Julia's Montessori Nursery

INSPECTION DETAILS

Inspection Date 29/09/2004 Inspector Name Tracy Maria Clarke

p.1

SETTING DETAILS

Day Care Type Sessional Day Care Setting Name Julia's Montessori Nursery Setting Address St Mary's Church Hall Church Street Hampton Middlesex TW12 2EB

p.1

REGISTERED PROVIDER DETAILS

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Section 122 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998

p.1

ABOUT THE INSPECTION

The purpose of this inspection is to assure government, parents and the public that the nursery education for funded three and four year old children is of an acceptable quality. Inspection of nursery education also identifies strengths and weaknesses so that providers can improve the quality of educational provision and help children to achieve the early learning goals (elgs) by the end of the Foundation Stage. This inspection report must be made available to all parents. If the setting has been inspected previously, an action plan will have been drawn up to tackle issues identified. This inspection, therefore, must also assess what progress has been made in the implementation of this plan.

p.2

Information about the setting

Julia's Montessori Nursery opened in 2002. It operates from one main room of a church hall, in Hampton. The nursery serves the local area. The nursery is registered to care for 24 children between the ages of two to five years old. There are currently 21 children from two to five years old on role and this includes funded places for three and four year olds. Children attend for a variety of sessions. The group supports children with special needs and with English as an additional language. The group currently opens five days a week during school term times. Sessions are from 9am until 12pm. Eight full and part time staff work with the children, four have Early Years qualifications and one currently has a NVQ2 and is working towards NVQ 3. The setting receives support from the Early Years Development and Childcare Partnership. The group follow the Montessori principles of learning as well as working towards

p.2

Information about the setting

the foundation stages of learning with the children.

p.2

Information about the setting

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Section 122 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998

p.2

How effective is the nursery education?

Julia's Montessori Nursery offers generally good quality education. It enables children to make good progress towards four early learning goals, and very good progress in relation to their mathematical development and their personal, social and emotional development. Teaching is good. Staff plan the daily routine well, enabling children to enjoy a range of activities and outside play. Staff are effective at engaging children in activities which sustain their interest and encourage them to develop their mathematical thinking. As children move around the room, selecting activities of their choice, staff offer good levels of support and encouragement, and are able to differentiate the activity to take account of more able children. Once a week, more able children are extended in their mathematical development and encouraged to recognise familiar words and link sounds to letters. However, writing is not encouraged for a variety of

p.3

How effective is the nursery education?

purposes. Children's behaviour is good and they respond well to the high expectations and support of the staff team. They are encouraged by staff to be independent and to explore and investigate. Although targets are set for children, they are not extended fully in their physical development, creativity, design making skills and imaginative play. The leadership of the setting is good. The manager encourages staff to work well together and to take turns in planning and leading activities. However, staff do not use observations of children's progress and evaluation of activities effectively, to inform the planning, and this results in some areas of learning being given less focus than others. Staff work very well with parents, providing written information for them regarding the activities undertaken and the policies of the setting. They also ensure parents have lots of opportunities to discuss their child's progress. Two way communication is

p.3

How effective is the nursery education?

encouraged daily, and parents are invited to take part in activities and events on a regular basis.

p.3

What is being done well?

• The children are well behaved. They enjoy undertaking activities and work well with one another. They respond positively to staff, helping to tidy away toys, and are aware of the agreed expectations of the group. • Children's mathematical thinking is encouraged well by staff, who set mathematical challenges to fully extend children's development and encourage children to enjoy solving problems. • Staff encourage children to explore living things and examine change.

p.3

What is being done well?

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Section 122 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 Regular investigative challenges set for more able children, encourage them to think about why things work, grow and change. • Staff work very well with parents, sharing information with them verbally and through newsletters, displays and other written information. Parents are invited to share information about their children's individual needs and the progress they are making, and staff encourage parents to be actively involved in regular activities at the nursery. • All staff are qualified and experienced child care practitioners. They create a warm and welcoming environment in which children and parents feel included. Good staffing ratios enable children to be given high levels of support and encouragement, and provide opportunities for staff to undertake individual and group work with children.

p.3

What needs to be improved?

