Ravenscourt Park Montessori

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The nursery is an exceptionally happy place. Children are excited to arrive and show they feel at home and secure. There is a real sense of community in the nursery. Leaders and staff know the families extremely well and work closely to achieve the best outcomes for children attending.

Staff find out as much as possible about their key children's unique interests and needs from the start. This enables staff to rapidly build on what children already know and enjoy. The nursery managers and parent representatives organise social events to help everyone develop a sense of belonging in the nursery. For example, they arrange summer picnics before children start in the autumn term. This enables children to begin to make relationships with other children attending.

Staff provide a wealth of experiences and a rich and exciting learning environment for children. High-quality teaching and engaging activities, both indoors and outdoors, support children's learning very effectively. For example, children become engrossed in making pancakes in the mud kitchen. They have great fun as they pretend to build fires with logs and lumps of ice. Staff interact highly effectively; they ask questions and help children explore their imaginative ideas. Children are encouraged to make choices and do things for themselves. This helps them develop independence.

Children's behaviour is excellent. Staff set high expectations for children's behaviour. Children develop very positive patterns of behaviour. For example, staff encourage children to negotiate during play. They learn to be patient and regulate their behaviour. Children rapidly learn to be fair, share and take turns. Staff are very positive role models; they speak calmly and politely. This helps children learn how to interact with others and develop excellent social skills from an early age.

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

• Managers and staff have high expectations for all children. The curriculum is very well planned, offers challenge and is highly effective in meeting each child's needs. All children, including children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, make excellent progress in relation to their starting points. Staff recognise when to make referrals to other agencies to further support children's individual needs. They work closely with other professionals, parents and carers to ensure the best outcomes for all children. Children learn in a fun and age-appropriate way. Staff support children in rapidly developing skills across all areas of learning in preparation for the next stage, including school.
• Staff provide a wealth of opportunities for children to learn about being healthy. For example, children grow and eat fruit and vegetables from the nursery garden. They use large brushes to clean teeth and develop an understanding of good oral hygiene. Children participate in a wealth of physical activities. They use wheeled toys, make trips to the park and join in forest-school activities. Children learn how to take appropriate risks during play, such as developing skills in using large apparatus.
• Staff are highly effective in supporting children's communication skills. They skilfully question children and encourage them to recap on their learning. For example, they look at books and talk about pirates. Children become engrossed as they dig in sand and rice and search for buried treasure. Staff help children explore their ideas through questioning and introducing new vocabulary. They use visual timetables to enhance support for children who speak English as an additional language.
• Staff are caring and encourage children to explore their feelings. For example, they use a toy monkey to consider a range of different emotions. They think about things which may make the monkey sad or happy. Children express their imaginative ideas as they talk about fearing monsters. They become engrossed in small-group discussions and ask each other questions and listen carefully. Children show concern for each other and offer their friends comfort. Staff help children feel safe; they offer reassurance and talk about what is real or pretend.
• Staff share strong bonds with children and encourage children of all ages and abilities to explore and join in. Children are eager to learn and show high levels of confidence and engagement. For example, they work cooperatively to find bricks to build a castle. Staff encourage their mathematical language as they discuss position and size. Children learn to problem-solve. They persevere when the castle falls and use pictures in books to look at ways to rebuild.
• Partnerships with parents are very strong. Feedback from parents is overwhelmingly positive. Parents speak very highly of the supportive and caring staff. They comment that they are amazed by how much their children learn and how well prepared they are for school. Staff keep parents very well informed about their children's learning. They share their observations and assessments of children. Staff provide ideas for how to extend children's learning at home.
• Children have frequent opportunities to develop a rich understanding of people and families beyond their own. For example, they look at books and learn about similarities and differences. They celebrate a variety of festivals and events throughout the year. Families are welcomed into the nursery to share different foods, cultures and traditions. For example, children learn what it is like to live in a cold country and how to make curry.
• Staff really enjoy working in the nursery. They are very well supported by managers and benefit from team meetings and supervision. Staff have regular development opportunities to enhance practice, for example by training in forest-school techniques to extend opportunities for children learning outdoors. The team shows a strong commitment to continually enhance its already excellent practice.