The Oak Montessori, Wimbledon Park Pavilion

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children thrive in this highly stimulating learning environment. They make excellent progress in all areas of their learning. The curriculum is ambitious for all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities. A wide range of enticing, challenging learning experiences allows children to build and extend their skills. For example, children learn to problem solve as they explore a range of resources during their forest school session. They experiment with different ways they can build a zip line and test pullies to move buckets from one end to the other. Children work together and become deeply engaged in their play and learning.

Children are extremely happy in the setting and show they feel safe. They build strong attachments with the nurturing, highly experienced staff. Children's behaviour is exemplary. They are sociable and confident and form great friendships with each other. Children learn about nature and the world around them. For example, they eagerly talk about how they nurtured chicks to hatch and watched how tadpoles developed into frogs. As well as forest school sessions, children have ample opportunities to play outdoors, making exceptional use of their environment. They develop physical skills, for example running, throwing and catching different sized balls.

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

• Children's progress is meticulously monitored by the highly skilled staff team. Any possible gaps in children's learning are quickly identified and strategies put in place to ensure children make progress. The teaching is of a consistently high quality, leading children to make excellent progress from their starting points. Children's learning is consolidated through revisiting activities, ensuring knowledge is embedded.
• The management team are extremely successful at reflecting on the nursery. They continuously strive to make further improvements. They lead the staff team with confidence and have clear expectations. Regular, effective appraisals and observations of staff helps to ensure high-quality teaching.
• Staff have ample opportunity to develop professionally. They have access to a wide range of training courses to help build their knowledge and skills even further. The information gained from training is shared with the team and helps to inform and embed outstanding practice. For instance, recent storytelling training has changed story time at the nursery. Children are immersed in the puppets and props used to support their learning, further developing their love of books.
• Developing children's communication skills is a focus of the nursery. Staff's interactions with children consistently support them to develop their language.
• For example, lead language sessions to support and extend children's language and repeat key words help them to develop and extend their language.
• Children are encouraged to be independent. They enjoy practical life activities, helping adults and taking on responsibilities for tasks. For instance, children use knives to chop fruit at snack time and are taught techniques for putting their coats on independently. Staff celebrate children's achievements. This builds children's self-esteem and confidence, and children are proud of their successes.
• Children are taught about different cultures and the setting celebrates diversity. For example, children enjoy their birthday 'walk' for their special day with friends joining them to celebrate. Children enjoy learning about their local and wider community. For instance, families come together to help plant trees in the local park. The nursery collects unused toys for children in Ukraine and regularly collects 'shoebox' donations to support families within the community. This supports children's wider understanding of helping others.
• The nursery excels at working in partnership with parents. Parents report they would not hesitate to recommend the nursery. They highly commend the staff team and feel a part of their children's learning experience. Parents report they receive regular feedback and information on how to support their child's learning at home. The nursery also work collaboratively with other professionals, sharing information to ensure the best outcomes for children.
• Children participate in small-group activities and individual work with adults, which helps develop their listening and attention skills. Children demonstrate high levels of engagement during activities. They sit and listen well. Children understand and follow the rules within the setting, and these are consistently reinforced by the staff team.