• the evaluations carried out in relation to children's development and the activities provided, so that planning is informed and targets set for individual children are appropriate and cover all developmental areas • the opportunities children have to initiate and further develop their imaginative and creative development and extend their design making skills • the planning for physical development, so that children can be extended fully and have opportunities to climb, balance and initiate and experiment with different combinations of movement • the opportunities for children to mark make and write for a variety of purposes and to begin to recognise familiar words through effective labelling of resources and activities

p.4

What has improved since the last inspection?

This was the first inspection since registration under the current owner.

p.4

What has improved since the last inspection?

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Section 122 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998

p.4

PERSONAL, SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Very Good Children are very well behaved and respond well to others. They are aware of the expectations of the group, showing care and consideration for others, and helping to tidy away activities. The layout of the room and resources encourages children to develop their independence skills, as they select equipment from low level shelves and make independent decisions about the activities they want to take part in. Children have developed strong friendships and are eager to participate in group sessions

p.5

COMMUNICATION, LANGUAGE AND LITERACY

Judgement: Generally Good Children enjoy listening to stories and access books throughout the session. They show sustained concentration when taking part in circle time discussions, contributing relevant comments. Children have built up a wide repertoire of songs and they join in enthusiastically with repeated refrains. Children are learning to recognise their name, with more able children beginning to link letters to sounds and forming recognisable letters. They are not encouraged to mark make for a variety of purposes.

p.5

MATHEMATICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Very Good Children's mathematical thinking is encouraged in all areas. The use of Montessori materials enables children to sort and match a range of objects, colours and shapes, and they can order by height and length. Children count when singing and are able to recognise numbers up to 10 and count objects accurately. Children complete puzzles and construct with a purpose. Children are beginning to recognise symmetry in the resources they use.

p.5

KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD

Judgement: Generally Good Children explore the natural environment, looking at bark, conkers and fir cones under a magnifying glass, and growing cress and plants. They investigate why some items sink and others float, and observe change as they watch ice melt. Children care for plants, understanding why they must water them regularly. Children develop mouse skills when using the computer, and they use cassette machines confidently. Children's design making skills are not fully encouraged.

p.5

KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Section 122 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998

p.5

PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Generally Good Children's fine motor skills are encouraged as they pour water from one container to another, assemble construction resources, cut with scissors, unscrew containers and use tweezers to transfer objects. Children enjoy moving to music and action rhymes. They enjoy chasing after each other in the garden and they manoeuvre bikes safely. Children are not fully extended in this area, with few opportunities to climb, balance and negotiate complex movements and equipment.

p.6

CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Generally Good Children enjoy singing and show good expression when moving to music and action rhymes. They experiment with sound when using musical instruments, showing an awareness of rhythm. Children enjoy free painting, where they can create paintings to their own design, and they have regular opportunities to make collages using materials and textures. They engage in imaginative play when using small world resources. They are not fully extended in their imaginative and creative development.

p.6

Children's spiritual, moral, social, and cultural development is fostered

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Section 122 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998

p.6

OUTCOME OF THE INSPECTION

The provision is acceptable and is of good quality overall. Children are making generally good progress towards the early learning goals. The next inspection will take place in three to four years time.

p.7

WHAT THE SETTING NEEDS TO DO NEXT: THE KEY ISSUES

• improve evaluation of children's development and activities, so that planning is informed and targets set for individual children are appropriate and cover all developmental areas • provide greater opportunities for children to initiate and further develop their imaginative and creative development and extend their design making skills • improve the planning for physical development, so that children can be extended fully and have opportunities to climb, balance and initiate and experiment with different combinations of movement • provide opportunities for children to mark make and write for a variety of purposes

p.7

WHAT THE SETTING NEEDS TO DO NEXT: THE KEY ISSUES

The provider must draw up an action plan within 40 working days of receipt of this report showing how the key issues detailed above will be addressed. The action plan must be made available to all parents and to the Local Authority if required. An evaluation of the action taken will form part of the next inspection of funded nursery education.

p.7

WHAT THE SETTING NEEDS TO DO NEXT: THE KEY ISSUES

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Section 122 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998

p.7