Jelly Beans Montessori Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Babies, toddlers and older children settle quickly and are happy and content. They learn to be independent, choosing resources from the low-level shelves and exploring their surroundings. Babies and toddlers form good relationships with staff and their key person. They enjoy cuddles when they feel tired and sit on a member of staff's lap for a reassuring hug. This helps to support their emotional well-being. Toddlers take part in a wide range of activities inside and out in the garden. For example, they use child-sized spades to dig in the mud area and use small containers to create castles in the sandpit.

Children enjoy colour matching. Staff encourage them to find objects around the room that are of a specific colour. Children rise to the challenge and quickly locate the different colours on book covers, in a messy play tray and other resources around the room. This helps to support their early mathematical knowledge. Babies become fascinated by wooden rings, which they carefully place onto the stand. They run their fingers over them and use their mouths to explore the smooth texture of the wood. Others develop their physical skills as they learn how to step up and down from small wooden steps. This helps to support their muscles and strengthen their walking skills.

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

• Staff take time when babies and toddlers start to find out about their care and daily routines. They quickly get to know each child and are aware of their individual needs, such as when babies are hungry or tired. Partnerships with parents work well. Parents appreciate the daily opportunities to find out how their children have been. Parents say that they are very happy with the care their children receive and the progress they make. They comment that they are looking forward to face-to-face meetings with staff to discuss their children's progress and next steps.
• Babies enjoy helping staff to prepare the daily loaf of bread. They assist staff to put the ingredients, including flour, salt and oil, into the tin. Staff talk to the babies about what they are doing. However, they overlook ways to develop babies' physical skills as staff do some of the tasks that babies could complete for themselves. For example, staff scoop out the flour before giving the spoon to the babies to tip into the tin.
• Staff observe children regularly and record their achievements online, which parents can access. They plan for what each child needs to learn next. Staff support their learning through purposeful adult-led experiences and activities that children choose for themselves. Children make consistently good levels of progress in relation to their starting points.
• Babies and toddlers enjoy listening to their favourite story with staff. Babies use their early language skills and hand gestures to request a book about a mouse called Masie. They sit and listen as staff read using different tones of voice to bring the story to life.
• Staff constantly speak to the children about what they are doing to help support and extend their learning. However, at times, these interactions are not consistently age-appropriate or do not give children time to think through their answers. For example, staff talk to babies about whether they are feeling happy or sad, which are emotions they have yet to understand fully.
• Children enjoy using their creative skills to create pictures. They make marks outside on blackboards using coloured chalks. Toddlers use paint and other resources to produce their own artwork. Staff praise their efforts to help develop their confidence and self-esteem.
• The provider keeps a close eye on practice and staff's teaching skills. The manager completes regular supervisions with staff and encourages them to identify additional training. Some staff are trained in the Montessori approach and share their knowledge with the rest of the team. All staff attend meetings and complete training days to help improve practice and outcomes for children.
• There are good links with local authority advisers, health visitors and other professionals who help to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. This enables staff to seek support and guidance to tailor educational and care plans to meet children's individual needs.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• improve educational programmes to provide greater opportunities for babies to complete activities for themselves
• develop staff's teaching skills to interact consistently with children according to their age and stage of learning.