Mount Park Montessori Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive eager to start their day They thoroughly enjoy their time at nursery and separate from parents easily. Children are warmly welcomed by a friendly and nurturing staff team. They happily come straight into a well-organised and safe environment. Children have good relationships with staff. They enjoy engaging in and initiating conversations with them as they use their imagination in the role-play area. Children develop a variety of independence skills. For example, they take off coats before self-registering and keenly set the table at lunchtime.

Children make good progress in their learning and development. Many children are beginning to develop early reading skills as they recognise their name and familiar words, and others can form letters to write their name. For instance, children keenly say each letter sound of a familiar word as they read it. Staff work towards their ethos of supporting children to become happy, independent, confident and sociable. This supports children to develop sound values for later in life.

Children behave well. Staff have clear expectations about behaviour and consistently support children to work together, take turns and use manners. For example, children help each other to complete the large floor puzzle and take turns to rescue the dinosaurs in the sand. Staff offer constant praise and encouragement, which supports children's self-esteem. As a result, the nursery is a happy place.

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

• Staff plan a curriculum that blends the early years foundation stage framework with the Montessori approach. They plan activities with regard to children's interests and consider what children need to learn next. Children are enthusiastic and have a positive attitude to their learning. For example, children discuss how the scoop helps them to form equal piles and what they make using a variety of materials, such as pebbles and sticks. Children make good progress in their learning and development.
• Children develop good language skills. Staff communicate regularly with children and help them to expand their vocabulary. They introduce new words and explain their meaning to extend children's understanding. Children learn to repeat phrases as they join in at story time, use new words and confidently ask questions. Staff use questions to encourage children to develop their thinking skills and share ideas.
• Staff are good role models. They talk with children about what they are doing and demonstrate and support when required. However, at times, activities are directed too much by staff, which does not allow children to explore and make their own choices. Therefore, this does not support children's choices about where they want to play and learn.
• Staff provide plenty of opportunities for children to develop their physical skills. Children learn to navigate space as they run and find hidden treasure in the large hall. They develop their balance as they jump hurdles. Children strengthen the muscles in their hands by using pipettes to transfer water from one pot to another. This helps children to make good progress in their physical development.
• Staff provide ample opportunities for children to explore their mathematical skills. There is a good range of resources and opportunities for counting and visually recognising numbers. For example, children recognise numbers displayed in the garden and eagerly move them to read backwards, telling staff, 'the biggest numbers start, and then to the smallest'.
• Parents speak positively about the nursery. They comment on how supportive and approachable both the manager and staff are. They share that they receive good communication from the nursery, which provides them with information about their children's learning. However, parents do not have the opportunity to share their views of the nursery as part of the nursery's development plan.
• The manager follows a robust induction program for new staff to help them to understand their roles and responsibilities. However, this is not as vigorous for staff that are working at the nursery on a temporary basis, such as agency staff.
• Staff supervision and support are effective. The manager ensures that regular discussions and meetings enable staff to identify their own strengths and areas for improvement. Staff confidently embed new skills and knowledge they acquire from recent training into their practice. This has a positive impact on children's learning and development.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• develop more ways for children to choose where they play and learn
• provide parents opportunities to share their thoughts and ideas on how to improve the nursery
• improve staff induction to make it more robust for staff that are working temporarily at the nursery.