Little Learners Montessori School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is outstanding

All staff share consistently high expectations for children's learning.

Children love to come to the nursery school and work hard because staff plan exciting activities that interest and inspire them. They provide a safe and highly stimulating environment which helps them to deliver their intended curriculum exceptionally well. Staff organise an extensive range of high-quality natural and real-life resources made from wood, fabric or metal.

This ignites children's curiosity, investigative and problem-solving skills as they develop a sense of awe and wonder about the world. Children cut up sprouts, celery and bro...ccoli in the role-play kitchen as they pretend to be a chef in a restaurant. They are highly creative as they paint wonderful pictures of Christmas trees and presents, and talk excitedly about what they are having for Christmas.

The curriculum is based on self-directed activity, hands-on learning and collaborative play. Children work in groups and individually as they develop an understanding of the world. They learn about different continents as they point to places around the world.

Children's mathematical development is highly supported. They use numbered rods to count, order into size and work out complex number problems. For example, children count the coloured blocks on the rods and work out quantities.

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

Children make creative choices in their learning, while the classroom and the highly trained staff offer age-appropriate activities to guide the process. Children carefully take different-sized cubes to build a tower, placing the biggest to smallest, and they transpose one cube for another. Children quickly discover their error when the tower does not look quite right and they correct it.

Precise observations, assessments and planning ensure children's individual needs are catered for exceptionally well. Highly effective monitoring ensures any gaps in learning are swiftly identified and acted upon. Children are fascinated by technology and how batteries operate with conductors to turn light bulbs on.

They love taking photographs of each other, staff and things in their environment that they enjoy. Children have great fun playing a wide range of musical instruments, shaking bells and banging drums and symbols as they learn rhythm and beat.Staff provide excellent opportunities to promote children's physical development and good health.

This is illustrated when they encourage children to take risks in their physical play. For example, children regularly walk through the woodlands attached to the outdoor play area. They climb on fallen trees and move along obstacle courses that they create from crates and tree trunks in their environment.

In addition, daily yoga and meditation sessions provide an opportunity for children to relax and improve their concentration. The manager acknowledges there is scope to develop the outdoor environment to enhance the learning experiences for children even further.Children learning to speak English make excellent progress.

The very strong focus on developing children's listening and speaking skills leads to rapid gains in their communication skills. Children develop exceptional writing and reading skills through the use of sandpaper letters and alphabet cut-outs, allowing them to link sounds and letter symbols effortlessly and to express their thoughts through writing.Children display high levels of positive behaviour as they form warm and caring attachments with staff and their peers.

They are highly respectful and use excellent manners. Staff are excellent role models to the children. They ensure children's feelings and emotions are recognised and acknowledged, and children begin to understand how they are feeling.

Managers have a rigorous system to ensure that staff provide children with high-quality care. The staff team is supported extraordinarily well by the management team through supervisions, regular meetings and ongoing training. With the care and teaching provided by this inspiring staff team, children progress exceptionally well and develop secure foundations for future learning.

Partnerships with parents are outstanding. Staff use various ways to communicate with parents, including giving them daily verbal feedback, newsletters and meetings, and accessing their child's online journals. This helps to ensure parents are fully included in their children's future learning and can continue to promote this at home.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.The manager and staff have an excellent understanding of safeguarding procedures and what to do to help protect children from harm. They have an exceptional understanding of the signs of abuse and neglect and know exactly who to contact should they have any concerns about a child's welfare.

Staff regularly attend training courses that promote their expert skills and knowledge to the fullest potential. They are familiar with the whistleblowing policy and local safeguarding procedures for reporting allegations. Leaders ensure that recruitment procedures are robust and that staff are suitable to work with children.