Little Hands Montessori

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are greeted warmly by friendly staff when they first arrive at the setting. They eagerly leave their parents, happy to join their friends in the stimulating and safe environment that is created for them. The varied curriculum encourages children to be engaged and motivated to learn. For example, children relish taking part in themed activities based on the story of 'Goldilocks and the Three Bears'. Children's communication is promoted well. They develop and extend their vocabulary effectively as they sing songs and take part in show-and-tell activities. This helps support children with speech and language delay and those with English as an additional language to thrive within the setting.

Children enjoy helping to prepare the table at snack times. They independently open their lunch boxes and food packaging. This develops key skills for their eventual move to school. Children behave well and understand staff's expectations. They respond immediately when staff ring the bell by stopping and listening to the announcement. They eagerly help to tidy up or clap to celebrate a friend's achievement. Children's creativity and imagination are encouraged as they have tremendous fun taking part in weekly music and ballet sessions.

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

• Mathematics is embedded well and woven throughout children's activities. Children learn to identify numbers and problem-solve as they complete number puzzles. Staff have a confident understanding of how to teach mathematics. They make good use of the Montessori resources in the play environment. For example, children enjoy building pink towers as they learn about size and balance. They do simple subtraction with actions while singing 'Five Currant Buns in the Baker's Shop'.
• Children take part in regular trips into the local community. For instance, they enjoy outings to the park, where they take part in forest school activities and access large fixed equipment. This all helps to strengthen children's physical skills.
• The manager has implemented efficient systems to support staff to monitor and assess children's progress regularly. This enables staff to quickly identify gaps in children's learning and development. The manager works closely with parents to seek professional support for children's individual needs. She develops meaningful partnerships with professionals working with children to ensure consistency, so they do not fall behind.
• Children learn positive social skills to help them build meaningful friendships. They take turns and use good manners with minimal prompting from staff. Staff often celebrate children's achievements and positive behaviour, which helps to encourage children to have good levels of confidence and self-esteem.
• New children are supported well to transition into the setting. Key workers work closely with parents during the settling-in period to obtain information about children's care needs. However, limited information is collected about children's development and interests.
• Parents are kept well informed about their child's ongoing development by their key person. They have secure access to online systems where they can see photos, observations and assessments of their children's development. This supports continuity in children's learning. Parents speak highly of the setting, commenting on how much their children are learning about the world. For example, children come home talking about the life cycle of the frog and how bees make honey.
• Staff work well as a team. They attend regular online meetings to reflect on their practice and the learning experiences they provide for children. The manager makes good use of supervision and appraisals to support staff's ongoing professional practice and well-being. For example, staff are encouraged and supported to complete training to increase their knowledge of Montessori theory and play. The manager works with staff and parents to evaluate their practice, which helps her to drive improvement.
• Children's early literacy skills are supported well. They have access to well-resourced and comfortable book areas. Children listen intently to stories, which helps to support their growing vocabularies. Staff skilfully intertwine phonics into everyday activities, for instance to help children to identify and write their names.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• improve the information gathered from parents when children first start, to ensure their starting points and interest inform planning.