Stone Bay Montessori and Beach School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are warmly welcomed into the pre-school with cuddles and gentle words of encouragement from staff. Staff provide a calm, inviting environment, where children are supported to freely explore their surroundings and the resources available. Staff stay close to new children and help them to settle and feel safe and reassured in their care.

Staff help children to vote on which resources they would like, supporting them to have a positive attitude to their learning. Children run excitedly to the sand table, which is set up with the dinosaur toys they asked for. Staff readily join in with children's imaginative games, such as 'frozen' action games. They support children to play together and learn to share.

Staff have high ambitions for children. They play alongside them and extend their learning in each self-chosen play experience. Children enjoy learning shape names when playing with pretend food. They problem-solve how to fix a tent for a tiger to live in. During adult-led group times, younger children delight at copying actions to songs and giggle as they move a toy spider on their head. Older children take pride in showing what they have learned about animals from other countries, while listening to stories. Children thoroughly enjoy taking part in sessions of music and dance, where they gain great listening and focusing skills for moving on to school.

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

• The manager has a clear vision for what she wants children to learn and why. Staff share this aim and are good at adapting resources to ensure that all children make good progress. Children fully focus when exploring the new water area. Staff help younger children to name the different colours of the balls. Older children are supported to learn about 'higher' and 'lower' levels of water and how to make the balls travel down the pipes.
• Staff support children's developing communication and language skills. They speak clearly and emphasise sounds in words for children to repeat. Younger children gleefully call out names of musical instruments, such as 'tambourine' and 'triangle' as they recall them in listening games. Staff use questions to support older children to think, such as how they could use counting rods. However, occasionally, when staff ask questions, they move on too quickly, asking further questions before children can consider what they want to say in response.
• Staff are good at suggesting different play ideas to children to keep them meaningfully engaged. Staff help set up activities, explain clearly how to use the equipment and then allow children time to explore the apparatus themselves. Children thoroughly enjoy many different activities, such as trains, globes and a story listening station. Staff support them to have a natural curiosity, which helps them to build a love of learning.
• Children are keen to have a go at all activities and show perseverance and determination. They concentrate while building tall towers. They explore and investigate how to crush cereal with a pestle and mortar and transfer water with a pipette. Children learn about safety and carefully take the time to cut each grape themselves at lunch time. Staff are full of praise for them and children beam with pride for their achievements.
• All staff work hard to provide a calm and positive settling-in period for new children. Staff listen to parents information about their children and use this to think about resources and ways to provide comfort. Parents are kept well informed of their child's well-being during this process. This ensures that children settle quickly and show enjoyment and enthusiasm right from the start.
• Parents have high praise for the staff and the positive impact they have on children's learning and development. They feel supported, listened to and closely involved in their child's journey. They are regularly kept up to date and offered ideas to continue extending their child's learning at home.
• The manager has shared her passion for education and care with her staff. Staff are animated and engaging in their interactions and show genuine interest in the children they care for. Training is regularly sought to enhance the provision and to help build staff's personal confidence and abilities. They are a knowledgeable and caring team, who all strive to provide the best care and education they can to all children.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• continue to strengthen staff's questioning techniques to allow children time to think and respond, helping them to express their own ideas.