Hidelow Grange School

Streatham Montessori Nursery & Day Care Inspection report for early years provision

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144717 Unique Reference Number 12 June 2007 Inspection date Janet Sharon Williams Inspector

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66 Blairderry Road, London, SW2 4SB Setting Address

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E-mail

Fehmida Gangji Registered person Integrated Type of inspection Full day care Type of care

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E-mail

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000

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ABOUT THIS INSPECTION

The purpose of this inspection is to assure government, parents and the public of the quality of childcare and, if applicable, of nursery education. The inspection was carried out under Part XA Children Act 1989 as introduced by the Care Standards Act 2000 and, where nursery education is provided, under Schedule 26 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998. This report details the main strengths and any areas for improvement identified during the inspection. The judgements included in the report are made in relation to the outcomes for children set out in the Children Act 2004; the National Standards for under 8s day care and childminding; and, where nursery education is provided, the Curriculum guidance for the foundation stage. The report includes information on any complaints about the childcare provision which Ofsted has received since the last inspection or registration or 1 April 2004 whichever is the later.

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The key inspection judgements and what they mean

Outstanding: this aspect of the provision is of exceptionally high quality Good: this aspect of the provision is strong Satisfactory: this aspect of the provision is sound Inadequate: this aspect of the provision is not good enough

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The key inspection judgements and what they mean

For more information about early years inspections, please see the booklet Are you ready for your inspection? which is available from Ofsted's website: www.ofsted.gov.uk.

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

On the basis of the evidence collected on this inspection:

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

The quality and standards of the care are satisfactory. The registered person meets the National Standards for under 8s day care and childminding.

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

The quality and standards of the nursery education are good.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

Streatham Montessori Nursery was registered in 1998. It occupies two floors of a converted residential property in Streatham Hill in the London borough of Lambeth and serves families from a wide catchment area. Children have access to four activity rooms and a garden play area. A maximum of 34 children may attend the nursery at any one time. The nursery operates five days a week from 08:00 - 18:00 and is open 51 weeks a year. Children can attend a variety of sessions.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

There are currently 46 children on roll from one to under five years , of these 29 receive funding for early education funding. The setting supports children with learning difficulties and/or disabilities and those who speak English as an additional language.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

The nursery employs 12 members of staff. Of these nine have suitable qualifications in Montessori teaching and early years childcare, one unqualified and two are working towards a qualification.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000

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Helping children to be healthy

The provision is good. Children learn about the importance of good hygiene practices for instance, they wash their hands after using the toilet and before and after meals. Most staff follow current and appropriate environmental health and hygiene guidelines to avoid cross contamination, for example, wear an apron and gloves for nappy changing and ensure children's sleeping mattresses are cleaned daily. However, in the baby room tables are not suitably cleaned prior to snack time.

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Helping children to be healthy

Children's individual dietary requirements are respected and considered carefully. Special dietary requirements and any allergies are gathered prior to placement. Children are provided with a healthy diet where a selection of vegetables and fruit are offered daily. Fresh drinking water is available for children to pour their own drink and is offered regularly to younger children or they may request for one at any time.

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Helping children to be healthy

