Little Orchard Montessori Nursery - Woodlands

Inclusion: Expected standard

Leaders and staff know each child and their family well and fully understand children's needs and backgrounds. They work with parents to identify any barriers to learning and provide effective and timely support to promote children's progress.

Leaders and staff who are responsible for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities understand their roles clearly. They attend relevant training and work closely with other professionals to help them understand and implement effective and targeted strategies to meet children's individual needs. Leaders also recognise the benefit of applying for, and using, additional funding to enhance the support that children receive in their care and education.

Leaders and staff guide parents with strategies to help promote their children's learning and development at home. For example, staff support parents to understand the benefit of using visual aids to build on children's communication and language. Parents comment positively that their children make positive progress in their development. Staff assess children's learning accurately and track their progress. This enables them to identify emerging needs promptly and provide timely interventions that support children's development.

Staff respond sensitively when children are settling. For example, they offer a gradual, flexible settling-in period that meets each child's individual needs. Staff recognise the importance of giving children time to feel comfortable and secure. They ensure children's transitions to the older age-group within the setting are managed sensitively. However, transitions during the daily routine are not organised as effectively and staff do not use these moments to engage children in educational experiences and extend their learning further.

Curriculum and teaching: Expected standard

Leaders plan a broad and balanced curriculum that supports all children's development across all areas of learning. Leaders share their expectations for children's learning with staff, to enable the team to have the same high ambitions for all children. Staff assess children accurately, identify what they need to learn next and plan how to build on what the children know and can do. Generally, staff use their playfulness and creativity to develop children's confidence. For example, staff deliberately recite number names in the wrong order or name colours incorrectly, which encourages the children to correct their mistakes while giggling happily. Children engage well with the activities available to them and demonstrate curiosity to explore the play areas. For example, they develop their physical skills when they learn to roll play dough into a ball between their hands. However, at times, staff are not clear about what they want children to learn from adult-led activities, to help them target the support they provide to each child. Although children enjoy taking part in these activities and they concentrate and practise and develop their skills, staff do not extend the children's learning as effectively as they could.

Staff provide a wide range of experiences that reflect children's interests. For example, when the children begin to jump with excitement, staff encourage them to see how far they can jump along a number line on the floor. Children challenge themselves to jump further as they become more confident and determined, until they successfully land on the intended number. However, staff working with babies and toddlers do not identify and use these teachable moments as effectively as the staff working with the older children.

Staff's interactions with children supports the children's communication and language development effectively. Staff model sounds and language clearly, introduce new vocabulary and sing well-known nursery rhymes to children throughout the day. For example, staff working with the toddlers talk about 'cold', 'wet' and 'melt' while they explore blocks of ice and paints.

Achievement: Expected standard

Children enjoy their time at the setting and engage confidently and curiously in a range of activities. Babies and toddlers enjoy observing the effect of using chalks on different surfaces in the garden, which supports their physical skills and their early understanding of writing. Older children sit at tables with their friends and chat together amiably while they draw pictures, making controlled marks with the colouring pencils. When leading singing with older children, staff pause briefly mid-song and the children continue to sing happily without the staff, leading the activity confidently by themselves. Children build secure relationships with staff, which supports their emotional security overall. They begin to develop independence, for example by pouring their own drinks from small jugs with little spillage. children gain the key skills and knowledge to prepare them well for later learning.

Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines: Expected standard

Leaders and staff develop positive relationships with children. Overall, they use these well to encourage children to take part in activities and develop children's can-do attitudes. Children enthusiastically join in with a singing activity and are keen to choose a musical instrument so they can play along. Staff teach children to be kind and to respect each other. For example, staff suggest they might like to ask to cuddle their friends to celebrate their birthday and they all hurry eagerly at once to do this as a group hug. Children grin broadly when they happily accept the cuddles from their friends, showing their strong sense of belonging. Overall, children behave well. They listen to and follow staff's instructions and learn to share and take turns with gentle reminders from staff. Staff explain the reasons for the rules, to help children understand the potential consequences of their words and actions.

Leaders establish clear routines that help children feel secure and understand expectations. However, staff do not always organise the transitions between routines effectively, which does not help children to settle quickly and transition smoothly between activities. For example, staff do not consider how to engage children and extend their learning while they wait for food to be served. At other times, staff direct all the children to a small area to get ready to go outdoors at the same time. In these instances, the children spend too long waiting without anything to do and become unfocused.

Leaders promote regular attendance and punctuality, which helps to ensure children benefit fully from the daily routines and to prepare them for later learning.

Children's welfare and wellbeing: Expected standard

Leaders prioritise children's welfare and wellbeing. Throughout most of the daily routine, they create a nurturing, calm and welcoming environment. Staff support children to understand and manage their personal safety. For example, when staff light a candle to celebrate children's birthdays, the children remember why it is important that they should not touch lighters, reminding each other that they might get burned.

Leaders and staff provide children with nutritious food and drink. They are clear about children's individual dietary needs and any adaptations they need to make to promote children's health. Parents comment positively on the support that leaders and staff have given to broaden children's diets and to encourage them to try new foods and to drink water. Children enjoy being active during daily outdoor play, where staff encourage and support them to develop their strength, balance and coordination, such as during regular yoga activities. Staff model and implement hygienic procedures, such as teaching toddlers to wash their hands after they have used the potty. Children take part in daily tooth-brushing routines, which supports their understanding of hygiene and the importance of establishing healthy habits from an early age.

Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and barriers to learning are supported through individual care routines and responsive interactions from staff. This helps them to feel secure, regulate their emotions and access daily experiences alongside their friends.

Leadership and governance: Expected standard

Leaders demonstrate a commitment to providing quality care and education. They have an accurate understanding of the setting's strengths and weaknesses. For example, after conducting observations of staff's practice, leaders have recently recognised that some improvements can be made to the transitions during daily routine in the older children's room.

Staff feel they are valued and supported in their work. Leaders identify appropriate training needs to support staff to enhance and build upon their professional knowledge and skills, to reduce any barriers children may have to their learning. Consequently, staff are supported to offer an inclusive and caring environment. Overall, the quality of teaching and the delivery of the curriculum is effective and meets the needs of children.

Parents give positive feedback about their children's enjoyment when attending the setting, their close bonds with the friendly staff team and the identification of additional help when required. Parents receive regular feedback about their children's experiences and progress. This enables parents to work in partnership with staff to provide continuity in children's care and learning.