Step By Step Montessori - Mill Hill

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children enjoy exploring the wide range of resources available to them in safe and secure surroundings. Staff place a strong focus on building children's personal, social and emotional well-being. Children benefit from the trusting and respectful relationships they develop with staff and their friends. Staff support children to behave well. Where children need extra help with regulating their feelings and emotions, staff sensitively help them. Children listen to staff and respond well to them as they learn to wait patiently and take turns with toys and resources.

The curriculum enables all children to make good progress from their starting points. Staff create activities that spark children's curiosity. Children enjoy role play as they pretend to be dentists. They use a variety of resources to support them to gain a strong understanding of removing plaque when brushing their teeth. Staff recognise how physical play benefits children's understanding of healthy lifestyles and support this area of learning well.

Staff help to develop children's positive sense of self within the local community and what makes them unique. Staff plan trips and help children to learn about a range of festivals. This helps develop their understanding of what makes them unique and appreciate diversity. Staff find out key words in the languages children speak at home to help children feel secure in their cultural identity.

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

• Leaders have a clear vision of what they want children to learn and achieve during their time in the setting. They plan an ambitious curriculum that supports all children's needs and learning. They recognise the needs of families of children who attend the setting and provide support and guidance.
• Parents are very keen to share their views of the setting, care and the progress their children make over time. They say that the leaders and staff 'foster a family environment' and that their children are 'thriving'. Parents comment the team keep them well informed of the daily activities provided and the next steps in their children's learning. Partnership with parents is strong.
• Staff support children's mathematical development well. They encourage children to use words associated with size and weight, such as 'big, small, large' and 'heavy'. Staff incorporate counting into everyday activities. For example, during snack time, children choose which fruit they would like. Staff ask how many pieces they will have, and children count these out.
• Leaders support all staff effectively. They provide regular supervision meetings to discuss their professional development, their work, and any concerns they may have. Staff attend regular staff meetings, and leaders speak to staff daily. Communication is good between staff and leaders. This all ensures that the needs of the children are met.
• Staff provide nutritious meals, considering children's dietary needs. They give children tasks to foster responsibility, such as setting tables and tidying up. Outdoors, children use brooms and dustpans to clear leaves, promoting independence and care for their environment.
• Children have ample opportunities to be physically active. They have regular access to the outdoor areas, where they run, kick balls, use the climbing equipment and carefully balance on beams. Children excitedly engage in water and sand play and use watering cans and gardening tools to pour, fill and empty containers. This helps to develop children's balance and coordination.
• Leaders understand the importance of working in partnership with other professionals for a consistent approach to children's learning, development and safety. They work closely with the early years and inclusion teams to help provide targeted support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities.
• Overall, staff support children's communication and language development well. They engage children in conversations and provide a narrative while they play. When they are developmentally ready, staff work with the older children to introduce letter sounds and help children recognise objects that start with associated letters. Children listen to stories with great concentration and hear a broad range of vocabulary. However, at times, staff do not plan well enough to encourage the quieter children to share their views, to build their confidence and language even further.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff in consistently encouraging quieter children to share their views, boosting their confidence and further developing their communication skills.