Rocks Lane Montessori

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children thoroughly enjoy their time at this inviting nursery. They form affectionate bonds with the staff, who are always on hand should children need reassurance. Children become deeply engrossed in activities that they have chosen to engage in. Their social skills are developing well as they play happily on their own, with staff and with their friends.

Children hear staff using new and meaningful words at every opportunity. They listen with interest and acquire new vocabulary and fluency in speech. The staff skilfully create a language-rich environment. For example, during an activity about continents of the world, staff talk about a bald eagle, a native bird of North America. Children with families from this region are keen to share their knowledge and say, 'It is fierce.' This demonstrates that children are fast becoming confident communicators.

Children love to be active outdoors. They develop more controlled movements as they ride scooters, use the see-saws and navigate a climbing frame. Children eagerly participate in sports activities, such as those run by external coaches. Children work together to tidy their toys and swiftly move on to the next opportunity. This helps to support children's physical and emotional well-being.

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

• The experienced manager has devised an ambitious curriculum to provide children with the knowledge and skills for their future learning. The curriculum intent is understood by all staff, who receive appropriate training to develop their understanding. Staff tailor their approach to meet each child's learning and care needs. The manager and staff talk confidently about the good impact their approach has on children's learning experiences.
• All children, including children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), do well. Leaders seek advice and support from external professionals to help address any emerging gaps in children's development. Parents are fully involved in this process and follow strategies used at the setting. This joint way of working means that children with SEND are able to meet their developmental milestones in a timely way.
• Children learn about good hygiene routines. The manager invites members of the community to speak to children about the importance of keeping themselves healthy. For example, a visiting dental nurse spoke to children about good oral hygiene. Children are reminded to wash their hands when they come in from the garden and before mealtimes. This helps to promote a healthy lifestyle.
• Staff are keen for children to learn about the wider world. For instance, they organise for people from different professions to visit the setting and talk about their roles. One such visit from a pilot inspired children to consider becoming one when they grow up. In addition, children learn about different languages as they sing songs taught by bilingual staff. This helps to raise their awareness of the diverse world they live in.
• Children are motivated to learn. Their mathematical skills are developing well. Children are taught to count the correct number of cubes related to a numeral. They understand that one more cube is being added each time. Children skilfully apply the language of 'one more' in their play. In this way, they begin to understand simple addition.
• Overall, staff show good teaching skills. However, at times, they pose too many questions to children and do not give them sufficient time to gather their thoughts and respond appropriately. At these times, children either answer in a hurry or staff answer for them. As a result, children's thinking is not explored fully.
• The manager strives to provide high-quality teaching and learning. She improves staff's knowledge and skills through supervision, feedback, modelling and training opportunities. However, the methods of coaching and mentoring are not used as effectively as possible to improve all staff's practice to a consistently high level.
• Parents speak highly of the manager and staff. They appreciate the care and attention their children receive. They value the support to families, particularly the efforts to stay connected during the COVID-19 pandemic. Parents comment on the pleasing progress their children are making and state that the setting prepares children well for their next stage in learning.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to sharpen their questioning skills to allow children sufficient time to gather their thoughts and respond to questions appropriately
• enhance opportunities and current methods of coaching and mentoring of staff to improve their teaching to a consistently high standard.