Little Munchkins Montessori Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff provide a safe, warm and welcoming environment where children eagerly arrive to start their day and that is full of exciting learning opportunities. Staff encourage children to express themselves during group activities, such as circle time, and talk about their past experiences. This helps children boost their confidence and communication and language skills.

Staff have clear expectations and consider each child as a unique individual. They follow children's interests and consider their abilities when planning for their learning. The provider follows the Montessori philosophy. Children make choices about their play and learning. They develop positive attitudes to learning, and they grow in confidence. Staff encourage children to take turns during group activities. Children learn to share, accept each other's differences and behave well. Staff are caring and meet individual children's needs well. Babies receive lots of attention and enjoy moving their bodies when staff sing nursery rhymes. Children are active, and they regularly access outdoors.

Leaders, managers and staff provide effective support for children with special educational needs and/ or disabilities (SEND). They work very closely with parents and some external agencies and provide targeted interventions to help children catch up with their peers. All children, including those who speak English as an additional language and those with SEND make good progress in their learning and development.

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

• Leaders and managers worked hard to improve the overall quality of this early years provision. For example, they arranged enhanced safeguarding training and improved induction for staff to ensure that all staff fully understand their roles and responsibilities to keep children safe.
• Leaders and managers support staff, including through training, and hold regular supervision meetings with them. However, some staff are less skilled and require more targeted support to help develop their teaching skills and provide consistently high-quality teaching to benefit children.
• Staff ensure that children develop new vocabulary as they learn. For example, during a focused activity, staff ask children to 'predict' and explain the meaning of this word. Staff use simple language with babies and encourage them to recognise and repeat animal noises. Children enjoy choosing books and listen attentively to stories that staff read.
• Staff focus well on developing children's knowledge of mathematical concepts. For example, they encourage children to sort and name sizes as they place wooden cylinders in the correct places.
• Staff teach children well about safety. Children comment that they cannot access the climbing frame when is raining because they can slip and hurt themselves.
• Staff are kind and caring. Children use 'kind hands' as they play with their friends. They have plenty of opportunities to manage a range of tasks themselves. This includes handwashing, dressing and undressing, and serving themselves at mealtimes. Children learn skills that are needed in readiness for school.
• Staff focus well on developing children's English language skills, including through meaningful conversations, singing rhymes and reading. However, children have fewer opportunities to hear and use their home language in their play and learning.
• Children use their imagination as they play. For example, they pretend to make a sandcastle for a mermaid to live in.
• Babies confidently move around indoors and outdoors. They explore with their senses. For example, they feel the texture of the sand before they fill up containers. They problem-solve which container to use for water to remain inside. Pre-school children describe how different objects present in water and categorise them into objects that sink and float.
• The key-person system is effective. Staff ensure that children feel emotionally secure when they first start. They have a clear understanding of their key children's next steps and how to support them when they plan for their learning.
• Some staff recognise when children are ready to learn phonics and skilfully support them. Children engage in different activities to practise their small muscles, in preparation for early writing. For instance, they complete puzzles, use a range of tools and make marks, and some children write their names.
• Partnership with parents is strong. Staff exchange information with parents about children's care, progress and their next steps. This helps to provide consistency in children's learning and development.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• arrange for more targeted support for less skilled staff to help them develop strong teaching skills and provide consistently strong quality learning experiences for all children
• build on current opportunities for children who learn English as an additional language to hear and use their home language in their play and learning.