Rocking Horse Montessori Nursery

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision requires improvement Children's communication and language development is not always consistently supported across the nursery. This is because the nursery has recently had some changes to the staff team.

Additionally, the key-person system does not fully support all children to settle well and engage in their learning, or help parents to stay informed about their children's next steps in learning.Children enjoy attending this nursery. They receive positive experiences with the kind and dedicated staff team.

For example, children thoroughly enjoy their time in the nursery garden. They learn about the plants that grow and begin to name them. B...abies develop their curiosity as they explore the texture of sand in the sandpit.

Toddlers ride on wheeled toys and crawl through tunnels. This helps to build their large-muscle skills. Pre-school children stay physically active and build friendships as they play chasing games with each other.

Children develop their ability to solve problems. For example, they learn how to mix paint to make new colours. Staff challenge them to move water from one bowl to another using a system of guttering and stands.

This helps to develop children's higher-level thinking skills.

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

The teaching of children's communication and language skills is variable. For example, pre-school children enjoy 'together time'.

This allows children to practise their speaking skills in front of their friends. Consequently, their confidence grows. However, less-experienced staff are not as skilled in supporting children's language development.

Staff do not always engage children in conversations or interact with them as they play. This has an impact on the progress that children can make with their language development.The key-person system is not established enough to fully support children's well-being.

New staff members have not been assigned key children or do not act as secondary key persons to provide consistency for children. Some children in the baby room are unsettled. They frequently sit on the laps of the staff or are carried around, limiting their play and learning opportunities.

This also has an impact on staff being able to consistently support other children to remain engaged in their learning.Children behave well and are kind to each other. For example, they show concern when they see that their friend is upset.

Children develop confidence in their own abilities and build their resilience. For example, when children build a tower and it falls over, they say, 'We will do it again.' Children work together to build a new tower, developing their cooperation and teamwork skills.

Staff provide opportunities for children to develop their independence skills.Children set the tables at lunchtime and serve their own meals. Toddlers learn how to use a spoon to scoop portions of fruit at snack time.

Children help to keep the nursery tidy and look after the resources. For example, they wash the paint palettes in the sink after painting activities. This helps to teach children a sense of responsibility.

The nursery uses an online app to share photos and information with parents and carers about their children's daily routines. Parents say that their children build positive relationships with the staff who work at the nursery. However, some parents and carers report that they do not know who their children's key person is.

As a result, some parents do not know their children's next steps in learning. This does not support them to continue their children's learning and development at home.The nominated individual works directly with staff as they care for children.

This helps her to provide on-the-spot coaching and support for staff members. Staff report good levels of well-being. They say that they feel supported on a personal level by the nursery leaders.

However, the nominated individual recognises that supervision sessions have not been consistently carried out with some staff members. As a result, staff are not provided with dedicated time to discuss children's progress or any professional development needs.The pre-school room leader recognises the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on children's development.

Consequently, she provides children with opportunities to develop key skills, such as the ability to pay attention and listen and how to interact and play with others. This ensures that when children leave the nursery, they are ready to begin the next stage of their education.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Staff complete online safeguarding training. This helps them to recognise the signs and symptoms of abuse and neglect. This includes the signs of female genital mutilation and radicalisation.

Staff understand the importance of recording existing injuries to children. They know that any concerns about a child should be reported to the designated safeguarding lead. Staff understand the steps that they should take if they have concerns about colleagues or the nursery leaders.

There are policies in place to make sure that mobile phones are not used in the presence of children. This ensures children's safety in the nursery.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: provide further support and training for newer and less-confident staff members to develop their skills in supporting children's communication and language development strengthen the key-person system to support children to settle and engage further in their learning, and to provide parents with information to continue to support children's learning at home nenhance supervision arrangements for staff, to improve their skills and knowledge and provide opportunities to discuss children's well-being and development.