All children benefit from physical play on a daily basis. For example, they enjoy running, are skilled at manoeuvring tricycles and make use of the small climbing frame.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The provision is satisfactory. Children play in a satisfactory organised environment. They can access toys and equipment stored at their level, for example, cars, large and small construction toys, puzzles and drawing and colouring materials and most activities are appropriately organised to create a stimulating and learning environment for children. However, some play areas are not organised resourcefully. For example, the home corner is not arranged for children to use their imagination creatively and the book corner is not inviting.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Children's safety is maintained at all times. A good risk assessment procedure is in place; premises, resources and equipment are frequently checked to ensure that they are safe and in good condition; no person can enter the premises without ringing the door bell; visitors have to sign in and out and regular fire drills are recorded and practised.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Although there are clear written policies and procedures in place for child protection, most of the staff have a limited knowledge of issues surrounding child protection.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The provision is good. Children are happy settled and relate well to each other. They play freely and independently with activities available where they are able to play alone or in a groups. Children are involved in fun games that involve and interest them, such as running, where they cheer each other. They are able to choose and help themselves to what they want to play with and use resources in a stimulating and supportive environment. Staff interact with children in a relaxed atmosphere and demonstrate a good understanding of each child's needs. They participate in dressing up with the children, role play with them, spend quality time talking and listening to the children, reading them stories and take time to explain to children about what they are doing.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000 Younger children are supported well, staff use the Birth to three matters frame work to support children development, written observation plans demonstrate how children are learning positively, however, this is not included in their activity plans. Children are given the opportunity to explore and gain experiences through enjoying creative art, such as sticking with pasta and glitter and playing with shaving foam. They receive cuddles and have a strong bond with the staff that care for them, which increases their sense of well-being. During the summer months children benefit from visiting places of interest, such as outings to Godstone Farm.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The quality of teaching and learning is good. Staff have a secure knowledge of the Foundation Stage. Although there are long and short term written plans for the Montessori teaching. The six areas of learning from the Foundation Stage have not been integrated. However, staff provide a stimulating environment, making good use of resources and incorporate the six areas in children's teaching and learning. Staff are aware of the next steps for each child to facilitate their learning. Staff also offer good support for children who are less confident and challenge the more able children, encouraging them to think. They make regular observation notes and record achievements; however, these are not kept up to date in children's profiles.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children are actively involved in their learning. They are confident, work well independently, take initiative and show a high level of concentration. Children's listening skills are good; they speak assertively to peers and adults, their spoken language is developing very well. They talk openly during circle time about themselves, their life around them and listen attentively for instance reply to questions such as what day, month and year is it, talk about what the weather is like outside and discuss places, people and events. Children are beginning to understand past and present and what is going on around them. Their understanding of the world is good through having access to resources and play materials, such as dressing up in various national costumes, learn French, use information technology and demonstrate good mouse control when playing games on the computer. Children also learn about the life cycle of a butterfly and frog

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children are interested in numbers and counting, most children can count up to 10 and above. They are able to demonstrate on their fingers numbers that are important to them, such as their age. Children are able to represent numbers in various ways, for example, identity them at random or complete worksheets through finding the missing numbers. They have many opportunities to use their senses and explore a varied range of materials both natural and manufactured. They play with rice and flour, where staff encourage them to smell, feel the texture, talk about flour and where rice comes from. Children's hand and eye co-ordination is good, they are competent when selecting and using small equipment such as scissors, use pens and pencils effectively to help develop their mark making skills. Children are confident writers, they are taught to write their own name, recognise and write letters and can phonetically link

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

sounds that are in their name and pictures and posters around the room.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The provision is satisfactory. Children and staff are from a variety of ethnic background, for example Europe, Asia, Africa and the Caribbean. Children are able to learn about their diverse community, equality of opportunities and anti-discriminatory practice whilst playing together and by the staff providing a satisfactory range of resources that reflect positive images of people, ethnicity and cultures. For example, dolls, books and dressing up clothes. Children also learn about other festivity

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Helping children make a positive contribution

