Flying Start Montessori

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive happy and settled, quickly engaging in the activities on offer. Staff provide nurturing support to those who need help transitioning, ensuring all children feel secure and ready to learn. Staff offer a rich and stimulating curriculum that encourages free-flow play. Children's interests are considered, and staff show a good understanding of how children learn. They play alongside children, allowing them to explore at their own pace, while using opportunities to extend children's learning and development.

Children become engrossed in a variety of learning opportunities, including practical life skills, such as washing up, and accessing a range of equipment to support their physical development. Activities, such as balancing on beams, climbing slides and riding tricycles, help children to build on their coordination and strength. Children develop their fine motor skills through scooping and pouring cooked rainbow pasta and manipulating play dough, helping to strengthen muscles in their hands.

Staff are well deployed, ensuring that children are supervised at all times. They promote positive behaviour, encouraging children to care for their environment by tidying up resources and learning to respect their surroundings. Children behave well and form positive relationships with their peers, helping them to play harmoniously together.

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

• Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) receive tailored support. Staff collaborate with a range of external professionals, including local authority inclusion officers. Staff receive bespoke training to meet children's specific learning and developmental needs and show an excellent understanding of how to support children with SEND. Home visits and regular meetings with families further strengthen these support systems. These strong partnerships and individualised approaches ensure that all children receive the support they need to thrive and make good progress from their starting points.
• Children are familiar with routines and show good listening skills as they listen to instruction. For example, children know what to do when transitioning to lunchtime. However, the current organisation of handwashing routines creates congestion and long wait times for children. This results in children not always being engaged in meaningful learning.
• Staff support children's communication and language through the use of books and songs. Staff read stories with animation and excitement, capturing children's attention and fostering a love for books. Children enthusiastically join in with familiar songs and nursery rhymes. Older children show recognition of letters as they use their finger to trace on sand boards and demonstrate their knowledge as they independently paint letters.
• Children show high levels of independence in their play, confidently choosing activities and taking a lead in their own learning. They demonstrate strong self-care skills, using a designated station to wipe their noses and dispose of tissues appropriately. Staff support children in practising tasks, such as putting on coats and shoes, fostering independence in preparation for school.
• Staff provide children with a wide range of learning experiences, which help them to build on their learning and understanding of the world around them. For example, children engage in a sensory scavenger hunt, using their sight and hearing to identify elements in the environment and mark them on a checklist. Staff help children to explore their surroundings. They listen to sounds, such as trains and birds, and describe textures and scents of leaves they find. While older children are consistently included, staff do not always consider how to include younger children in these focused activities.
• Parents speak highly of the pre-school, praising the warm and welcoming environment and the dedicated, caring staff. They are kept up to date with their children's learning and development through meetings each term, daily handovers and newsletters. Parents attend special events, such as Christmas parties and graduations. The pre-school also provides parents with guidance on online safety and values their feedback during meetings.
• Leaders implement robust recruitment and induction processes to ensure that all staff are suitably qualified and fully understand their roles and responsibilities. Staff receive regular supervision sessions, providing professional and well-being support. The team works collaboratively to ensure that children have good outcomes.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• review handwashing routines to make sure they are organised, minimising waiting times and ensuring that children are engaged in meaningful learning
• ensure that staff include all children in focused activities to fully support children's learning and development.