Apple Tree Montessori Nursery

Apple Tree Montessori Nursery Harrow Cricket Club, Wood End Road, HARROW, Middlesex, HA1 3PP

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 11/10/2012 Not Applicable

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early years provision

This inspection: 3 Previous inspection: Not Applicable How well the early years provision meets the needs of the range of children who attend The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children 3 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 3

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This provision is satisfactory

 Practitioners offer children warm and caring relationships. They respond quickly to children's individual needs and interests. Therefore, children are developing secure attachments with both their peers and the practitioners caring for them.  Children are confident to express their ideas as practitioners take time to listen to them and continually engage in their conversations. This in turn, supports children to develop their vocabulary in line with the developmental milestones for their ages and stages of development.  Children are developing positive self-care skills as practitioners encourage them to serve their own food and pour their own drinks at lunch times. Children enjoy this relaxed social occasion where they eat very well.  Practitioners empower children to make choices about their play and allow them the flexibility to pursue different activities in the way they want to, rather than being

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It is not yet good because

 When the proprietor of the nursery is not present staff are unclear of who is in charge and who is deputising. This also impacts on the accessibility of some documentation being available, including a member of staff's qualifications to deem their suitability for their roles.  Although the nursery has developed positive planning systems around the key person system not all parents are aware of who their child's key person is, therefore, partnership working is yet to be fully embedded.  The nurseries procedures for staff appraisal and self-evaluation are in their early stages of development. Consequently, systems to implement effective and robust targets to initiate improvements in the setting are still in their infancy.

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Information about this inspection

Inspections of registered early years provision are scheduled:  at least once in every inspection cycle. The current cycle ends on 31 July 2016  more frequently where Ofsted identifies a need to do so, for example where provision was previously judged as inadequate  brought forward in the inspection cycle where Ofsted has received information that suggests the provision may not be meeting the legal requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage; or where assessment of the provision identifies a need for early inspection  prioritised for inspection where we have received information that the provision is not meeting the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage and which suggests children may not be safe  at the completion of an investigation into failure to comply with the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector observed children's play and staff interaction.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector and proprietor/manager of the provision undertook a joint observation of an adult-led activity.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector talked with practitioners and held meetings with the proprietor of the nursery.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector examined documentation including a representative sample of children's records, policies and procedures and staff suitability records.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector took account of the views of parents and carers spoken to on the day of the inspection.

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Information about the setting

Apple Tree Montessori Nursery opened in April 2012. It is one of two privately run provisions. The nursery operates from a cricket club which is situated in the London Borough of Harrow. The nursery follows the Montessori philosophy of learning. Children have access to two play rooms, and an outdoor area. All facilities are on the ground floor. The nursery serves the local and wider community and is open all year round, closing for two weeks during the summer and one week over the Christmas holidays. The setting is currently open Monday to Thursday, from 8am until 6pm. Children attend on a full or part- time basis.

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Information about the setting

The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register. The nursery provides funded early education for three and four-year-olds. There are currently 10 children aged from two years to under five years on roll. The nursery currently support a number of children who speak English as an additional language and children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. There are four members of staff working with the children. All staff hold either National Vocational Childcare Qualifications or Montessori qualifications, the proprietor of the setting holds an Early years Degree.

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must:

 strengthen current management systems to ensure that all staff have a clear knowledge and understanding of their roles and responsibilities and the training required for their roles within the nursery.  strengthen the key person system by ensuring that all parents are aware of who their child's key person is so that they can develop secure partnership working.

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To further improve the quality of the early years provision the provider should:

 develop further self-evaluation and staff appraisal systems to continually assess all aspects of the provision and therefore, improve outcomes for children.

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who attend

Children enjoy a broad range of activities and experiences within the nursery which overall supports their learning and development. The staff caring for them demonstrate a sound knowledge and understanding of how to engage and promote children's learning through play. They plan an appropriate programme of experiences for children across the seven areas of learning. Teaching techniques are sound across the provision, as staff are planning around the individual needs of the children. This includes maintaining regular observations of children's achievements so that appropriate next steps can be planned to promote their learning. Staff support older children in their readiness for their transition to school by providing more focused learning opportunities. Overall, staff are mindful in supporting children to reach their individual milestones given their starting points. They work collaboratively with outside professionals to ensure that children with special

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who attend

educational needs and/or disabilities receive the individual support that they need.

