Little Burrows Montessori Staines

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is outstanding

Children flourish in this welcoming and exceptionally well-resourced nursery. They rush in, excited to meet their friends and for their day to begin.

Children's emotional well-being is of paramount importance and encompasses the whole family. Children who speak English as an additional language and children with special educational needs and/or disabilities benefit from superb support to reach their full potential. The highly determined managers and staff team are very successful in obtaining specialist provision to meet children's individual needs.

Children demonstrate they feel safe and happy in the setting an...d show exceptional confidence. They move freely between the play areas, making choices from the interesting variety of activities on offer. They are curious and excited to explore the resources and show excellent levels of engagement for their age.

For example, children concentrate for extremely long periods of time as they use china jugs to pour water into small containers and draw intricate pictures, telling staff about their creations. Children learn mathematical concepts in exciting and different ways. They learn different ways to work out quantities.

Staff expertly weave mathematics into every aspect of the curriculum. For example, when children show an interest in shapes they are challenged to think about why it is a square and not a rectangle. Children confidently tell staff that 'it is a square as all the sides are the same length'.

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

The ambitious, passionate, and dedicated managers are inspirational and show an exceptional commitment to achieving the highest possible standards. They have a strong and clear vision for the nursery. The managers provide a very broad curriculum, designed to prepare children for school and their next stage in learning.

Staff use their precise assessments extremely well to encourage children's rapid progress.Parents and carers highly value the help, guidance, and exceptional support they receive from staff. They praise the managers and their staff team on how they go above and beyond in their determination to ensure all children receive the best possible help and intervention from many other professionals.

Staff, parents and carers are passionate about the 'family' ethos within the nursery and say how they have all been exceptionally well supported throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.Staff involve parents in their children's education from their first contact with the nursery. They gather information about what children know and can do, and use this to help tailor learning to children's individual needs from the outset.

Staff provide guidance to help parents to support their children at home, for example in the online application which parents regularly access.Books and stories are a big part of children's experience. Staff use books to support children's language development and regularly introduce them to new words.

For example, children learn to break down words into three syllables and then put the sounds together to spell out the word 'dog'. Activities, such as 'bucket time', enable children to develop their thinking skills and guess what is going to come out of the bucket as they are given clues. When children guess correctly they show high levels of pride and achievement.

Staff expertly foster children's understanding about leading healthy lifestyles. They engage children in conversations about food and support their understanding about why water is required for the brain and how food provides them with energy.Staff provide exciting activities and teaching is of a consistently high quality throughout the nursery.

Children bring stories to life when they read and recall their favourite stories accurately as they join in with enthusiasm and joy.The highly competent managers make regular assessments of staff performance during their interactions with children. This quality assurance measure supports staff and ensures sessions are interesting and exciting for children.

The nursery provides children with many opportunities for exercise and fresh air. Children develop a fascination and love of nature and their environment. They gleefully dig in the soil to discover the creatures and comment on the worms they find there.

They compare the sizes of the worms and discuss which worm is the longest and the shortest.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.Staff are very confident in recognising the signs that might indicate a child is at risk of harm.

They understand the steps they should take if they are concerned about a child's welfare. They have a secure knowledge of wider issues that can affect the safety of children, including extremist views and behaviours. The safeguarding procedures are well understood.

There are robust recruitment procedures and regular checks for the ongoing suitability of staff to work with children. Staff deployment is highly effective and children are well supervised wherever they are in the nursery. Staff track the number of children using a white board, which displays the number of children inside and in the garden.