Springfield Montessori Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff are passionate and motivated to deliver a well-thought-out and purposeful curriculum. Each and every child's development and emotional well-being are prioritised when providing them with unique and stimulating learning experiences.

Staff nurture children in a safe, secure and caring nursery. They have a great knowledge of children's stages of play. Staff allow children the time to play alone, alongside each other and in small groups. They offer children an abundance of caring and positive interactions and are fantastic role models. Children are respectful to one another and listen with great interest to what others have to say. They make great friendships and experience a deep sense of involvement and self-confidence. Children demonstrate amazing social skills and behaviour.

All aspects of the nursery have been perfectly considered. Children are highly motivated to explore the tremendous amount of wonderful learning experiences. Staff offer amazing opportunities and support for children to use their senses. They encourage children to listen for noises, feel different textures and smell different scents. Staff help children in developing their critical thinking skills. They expertly guide them through their reasoning processes of why water does not stay in a colander but does in a pan. Children have an extreme eagerness to learn more.

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

• The managers are inspirational. They have a wealth of knowledge and experience that is worthy of dissemination. Managers ensure that their great expertise is utilised effectively. They provide an extensive level of training and support to staff. New staff go through a meticulous induction process. The managers continually reflect, evaluate and consider ways to offer the best experiences to children.
• The curriculum is exceptionally well sequenced, ambitious and unique. The managers and staff are very secure about the intent for the curriculum and how this is built upon as children go through the nursery. Staff know what they want children to learn and implement this amazingly. They also consider different cohorts of children to support their future learning. All children are making outstanding progress and are confident and independent learners. This includes children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and children who speak English as an additional language.
• Staff promote children's communication and language remarkably well. They continually engage children in interesting and stimulating conversations that they are eager to join in with. Children speak with fluency and have an exceptional level of confidence when speaking.
• Partnerships with parents are excellent. Parents are extremely well informed and are a huge part of their children's development and future learning. The vision of the nursery is fantastically shared with parents. Managers and staff actively consult and involve families in all aspects of the nursery. This contributes to the great success of delivering their future aims and aspirations for children.
• The special educational needs coordinator, as well as staff, supports children with SEND very well. They liaise with a wide range of professionals and attend additional training as required. Highly focused plans are in place and regularly reviewed. Adaptions are made within the environment, activities and equipment. This helps to support children with SEND to be included in all daily tasks and have equal opportunities in their learning experiences.
• The large outdoor environment is breathtaking. Staff actively promote the benefits of learning, both indoors and outdoors, with children. Children run around in large spaces, climb and eagerly explore in the natural forest area. This contributes to children being active, and they develop impressive physical skills.
• Children partake in food collections and charity donations to help support their local community. Parents and other professionals visit the nursery and speak to the children about their job roles. Children share their experiences with others about places that they visit. They gain a great awareness of their local community, people who help them and the wider world.
• Managers respect staff's views and welcome them to contribute to ideas for future developments. They ensure that staff are happy, feel valued and offer them excellent emotional support and guidance. This results in staff being totally dedicated to their roles and responsibilities when supporting children's development.