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who attend

Children's language development is fostered through regular opportunities to engage within conversations with staff and their friends. There are regular opportunities for children to use their home language as staff are able speak many of the home languages that children have. Children enjoy story sessions where they are encouraged to talk about the events and characters that they see. They demonstrate competent listening skills as they listen carefully and respond appropriately to questions. Overall, children are making satisfactory progress in their communication and language development given their starting points. Children enjoy opportunities to make marks as they independently access their graphics area. Older children can write their names whilst younger children are proud to show the inspector where they self-register their names on the magnetic board.

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who attend

Children are developing competent mathematical skills as they enjoy counting and problem solving during fun singing sessions. Staff offer appropriate challenges to children as they encourage them to think about what happens when you take one away. Children explore big and small shapes when they engage in creative activities as they cut different sized paper. Children are developing pleasant social skills as they share resources and engage in cooperative play with their peers. They show care for their environment, for example, children who find resources on the cloakroom floor pick these up and exclaim, 'these don't belong here' they then proceed to take these back into the nursery. Overall children demonstrate polite and respectful behaviour which supports a positive attitude to their learning.

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who attend

Children benefit from an appropriately resourced learning environment with a mixture of Montessori resources and more general play equipment. This helps to support their learning across all areas. There are an appropriate range of both adult-led and child- initiated activities to support children in receiving a balanced range of learning opportunities. Discussions with parents demonstrate that they are able to support their children's learning as staff encourage them to be involved in ongoing topics and share their children's achievements with them. However, not all parents are aware of the key person system and how this helps support children's ongoing care and learning in the provision.

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The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children

The staff have warm emotional attachments with children. Discussions with them demonstrate that they know children well and plan activities to develop their interests. This supports children to feel safe, secure and valued in the setting.

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The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children

Children demonstrate a sense of belonging as they enjoy sharing their photos which are displayed on their name cards. They have their work valued as this is displayed within the nursery. Children are developing confidence as they enjoy accessing their environment and make independent choices about whether they would like to play inside or out in the garden area. They display positive behaviour as they cooperate with their peers and understand the need to respect one another's space when they are engaged in activities. Older children are sensitive to the needs of younger children who are sleeping as they play quietly and remind others to do the same. Overall, practitioners promote positive role models to children and it is evident that these have a positive impact on children's behaviour.

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The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children

Children arrive happily into the setting and settle quickly as they are greeted warmly by the staff. They are happy to stay and finish their lunch when their parents arrive to collect them early. They request to stay longer so that they can listen to a story. which demonstrates that they feel secure and happy in their environment. Children are gaining an understanding about risks as staff discuss with them how they must use resources in their environment safely. For example, they discuss with children the possible hazardous consequences of not using scissors safely. Children know that they must take care in the bathrooms as they need to climb a big step to access the wash basins. Children are developing positive self-care skills, for example, they confidently help themselves to rice and dhal for lunch. They are able to express their wishes politely as they request, 'please may I have some more.' Children are beginning to understand the importance of following

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The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children

appropriate hygiene measures. For example, they know why they must wash their hands before eating and after visiting the bathroom. Children are provided with home cooked foods which support them in making healthy choices. They also have access to fruit, milk and juice as snacks during the day. Children have positive opportunities to be active and to rest during the day, this helps to support their overall health and well-being.

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The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children

Children are generally well prepared for their transition to school. The nursery has established some positive links with local schools and demonstrates that they are hoping to extend these relationships further. The focus is to enable children to have opportunities to meet their teachers prior to them starting school. The nursery has also established transition report templates so that they can share children's achievements with both parents and schools that children move onto.

