Snowflakes Day Nursery & Montessori

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are happy and motivated to learn in this inclusive and highly stimulating environment. Staff know their key children extremely well and build strong bonds with them. They plan activities based on their interests and next steps, ensuring their emotional and developmental needs are met. Sensitive and purposeful interactions encourage children to be confident and feel safe and secure in the setting.

Outstanding teaching and well-planned activities throughout the nursery ensure children build on their previous knowledge and experiences. For example, children learn about a different country each month. They learn about where countries are in the world, what the flag looks like, what it is like to live there and what it produces.

Aspirations are high for all children. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) receive excellent, targeted support. This includes language and social development focus groups and specific interventions to manage behaviour. This helps to ensure all children achieve the best possible outcomes. Staff and parents alike speak enthusiastically about the progress children make during their time at this nursery.

Children develop high levels of independence. For instance, they serve themselves, pour their own drinks from a jug during mealtimes, and butter their own toast safely with a knife. Children peel oranges during role play with dolls, which also helps to develop their small physical skills. They capably clear up their own spillages where necessary. Building confidence and independence is central to the ethos of this nursery, ensuring children are prepared for their next stage in education.

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

• The dedicated and experienced management team is clear about what it wants children to learn. The team reflects on its practice and strives for continuous improvement. Leaders seek the views of parents regularly through parent questionnaires and open forums. They attend leadership coaching and provide targeted support and training for their staff in order to continually develop their practice. Staff report that they feel well supported.
• Partnerships with parents are very strong. Parents speak highly of the two-way communication system and feel well informed about their children's progress. They report that staff are highly supportive of each child's needs during the settling-in period. Parents are encouraged to be involved in the life of the nursery. They are invited to engage in activities and share their knowledge and skills with the children throughout the year. Parents are welcomed to yearly events such as sports day, cultural day and the graduation ceremony.
• Children who speak English as an additional language make notable progress. Staff ensure that a wide range of key words in each language represented are available for the children, and the diverse cultural representation of staff's languages is utilised. Staff are attentive in developing all children's language during activities. They speak clearly, introduce and reinforce new vocabulary and regularly ask them questions. Children also enjoy interactive French and Spanish lessons throughout the week, excitedly recalling numbers and greetings previously learned.
• Teaching about diversity and respecting each other's differences is outstanding. For example, children observe the colour of real eggs on the outside and inside and compare with the appearance of humans externally and internally. This helps children to understand that we are all different on the outside but the same on the inside. Children look in mirrors and compare each other's skin colour of their hands to emphasise the learning. The setting is exceptionally well resourced to promote understanding of the diverse world we live in.
• Children behave well and respond promptly to staff's expectations. They share naturally and are well mannered. Staff support children to understand and manage their own feelings and emotions. Children are encouraged to look at their own facial expressions in mirrors and point to faces on cards showing how they are feeling. When children struggle to regulate their behaviour, staff take appropriate action to support them.
• Children have a good understanding of the importance of healthy lifestyles. They enjoy varied and nutritious meals prepared on site by their own chef. They are given ample opportunities throughout the day for fresh air and physical activity in their spacious, well-equipped outdoor area. Children take part in daily exercise classes and learn about the importance of oral hygiene through visiting speakers and routine teeth brushing after lunch.