Milkshake Montessori School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children are motivated learners and enjoy the time they spend at the nursery. The manager and senior leaders are thoughtful and strive for the nursery to do well.

Staff provide interesting resources which are mainly effective in supporting the progress of children of different ages, including babies. Children enjoy themselves performing balancing tasks or sitting in a large sandpit creating their own stories, for example. They love playing games such as 'Duck, Duck, Goose', running around the circle to catch a friend.

Children are happy, calm and very well behaved. Staff support them with gentle reminders about 'kind h...ands and voices', and children show consideration towards each other. They grow in independence and take responsibility for managing their play.

For example, they help the staff to manage the risk assessments in the nursery to ensure that the equipment is safe. Staff on the management team have high expectations and are ambitious for all children to achieve well. There is a strong sense of community, and staff work in close partnership with a range of services to ensure that all children and families receive the support they need to make good progress.

Children are well prepared for their next stage of education.

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

Staff plan for children's learning across all areas of development, and children excitedly join in with different activities. However, sometimes, staff do not use their observations and monitoring to build on and extend children's thinking and challenge them even further.

Staff strongly promote children's communication skills by reading stories together inside and outside. For example, they acted out 'We're Going on a Bear Hunt' as the children moved around the garden together. Staff implement specific activities to enhance children's speech and language development.

This is having a positive impact, particularly for children who have difficulties in this area.Parents speak highly of the care and support that families receive from staff at the nursery. Staff work closely with parents to ensure that children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, make a strong start to their learning.

Parents receive newsletters and information which encourage them to try some activities at home with their children. For example, they have recently made 'family books' which children shared with their friends at circle time. Observations of their children are sent home online to parents to keep them informed about what their children are doing in the nursery.

Children who speak English as an additional language and their families are fully supported to help them gain a quick grasp of key words and vocabulary. Children enjoy learning about different cultures and countries from around the world to widen their experiences and awareness.Staff receive high levels of support from the management team to help them reflect on their teaching.

They are regularly supervised and use peer observations between the staff to help improve their practice. They attend regular training and team meetings to plan for their professional development, to increase their knowledge and understanding.Staff provide a range of healthy and nutritious meals and snacks.

Children help prepare the snack by chopping the vegetables and fruit. The staff and children discuss the importance of eating a healthy variety of food, and staff remind children to wash their plates and cutlery when they have finished.Physical challenges are presented to children of different ages to develop their large-muscle skills and encourage them to take risks.

For example, children climb the different-textured bridges or creep through the tunnels.Children are confident and have a good understanding of their daily routines. They play well together and staff offer them praise and encouragement.

The manager and senior staff care deeply about the staff's and children's emotional well-being. Staff have had recent training on this; they talk to the children about how they are feeling and take steps to ensure that all children are included.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

All staff know how to identify signs that would give them cause for concern about a child's welfare. They understand the procedure to follow to refer any concerns in order to ensure that children are protected from harm. They confidently describe the action they would take if they had concerns regarding a colleague's practice.

Staff undertake safeguarding training and receive regular information to ensure their knowledge remains up to date. Appropriate security systems are in place, including the signing in of any visitors and intercom access to the building.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: make better use of observations and tracking of children's progress to build on and extend their experiences as they play.