The Little Learners Montessori Northwood

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are happy and settled at this welcoming nursery. They feel safe and secure and build positive relationships with their key person and other staff. Children access a curriculum that promotes their independence and builds on their confidence in learning. They choose from and explore a wide range of educational resources. Children develop positive attitudes towards learning because staff have high expectations of what they want them to learn and achieve. They follow the Montessori method of teaching.

Children develop their small-muscle movements by using a range of tools, media and equipment. For example, they have a go at opening and closing jars and enjoy filling in and emptying containers. In addition, they confidently use crayons to make marks, in preparation for early writing. Some children complete the word jigsaw and can recognise some phonics. Younger children show enjoyment while discovering the sounds that sensory objects and musical instruments make.

Outdoors, children learn to manage their own risks when using some apparatus, such as when they test their physical abilities and 'climb the mountain'. Older children confidently talk to visitors. They notice how the smell changes when they add more soil to the herbs that they have mixed in their mud kitchen. Children listen to staff instructions and behave well. They enjoy the company of their friends, negotiate and learn to share resources.

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

• The manager and staff have a clear curriculum intent and know what they want children to learn. The manager recognises that some staff need more support and guidance than others. She provides regular supervision and support, and she arranges training to build on staff's teaching skills and professional development, to benefit children.
• Staff monitor children's progress from the start and carry out required assessments of children's learning. All children, including those who speak English as an additional language, make good progress in their learning.
• Staff support children's communication skills well. For example, they read the books and introduce simple words in repetition to help the youngest children remember them. Older children eagerly take part in story times and enjoy using puppets. However, children who speak English as an additional language do not regularly hear or use their home language in their play and learning, to help them build on their communication skills even further.
• Staff encourage children to learn how to keep themselves healthy. For example, they ensure children regularly learn in the fresh air and eat a healthy and nutritious diet. In addition, staff arrange activities for children to learn about the importance of dental hygiene. Children enjoy brushing and flossing pretend teeth.
• Children receive praise from staff, and this helps them develop self-esteem for the next stage of learning. Children develop problem-solving skills while they arrange the objects according to their sizes, colours and shades.
• The manager recognises that national lockdowns and restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic affected children's personal, social and emotional development. As a result, they provide as much time as needed for settling children into the nursery. This helps children and their parents feel emotionally secure before their learning journey begins.
• Staff encourage children to lead their own play. However, when they plan the group activities, they do not always adapt teaching to engage children of all abilities as much as possible. On these occasions, children are not challenged enough; they become bored and leave the activity sooner than expected.
• Staff regularly talk to parents about their children's day and learning. Parents often contribute information about their children's learning from home. This helps to provide consistency in children's learning and development.
• Children enjoy outings to the local community and parks, and they regularly visit the library where they read with staff and borrow books. They learn about diversity around them and the wider world. This helps children prepare for life in modern Britain.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• advance the planning and delivery of group activities to consider abilities and interests of individual children, to keep them fully engaged in learning
• build on current opportunities for children who speak English as an additional language to hear and use their home language in their play and learning.