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provision

There is a positive approach to promoting improvement with a number of systems in place to support development in the provision. For example, the educational programmes have been devised in line with the Early Years Foundation Stage framework. There is a positive partnership with local authority advisors to seek their advice and guidance towards improving the provision offered to children. For example a sharing of documents to support the implementation of the 2-year-old progress check. There are sound partnerships developing with outside professionals to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Systems for staff appraisals and evaluation of the provision are new and the impact of these systems in evaluating the quality of provision offered to all children has yet to be seen.

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provision

There is a qualified team of staff who work with children who continue to develop their professional skills as they complete degrees and Montessori diplomas. However, there is confusion around roles and responsibilities with staff not sure who is in charge when the proprietor is absent. There is also a lack of documentation to demonstrate the qualifications of a key member of staff who works full-time with the children. As a result the provision is not always effectively managed and children's needs not always met, for example the key person system.

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provision

The proprietor has appropriate systems in place to ensure that all practitioners undergo suitability checks. Staff demonstrate that they are competent in their knowledge and understanding of safeguarding issues and the procedures to follow. Overall, staff work together to provide a welcoming, safe and child friendly environment.

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provision

Children with English as an additional language have secure opportunities to use their home language in their play and learning within the nursery. Equally discussions with parents demonstrate that they are happy that their children are making progress in speaking English, especially as this is not spoken at home. Overall parents are happy with the care and learning opportunities available to their children.

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Grade Judgement Description

Grade 1 Outstanding Outstanding provision is highly effective in meeting the needs of all children exceptionally well. This ensures that children are very well prepared for the next stage of their learning. Grade 2 Good Good provision is effective in delivering provision that meets the needs of all children well. This ensures children are ready for the next stage of their learning. Grade 3 Satisfactory Satisfactory provision is performing less well than expectations in one or more of the key areas. It requires improvement in order to be good. Grade 4 Inadequate Provision that is inadequate requires significant improvement and/or enforcement. The provision is failing to give children an acceptable standard of early years education and/or is not meeting the safeguarding and welfare requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. It will be inspected again within 12 months of the date of this inspection.

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Grade Judgement Description

Met The provision has no children on roll. The inspection judgement is that the provider continues to meet the requirements for registration. Not Met The provision has no children on roll. The inspection judgement is that the provider does not meet the requirements for registration.

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Inspection

This inspection was carried out by Ofsted under Sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 on the quality and standards of provision that is registered on the Early Years Register. The registered person must ensure that this provision complies with the statutory framework for children’s learning, development and care, known as the Early Years Foundation Stage.

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Setting details

Unique reference number EY444921 Local authority Harrow Inspection number 790639 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 2 - 5 Total number of places 30 Number of children on roll 10 Name of provider Apple Tree Day Nursery (UK) Limited Date of previous inspection Not applicable Telephone number 07940784970

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Setting details

set out in the guidance ‘raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk.

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Type of provision

For the purposes of this inspection the following definitions apply:

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Type of provision

Full-time provision is that which operates for more than three hours. These are usually known as nurseries, nursery schools and pre-schools and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage. They are registered on the Early Years Register and pay the higher fee for registration.

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Type of provision

Sessional provision operates for more than two hours but does not exceed three hours in any one day. These are usually known as pre-schools, kindergartens or nursery schools and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage. They are registered on the Early Years Register and pay the lower fee for registration.

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Type of provision

Childminders care for one or more children where individual children attend for a period of more than two hours in any one day. They operate from domestic premises that are usually their own home. They are registered on the Early Years Register and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage.

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Type of provision

Out of school provision may be sessional or full-time provision and is delivered before or after school and/or in the summer holidays. They are registered on the Early Years Register and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage. Where children receive their Early Years Foundation Stage in school these providers do not have to deliver the learning and development requirements in full but should complement the experiences children receive in school. achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, work-based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children,

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Type of provision

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk. You may copy all or parts of this document for non-commercial educational purposes, as long as you give details of the source and date of publication and do not alter the information in any way. To receive regular email alerts about new publications, including survey reports and school inspection reports, please visit our website and go to ‘Subscribe’.

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Type of provision

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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