Kia Mena Montessori Pre School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff provide a breakfast club for children to support children's self-help skills with engaging, stimulating interactions. Children are welcomed on arrival by friendly and enthusiastic staff. Those children who are not in breakfast club eagerly play with carers and wait in the garden until it is time for them to arrive. The setting is well organised and children understand the routines. They are supported to be independent. For example, children place their book bags in the correctly coloured box, which matches their key person. Staff set high expectations for children, who join a circle time for registration. Children enjoy some songs and conversations, for example, about the weather and understanding their emotions and how they feel.

Staff follow a Montessori teaching approach to children's learning. They provide teacher-led group times and free-flow play to support children's development. Staff place a high importance on developing children's early literacy and mathematical skills when they play. Children have individual books, which go home with them to share with their families.

Children have strong attachments with all staff. This helps them to safely and confidently explore their environment, and help themselves to the resources available. Children benefit from a range of experiences that enhance their individual learning. For example, in the practical-life area, children feed some caterpillars. They observe them and hope that they will turn into butterflies soon. This helps children to learn how to care for living things. Children select resources, such as ceramic jugs, to pour and develop their motor skills. Staff skilfully praise children. Children proudly show their achievements to staff.

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

• Leaders are effective in their ongoing evaluation of the setting. They set development plans each year and work towards appropriate targets. Leaders have a clear vision and set reachable goals through their development plans. They support staff's knowledge of how to teach and meet the individual needs of children. For example, the manager is able to talk through the experiences of children exploring some blocks. Staff know how to adapt resources to extend children's learning. However, specific resources are used to support more than one child, even though developmental needs may differ.
• Staff promote children's personal development and early communication well. Older children are motivated and eager learners. However, staff do not always use their strong teaching skills to support all younger children's learning. For example, they do not always support younger children in group times to enhance their learning experiences, and adapt activities to suit the mixed age groups and abilities.
• The quality of education is supported by the key-person approach. The key-person system is unique to the provider as they keep the same key children from them joining until leaving the setting, where possible. This allows those connections between staff, families and children to flourish. Staff clearly communicate about the progress of children and are able to identify any gaps in their learning. Staff work closely with leaders and outside agencies to support any gaps in children's development.
• Parents provide positive feedback about the setting, particularly the key-person approach. They say that they are kept informed about their children's progress through online systems and conversations, as well as the recent individual parent and teacher meetings. However, not all parents have an understanding of child development and the progression of their child.
• Staff have attended training around supporting children to be healthy. This has been effective and has allowed staff to adapt children's snack times. Staff have added more vegetables and carbohydrates to children's snack to ensure that children continue to eat healthily and have good health and well-being. They have future plans to develop healthy eating in children's packed lunches and work more closely with families around the importance of healthy eating.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• improve parents' understanding of child development so that all parents understand how their children learn and develop
• plan group times to ensure that younger children's learning needs are met.