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000 events, such as Hanukkah and Diwali. However, there are few resources to raise children knowledge about disability.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Children are valued, have good self-esteem and some of them socialise and form a positive relationship with their peers. They have many opportunities to develop and practise social skills, such as playing and learning together in small groups, sharing and taking turns while playing or participating in activities. Staff manage children's behaviour calmly, patiently and use appropriate strategies according to their age and stage of development. However, a few of the older children in the pre-school group are easily disruptive, noisy and do not respond to the request for good behaviour.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Staff have a comprehensible understanding of children with learning difficulties and/or disabilities, systems are in place to provide an inclusive environment for children with a range of different needs and abilities. Children with learning difficulties and/or disabilities are fully integrated into the group, enabling them to participate in all the activities available.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The provision fosters children's spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Children benefit from the effective partnership between parents and staff. Registration details request relevant important information about culture, religion, language and dietary needs to enable staff to provide for children particular requirements to assist them in meeting individual needs. Parents receive good information about the setting's policies, procedures, and also receive a monthly newsletter. Parents interviewed indicate that they are happy with the care provided.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Partnership with parents is good. Parents have access to the activity plan which provide a balanced range of activities and experiences across the areas of learning. Parents are well informed; they receive good information about their child’s progress; feel their children benefit through staff building on what children already know and are satisfied with the information they receive from staff. Parent’s evenings are organised twice a year to discuss their child's progress. Parents are also encouraged to be involved and make suggestions that positively contribute to their child's learning and development.

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Organisation

The organisation is satisfactory. Children benefit from satisfactory organisation of the provision. They are organised into age-appropriate groups, there is a key worker system in place, the management and staff team work well together and ensure that ratios are met at all times. Children have access to a range of interesting activities in a relaxed setting. Most staff hold a suitable qualification in childcare and have the opportunity to attend various training courses. Policies and procedures are well organised, clear and kept up to date with new requirements. The nursery has a clear vision for the future development to improve training and resources to promote children's well-being and development.

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Organisation

Leadership and management is good. Staff understand their role and responsibility and work well as a team. There is clear communication and guidance, which allows them to provide a stimulating well balanced programme. For example, staff are responsible for the planning to enhance children's learning and development. They are also knowledgeable about the Foundation Stage of learning and use observation and assessments effectively to evaluate how children are progressing towards the early learning goal. The manager has a good knowledge of current child care practices to support the care and learning of children.

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Organisation

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000 The provision meets the needs of the range of for whom it provides.

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Improvements since the last inspection

At the last Children's Act inspection the provision was asked to provide a range of anti-discriminatory early learning toys and equipment put systems in place to inform parents about the nursery's role in protecting children's welfare. Most of these have been satisfactorily address to promote children's well-being and some resources have been provided to raise children's knowledge about diversity.

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Improvements since the last inspection

The last Nursery Education inspection recommended that the provision provide more opportunities for children's imaginations to be fostered through free painting and to develop further opportunities for children to explore mathematical ideas and solve practical problems. Children's creativity is developed through various types of painting and children are given opportunities to learn and develop their number skills in various ways.

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Complaints since the last inspection

Since the last inspection there have been no complaints made to Ofsted that required the provider or Ofsted to take any action in order to meet the National Standards.

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Complaints since the last inspection

The provider is required to keep a record of complaints made by parents, which they can see on request. The complaints record may contain complaints other than those made to Ofsted.

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

On the basis of the evidence collected on this inspection:

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

The quality and standards of the care are satisfactory. The registered person meets the National Standards for under 8s day care and childminding.

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

The quality and standards of the nursery education are good.

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The quality and standards of the care

To improve the quality and standards of care further the registered person should take account of the following recommendation(s): • ensure all staff follow hygiene procedures in relation to cleanliness of equipment in the baby room • review organisation of the play areas to allow children to use their imagination in role play resourcefully and to have a prepared book corner • improve staff's knowledge and understanding of child protection • ensure younger children's activity plans include the Birth to three matters framework • provide a range of resources and play materials to raise children's knowledge about disability • review behaviour management strategy

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The quality and standards of the care

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000

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The quality and standards of the nursery education

To improve the quality and standards of nursery education further the registered person should take account of the following recommendation(s): • ensure that the written activity plans for Montessori teaching incorporate the six areas of learning from the Foundation Stage • ensure children's profiles are kept up to date

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The quality and standards of the nursery education

set out in the leaflet Complaints about Ofsted Early Years: concerns or complaints about Ofsted's role in regulating and inspecting childcare and early education (HMI ref no 2599) which is available from Ofsted's website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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The quality and standards of the nursery education

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000

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