Rainbows Montessori Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are greeted warmly by staff when they first arrive at this welcoming Montessori pre-school. They demonstrate a sense of belonging as they enthusiastically hang up their coats and find their name cards independently. Children's behaviour is very good. They learn to develop social skills, share toys and follow simple rules to help keep themselves safe.

Children take part in a range of planned experiences to meet their individual needs and activities they choose themselves. For example, they concentrate as they use a range of art and craft material and carefully connect toy trains and carriages together. Children's self-help skills are developing well. For instance, they learn to blow their nose, sharpen pencils and pour themselves a drink.

Children have good communication and early mathematical skills. For example, children keenly find different sized buttons and staff introduce mathematical language, such as 'large', 'medium' and 'small'. Children learn unfamiliar words that staff consistently use, including 'angle' and 'friction', to extend their vocabulary to a higher level. They make good progress from when they first start.

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

• Staff plan the curriculum well. They have a clear understanding of what they intend children to learn. They consider children's individual needs and focus on what they need to learn next, to help all children progress over time. Staff use assessment well to inform their planning and provide enjoyable activities to ensure children are suitably challenged. However, at times, staff do not organise the space to help all children engage for longer periods of uninterrupted play and learning.
• The skilled and qualified staff have good teaching skills to help extend children's learning. Staff successfully ask questions to help children solve problems. For instance, children work out how to slope guttering so that balls roll down quickly. Staff help engage children and think for themselves. They enthusiastically ask children to 'look at the angle' and 'which one do you think will go faster?'
• Staff are aware of the difficulties that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on children's social skills. Staff recognise the importance of children's well-being and provide more opportunities to promote children's personal, social and emotional development. Staff kept in touch with parents and children during the national lockdown. They shared favourite stories online and all children received a letter from their key person to keep in touch. Children were very keen to return to pre-school and quickly settled.
• Staff develop children's love of books and early reading skills. Children listen intently to stories. They point to pictures and laugh as they say, 'He got stuck'. Children successfully learn to recognise and sound letters of the alphabet, such as 'b' for 'brown bread' and 'ball'.
• Staff interact very positively with children. They skilfully engage in conversation and encourage children to recall their home experiences and family events. Staff are very good role models. They promote children's good manners and hygiene practice.
• Parents say they welcome regular updates from their key person, which helps with a consistent approach to their child's learning. Staff share children's assessments with parents, the progress their children make and any gaps in development. Partnerships with parents are good.
• The extremely enthusiastic manager shares her ambition and vision among staff. Overall, the manager's effective and consistent evaluation of teaching and the provision helps to identify what is working well and areas to improve. Even though supervision meetings are inconsistent, they do provide staff with opportunities to talk about their workload, well-being, and ongoing suitability. The manager agrees that supervision meetings could be strengthened so that staff receive consistent, effective and ongoing support.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• enhance the organisation of space to consistently offer children a varied, exciting and challenging environment throughout the day
• strengthen supervision meetings so that staff receive consistent, ongoing and effective support.