how they can support their child's learning and development at home.