The Montessori House Ltd

Inclusion: Expected standard

Leaders and staff work closely with parents and carers to support the needs of children who have special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Managers recognise the importance of children's regular attendance and punctuality. They prioritise building positive and effective partnerships with families to ensure that they make adaptations in a timely way so that children are able to access the provision.

Leaders ensure that decisions about spending additional funding are closely linked to benefiting each child's individual needs. Individual staff who specifically support children with SEND receive training to help these children minimise gaps in their learning. Staff quickly identify when children need extra help. With the guidance of external professionals, they put effective strategies in place for these children to thrive from their starting points.

Staff create focused support plans in partnership with parents and carers. This allows parents the opportunity to share their insights and keep informed about their children's ongoing progress. This collaborative way of working ensures consistency between the home and nursery, supporting children's abilities to learn and demonstrate their positive wellbeing.

Curriculum and teaching: Needs attention

The curriculum is largely activity-led and does not consistently build enough on what children already know and can do. Consequently, staff do not plan consistently for children's learning in a clear enough sequence to help them to secure new learning effectively. For example, babies show they know the sounds of some farm animals, but staff do not use this knowledge to introduce new farm animals that babies are still unsure of. Instead, they sing the song 'Old Macdonald Had a Farm' very quickly, which does not help babies to fully hear the names of farm animals or the corresponding sounds they make. This hinders children's ability to make sustained progress in their communication and language skills. Older children receive better teaching that is specific to their needs and abilities. They talk proudly about their previous learning, such as the stages in the life cycle of a frog.

Although leaders recognise some inconsistencies in individual staff's practice, they do not effectively reflect on the quality of the curriculum and teaching or support staff to improve their knowledge and skills precisely enough. That said, staff work diligently to ensure those children who face barriers to their learning benefit from a supportive indoor learning environment, and outdoors for those who have been identified as needing to develop their gross motor skills. Priority is given to supporting children's self-care, social skills and self-regulation. However, the planning of stimulating activities that reflect other curriculum areas to promote children's learning needs outdoors is still in its infancy. For example, younger children wander around unsure of what to do when they enter the garden, as very few activities are available to them apart from the static large equipment. The outdoor curriculum does not reflect children's interests, needs or abilities effectively enough.

Achievement: Needs attention

Children, except those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), do not consistently build on their prior learning over time to achieve their full potential. That said, leaders and staff value children's ongoing strengths in their personal, social and emotional development through play and everyday experiences. For instance, children serve their own meals at lunchtime, use available cutlery according to their age and stage of development and afterwards tend to the crockery appropriately.

Children build their communication skills as they interact with others and explore resources available to them, such as when older children paint a picture and describe the features well. These children show imagination and effective use of vocabulary, and they build control and coordination that supports their future learning.

Children develop early mathematical skills, such as identifying numerals and counting a small number of objects correctly. They begin to use mathematical language when they pour water from a jug into their glasses, such as 'empty' and 'full'. Older children and those with SEND gain skills that help prepare them for their next stage in education.

Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines: Expected standard

Leaders and staff are effective role models. They typically set and implement high expectations for children's behaviour and attitudes to learning. Babies readily explore their indoor environment, particularly enjoying when staff interact with them when sharing books. Older children respond positively to sharing toys and taking turns, with guidance and age-appropriate support from staff if needed.

Children show great pride when they are praised by staff for showing resilience as they practise a task independently, such as taking off their outdoor clothes and washing their hands after being outdoors. In general, these interactions promote children's self-esteem and give them a clear understanding of what is expected of them.

Leaders ensure that positive relationships with families are in place. This helps to secure children's regular attendance and to respond suitably to their individual care needs. This is particularly evident for those children who face barriers to their learning. Thoughtfully planned settling-in sessions and a gradual start help children to feel safe, secure and confident. This fosters children's positive attitudes to their learning and their time at the nursery.

Children's welfare and wellbeing: Expected standard

The staff team's strengths lie in demonstrating a thorough understanding of each child's individual care needs. Typically, children's family backgrounds, home experiences and the broader context are taken into account. Leaders share these details within the team to provide consistent and personalised support. This ensures that every child receives the guidance they need to thrive in their wellbeing. This approach is especially valuable for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities or those facing additional barriers to their learning. In this way, children feel welcomed, valued and supported in their care needs.

Children have safe opportunities to take manageable risks, such as climbing large equipment in the garden. In the main, these experiences help them to develop confidence, resilience and coordination, while they learn to assess and manage challenges by themselves. When children become upset or unsettled, staff are always on hand to quickly respond with reassurance. This helps children to regulate their emotions and feel secure.

During mealtimes, children talk about their likes and dislikes around food. In general, staff use these opportunities to promote healthy eating habits. Children learn to identify foods higher in sugar and those that contribute to positive oral health. Staff encourage regular handwashing throughout the day. Parents state that children share their knowledge of washing away the germs at home, demonstrating the positive impact these routines have on children's learning and wellbeing.

Leadership and governance: Needs attention

It is evident that leaders have made some headway to address actions from the last inspection. However, progress towards embedding these is not yet fully established. For instance, there is insufficient supervision of staff and monitoring of staff's delivery of the curriculum. Leaders do not accurately identify areas for individual staff's development or suitably coach or mentor them to improve their teaching skills. There are times when staff take a step back and are unsure what their roles are, instead of interacting with children to address their next steps in learning or development. This inhibits children's ongoing progress. Leaders have a broad understanding of the setting's strengths and areas for improvement.

Leaders are generally reflective and try hard to work collaboratively as a team. However, due to them being deployed in running rooms, they have fewer opportunities to address areas of development, such as creating an outdoor curriculum that ignites children's imagination and creativity across the areas of learning. Despite providing some training to individual staff to implement an outdoor curriculum, this has not had the strongest possible impact on children. Staff clearly enjoy their jobs, feel highly valued and supported by leaders. Leaders work together with local authority advisers to develop the curriculum for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). This has proved successful. However, they are yet to strive to deliver the best experiences for children, particularly outdoors.

Leaders engage with parents and carers and other professionals thoughtfully and in a way that supports children, particularly those with SEND. Parents comment positively on the effective support they receive from leaders. They find the advice and guidance useful to prepare their children for school and younger children for toilet training.