Quintrell Downs Montessori School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive excitedly and leave their parents at the door with ease. They form secure bonds with staff, who place the children at the centre of everything they do. Children invite staff to join in with their play. They use their imaginations as they make 'tea' with the role-play food. Staff name the items and show genuine interest as they pretend to 'eat' the food they make. These respectful and nurturing relationships help children to feel safe and secure.

The well-designed curriculum is effective. It helps children to make progress and to develop a wide range of skills in readiness for school, and it promotes their personal, social, and emotional development. All children make good progress from their starting points. This includes children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and those in receipt of additional funding. Staff support children who have gaps in their learning and those adversely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic effectively.

Children behave well and are motivated to take part in activities. Staff plan the curriculum with the children's interests at the centre and consider how they can extend each child's learning. Children choose to join the activities supervised by staff. They benefit from staff's enthusiastic, supportive, and reassuring approach.

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

• The special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) is knowledgeable and passionate about her role. She works closely with staff to identify children who may require additional support. The SENCo works closely with external professionals to help children work towards their next steps. This helps to ensure that children with SEND receive the support they need to make good progress.
• Staff support children to develop their communication and language by providing engaging activities. For example, they carry out music times with the children, using new words, visual aids, and interaction. However, at times, staff do not always invite quieter children into conversations, to extend opportunities for them to practise their language skills and interact with others.
• Staff promote circle times during the day. They provide opportunities for sharing, such as discussion about the weather, what day of the week it is and the children's feelings. However, when staff ask children questions, they do not always allow children sufficient time to respond, answering for them. This prevents children from using their thinking skills and learning to problem-solve.
• Staff support children's independence skills well. Staff teach children how to tidy away resources when they have finished using them. During snack time, children wash their hands before eating and pour their own drinks. When snack time is over, children take their own plates and cup to wash, showing pride in their achievement. Children are confident in their own abilities and show high levels of self-esteem.
• Children are respectful of each other and interact very well together. They successfully seek support from staff when they find activities challenging. They use their manners to thank staff for their help. Children are confident to choose their own activities and resources and move around the indoor and outdoor spaces freely and safely, following their own ideas and the rules of the setting.
• Staff support children to understand early mathematical concepts. They achieve this by embedding mathematics into everyday play. For example, children explore the properties of clay, using their hands to create different objects. Staff utilise this opportunity to promote mathematical language, such as 'width' and 'length', into the conversation. Staff compare sizes and shapes of the clay objects with children.
• The manager supports the staff team well. She ensures that staff continually develop their professional abilities, such as through staff meetings and a wide range of training opportunities. The manager ensures that staff do not have an overwhelming workload. As such, they have quality teaching time with the children.
• Staff develop extremely successful relationships with parents. Parents are positive about the regular information they receive about their children's development. Parents have noticed progress in their children's confidence and speech development since starting. They comment that their children have formed loving bonds with staff, who know their children well.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• engage quieter children more frequently into conversations to enable them to practise their language skills
• provide children with more time to respond to questions to further develop their critical thinking and problem-solving skills.