Storybook Montessori

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Confident children enter the nursery and part from their parents with ease. They are greeted by smiling staff who chat calmly with them and ask them how they are. Children know the routine well. They place their belongings on their pegs and quickly settle into their chosen activities. For instance, babies explore the space around them as they learn to crawl, accessing items that stimulate their curiosity. Children show great interest in the woodwork area and are keen to have a go. They show good perseverance skills as they hammer nails into a piece of wood. Children in the pre-school room are well prepared for the transition to school. For example, they use sandpaper letters to help them form their letters correctly.

Children have good opportunities to develop their physical skills. They regularly play outdoors and enjoy climbing, running and jumping. Children concentrate well as they lift small planks of wood and rest these across tyres. They then walk carefully across them, holding their arms out wide to help them balance.

Children behave well. Clear expectations and an ethos of caring for one another help to encourage positive behaviour. Staff are positive role models and explain expectations, such as using good manners, sharing and taking turns. Tasks, such as setting the table for mealtimes, are given to 'special helpers'. This aids children's self-esteem as they have a feeling of responsibility and importance.

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

• Staff provide a curriculum that combines the Montessori ethos as well as children's interests, to promote a wide variety of engaging learning activities. Overall, staff are clear in their learning intentions. For example, children excitedly learn about different countries and continents as they explore a map of the world. However, at times, what is being taught is too difficult for some children and they find it hard to listen and attend. This does not meet the learning needs of all children.
• Staff morale is high. Leaders give staff well-being a high priority. They ensure that staff's workload is manageable. Staff are supported through coaching, supervisions and access to training, so that they are able to improve their practice. However, these processes are not robust enough to identify and improve upon specific weaknesses in teaching. This results in some inconsistencies in practice across the nursery.
• Partnerships with parents are very good. Staff work closely with parents to get to know their children and to share information about their children's day at nursery. Parents say that they are extremely happy with the care that their children receive. They know what their children are learning from daily contact with staff and from an online app.
• Children celebrate different faiths and cultures in the nursery. For example, staff wear traditional outfits when teaching about Eid. Children enjoy tasting traditional foods and finding out about the similarities and differences between themselves and others.
• Children have good opportunities to learn about their community and the world around them. For instance, staff take them on buses and trains to local places to build on the experiences that children have already had. Older children enjoy forest-school sessions, where they explore the natural environment and learn new skills. This helps them to learn about the natural world.
• The nursery chef provides children with freshly cooked, homemade meals. Mealtimes are social occasions, and children's independence is supported well by staff. For example, children pour their own water and scrape their plates when they have finished their lunch.
• The management team makes timely referrals to external professionals to ensure that children receive the support they need. Staff provide targeted interventions to help close gaps in children's communication skills. For instance, children play 'what's in the box'. Staff encourage children to name simple words and learn the matching Makaton sign.
• Staff encourage children's communication and language skills well. They help children to learn new words to build their vocabulary. For instance, as children mix ingredients to make cookies, staff introduce words such as 'vanilla essence' and 'sticky'.
• Staff value children's views and accommodate their ideas when making improvements to the setting. For example, the 'children's committee' gives them the opportunity to choose activities and resources. This helps to ensure that they are well motivated.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• focus the intent of activities more closely on what children need to learn next
• develop further the supervision sessions for staff to better support them in raising their practice to a higher level.