Woodentots Montessori School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is outstanding

Children are inspired by the wide range of natural and real-life resources indoors, in both the classroom and studio, and the exciting, enticing garden. Staff encourage children to question, think, explore and make decisions.

They provide abundant support for children's emotional and physical development. This means children are extremely well prepared for the next steps in their learning and development and their eventual move to school.The inspirational manager and staff place children at the centre of everything they do.

They seamlessly blend excellent teaching practices from a wide range of educational philo...sophies to create a unique learning environment. They are constantly reflecting on the impact their environment has on children's learning, creating opportunities to enthral and excite them in their play. Staff have extremely high expectations for all children.

Children develop a love for learning, due to the highly challenging and joyful experiences that staff provide. Children are always keen and eager to join in with adult-led activities. This is demonstrated through their remarkable levels of motivation and concentration.

Children behave exceedingly well. They enjoy each other's company, play cooperatively and understand about sharing and taking turns. Children's growing independence is a focus of the nursery and children brim with confidence as they carry out tasks for themselves.

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

The peaceful atmosphere of the nursery creates a sense of immense calm and focus. Children move freely both inside and outdoors. They follow their own interests and have enormous opportunities to explore, be creative and use their imagination.

The quality of teaching is excellent. Staff have a deep understanding of child development and plan inspiring and challenging activities for children. The implementation of the curriculum is firmly embedded within the nursery and the highly skilled staff have a shared view of how to support all children.

They get to know children and families very well and target activities to skilfully support children's individual needs.Children are active and benefit from superb opportunities to develop and maintain a healthy lifestyle. For instance, they go in the minibus to forest school, play outside in the garden and enjoy looking at the garden wildlife at the feeders.

The outdoor area is extremely well resourced. There are a wide range of opportunities on offer for all children to take part in physical challenges and learn to manage their own safety. Children are highly motivated, resilient and develop can-do attitudes.

Staff help children to build a love of stories and songs and children immerse themselves in these activities. Children listen intently to the staff as they tell stories and react with joy as they act out their favourite parts of familiar stories. Staff use opportunities extremely well to enable children to predict familiar sounds and learn about letters and the sounds they make.

Parents are expertly involved in all aspects of their children's learning and development. Innovative events, such as 'the lantern walk' which involves the whole family, help parents to gain a sense of what nursery life is like. Parents describe the nursery as 'amazing' and talk about the passion the staff have for children's learning.

They cannot compliment the nursery highly enough.Children's behaviour and attitudes towards other children and staff are impeccable. The polite and courteous staff lead by example.

They gently model excellent manners and create a positive atmosphere of respect and mutual trust. For instance, during conflicts, staff talk quietly to the children about how their friends are feeling, make eye contact and are gentle and supportive. This contributes towards the extremely kind, considerate and positive attitudes that children naturally adopt.

Staff are very well supported and feel valued in the setting. They are encouraged to gain further knowledge and understanding to support their roles. Staff are highly qualified with a wealth of experience.

Consequently, staff are motivated to constantly evolve the setting and are highly focused on giving children the best possible start in life.Children's use of language is outstanding. They are articulate with a wide vocabulary, using words to express meaning and communicate effectively with friends, sharing ideas and thoughts.

For example, as children play in the playhouse, they talk about an imaginary journey to India. They use buckets as suitcases and talk about all the things they will need and the weather when they get there. Children have abundant opportunities to build on their creativity and use their imagination.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.The manager ensures that staff understand that safeguarding and promoting children's welfare is everyone's responsibility. Staff receive effective training.

They recognise the signs and symptoms that a child may be at risk of harm. They know the correct procedure for reporting and referring concerns. All staff adopt a coherent culture of vigilance.

They give children clear safety instructions and readily involve them in the comprehensive risk assessment process. For example, when a candle is lit, children talk about the boundaries and how fire can burn. Staff consistently promote the highest standards of health and hygiene practice.