Little Orchard Montessori Chaddlewood

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children enjoy their time at the nursery and make good progress in their development. All children develop strong independence skills and staff encourage them to explore and investigate the broad curriculum. Staff have high expectations of children.

Those children with special educational needs and/or disabilities benefit from specific interactions from staff. These help to develop their listening and concentration skills. Staff put in place effective strategies that help to support children's emotional development.'

Family books' enable children to see photographs of their loved ones throughout the day, providing oppo...rtunities for them to talk about home relationships. Additionally, plenty of sensory activities alongside nurturing staff help children to soothe themselves and feel calm, should they become upset. Children behave well and staff help them to use kind words and 'kind hands'.

They role model to children how to take turns and share resources to support their social skills. Children show that they feel safe, seeking out their key person when tired or in need of comfort. Children have opportunities to explore an 'artist of the month'.

They learn about where the artist originates and the type of artwork they produce. Children recreate artist pictures using coloured rice, making their own interpretation of 'a starry night', which supports their creative development well.

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

Parents comment positively on the care and education the nursery provides for their children.

They talk about how staff have been instrumental in helping to settle their children and how independence and language acquisition have grown since attending. Parents state how they receive regular communication from the nursery and ideas on how to support children's learning at home.Leaders and staff are passionate in evaluating the nursery to benefit children.

They have engaged in 'sing and sign' training and introduced specific songs and stories to support all children's communication skills. They comment on how children's engagement with books has improved, as has their increased vocabulary.Staff provide all children with good sensory experiences.

For younger children, staff encourage them to feel sensorial sandpaper boards and help children to distinguish which two boards feel the same, using only their sense of touch. For older children, staff use 'sandpaper letters' alongside playing games such as 'I-spy'. Children engage in three senses, visual, auditory and tactile, to help blend sounds together.

Children benefit from healthy nutritious meals cooked by the on-site chef, who caters for children's individual dietary needs. Staff play calm music as children serve themselves lunch on china plates and drink from china cups. Children then wash their faces with individual flannels after lunch.

They develop good autonomy skills.Overall, children feel secure. However, occasionally, some children find it difficult to understand routines and changes throughout the day and become unsettled.

Nonetheless, staff are devising strategies to support children with this.Leaders work closely with nearby schools, helping to prepare children when they move on from nursery. Leaders provide teaching staff with a questionnaire on how children have settled at school and if there are any ways to improve the transition.

Additionally, staff share information about children's development with schools to provide a starting point in their new educational environment.Children benefit from mixing with all ages of children within the nursery. This helps them feel settled when they move up to the next room as they are familiar with their surroundings and staff.

The nursery tries to ensure that children have their peers and a consistent adult to move up to the next room with them to help them settle more quickly.Children enjoy being outside in the fresh air. They develop good physical skills as they climb, jump and balance along the wooden beams.

Children learn to recognise numbers while they engage in hopscotch. They develop good hand-to-eye coordination as they roll plastic balls down pieces of guttering.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Leaders and staff have a clear understanding of their role in protecting children from harm. They can identify when a child or family is at risk and can recognise extreme views or behaviours. They know how to report any concerns about a child's welfare to help keep them safe.

Leaders ensure that new staff go through a robust recruitment and induction procedure to confirm their suitability to work with children. All staff have frequent supervision meetings with the manager to ensure they continue to be safe around children.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: develop further strategies to help all children understand daily routines and changes throughout the day to help them feel even more settled.