Bumble-Bees Montessori (Grange Park)

Bumble-Bees Montessori (Grange Park) 8 Uplands Way, LONDON, N21 1DG

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 22/03/2013 Not Applicable

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early years provision

This inspection: 2 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 2 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 2

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This provision is good

 Children are happy and safe in a welcoming environment, which gives them opportunities to play freely.  Children enjoy talking to their friends and to the staff. Children show good levels of concern and consideration to their friends, and staff are good role models.  Activities outside are exciting and staff organise them to meet the individual needs and interest of children.  The manager and staff team are proactive in identifying strengths and areas for improvement.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 children do not always have free access to mathematical equipment, such as rulers and tape measures in their daily play, especially in the construction area. This has an impact on children's developing understanding of measure and distance.  children do not have regular opportunities to make their own story books, with photographs of themselves participating in activities they enjoyed, to further extend their enjoyment of books and reading.

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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

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Information about this inspection

 scheduled more frequently where Ofsted identifies a need to do so, for example where provision was previously judged 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 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  scheduled 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 sampled documentation, including planning, children's files, policies and procedures.  The inspector observed the children in the main play room and in the outside area.  The inspector spoke to staff.  The inspector had a detailed discussion with the manager.  The inspector carried out a joint observation with the manager.

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Information about the setting

Bumble Bees Montessori (Grange Park) Ltd registered in 2012. It operates from purpose- built premises, located in a residential area of Grange Park, in the London Borough of Enfield. The nursery is situated close to local parks. The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register. It operates each weekday between 8am and 6pm, full year, with the exception of two weeks over the Christmas period. There are currently 26 children on roll in the Early Years age range. The nursery receives funding to provide free early education to children aged three and four years. The nursery supports children who speak languages other than English. It follows the Montessori method of teaching. There are six staff employed at the nursery, two of whom hold relevant qualifications at level 4. Two staff hold relevant qualifications at level 3, one holds a qualification at level 2 and one staff member is unqualified.

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

 consider ways to extend children's enjoyment of books and early literacy skills; for example, by making their own story books, with photographs of themselves participating in activities

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

 provide opportunities for children to routinely access mathematical equipment, such as rulers and measure tapes, to encourage a better understanding of measure and distance.

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who attend

Children have access to a good range of activities and learning experiences across the seven areas of learning which meet their developmental needs. Key persons effectively assess children's starting points for learning and monitor their progress throughout the nursery on an ongoing basis. This helps staff understand children's capabilities and support their next steps for learning. They use this information to inform planning and produce summaries of children's progress twice a year, which they share with parents. Staff weave individual planning for target children into their daily provision, so that all children can benefit from appropriate activities and the resources provided. Activities help children to prepare for the structured learning environment of school. Resources are of a good quality and overall children can access them easily. The stimulating learning environment means that children can select the toys they wish to play

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who attend

with. There are a lot of natural materials available, which enables all the children to explore their senses. For example, malleable dough, wooden construction toys, sand and water are always on offer. The children are able to choose and initiate activities themselves as well as be involved with those that are adult-led. This supports their play and exploration, as well as their increasing independence. Older children write their names on their art work. Staff support younger children to engage in a variety of different activities to practise early writing skills. Staff sit in the book area to read stories and children can access the books independently. However, children do not have opportunities to make their own story books, with photographs of themselves participating in activities they enjoyed. This is to further extend their enjoyment of books and reading. Throughout the nursery staff know their key children's home languages and there are resources and

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who attend

displays that reflect their individual backgrounds. This helps promote inclusion for each child.

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who attend

Children are encouraged to take turns in choosing songs they would like to sing, which helps their developing communication and language skills. All staff enthusiastically sing and dance with the children. Children who are playing with other toys also join in with the words and actions, as they hold bean bags in their hands and sing 'the bean bag rock'. As a result children's physical development and creative development are supported well. Children are confident and chat happily to each other as they play with large wood construction blocks. They use good vocabulary to express themselves and older children give clear instructions to younger children as they carefully place blocks on top of each other as they build bridges and towers. Staff extend children's understanding of the natural world around them as they talk to the children about what is happening outside. They ask questions to help children to reflect on what they see in the garden. For

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who attend

example, staff talk to children during outside play, extending their vocabulary by discussing the changing states of snow to ice and then back to water.

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who attend

Staff plan exciting activities that help children to think and problem solve. For example, they experiment and test their own ideas as they have to guess which animals live on land or water, and then put them in the correct tray, filled with water or sand. Children have opportunities to build with the large wooden blocks of different 3D shapes and sizes. Staff encourage children to use mathematical language regarding shape of the blocks and the height of the towers they build. However, children do not always have opportunities to use mathematical equipment such as rulers, and measure tapes in their daily play. This is to further extend their understanding of measure and distance.

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who attend

Children spend time in the home corner engaging in imaginative role play based on their own first-hand experiences. For example, they build cities and towns, with roads and bridges, with wooden blocks accompanied with an array of small world people.

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

Staff support children's well-being by making sure they have opportunities to play outside every day. In addition there are some opportunities to go on outings to learn more about their local community. The nursery has developed the garden area, which children use all year, to enhance their physical development. There are lots of opportunities for children's physical activities, for instance, negotiating space on ride-on toys and playing on the climbing frame and slide. Children jump over large blocks they have lined up and run freely in the snow as they make ice sculptures on the ground.

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

Children are happy within the nursery and have established harmonious relationships with their key person and other staff members. Children have good opportunities to develop their social skills because they build friendship groups and share ideas with each other. Children behave very well and are often very mature in their approach with their friends. They are caring and kind and show concern if others are left out of games. Staff are calm in their approach, are respectful to the children and model good behaviour. Children are encouraged to take responsibility for jobs such as tidying up to help them learn to care for their environment.

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

Staff implement effective policies for administering medication and to record accidents, to safeguard children's welfare. Staff know, and appropriately support children's dietary requirements, to meet their specific needs. Children contribute to the menu as they ask for favourite dishes to be prepared. Children develop independence as they serve themselves at snack and lunch times and put away their plates and cups after all meals. Children help themselves to water throughout the day as they pour their drinks from a jug and serve themselves. This encourages them to follow a healthy lifestyle. Children are keen to wash their hands prior to handling food and after toileting, to protect their good health. They are encouraged to become independent from an early age and gain the necessary skills to prepare them for school.

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

Staff give gentle reminders about safety during the day to help children learn to keep themselves safe. For example when children play with large heavy wooden blocks staff remind them not to hold them too high or they may hurt someone else. Staff make sure children are always safe during outings, as they have high ratios and teach children about road safety rules. Regular fire drills introduce children to how to keep themselves safe when leaving the building in an emergency.

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provision

Leadership and management are effective, which enables the nursery to run smoothly. The manager has a firm understanding of her responsibilities to make sure the nursery meets the safeguarding and welfare requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. There are effective systems in place to supervise and mentor staff, including regular appraisals and staff meetings. As a result, staff work well individually and as a team, which benefits all of the children. Comprehensive awareness of safeguarding issues among the manager and staff supports children's safety and security. Staff demonstrate a good understanding of the child protection procedures to follow if they are concerned about a child's welfare. Management follow robust recruitment and vetting procedures, to help ensure that only suitable adults are in contact with children. Good security of the premises prevents children leaving the premises unsupervised and unauthorised persons

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provision

entering. The manager has robust risk assessment procedures in place to swiftly and effectively deal with any safety issues, in order to keep children safe. Staff risk assess all areas of the nursery and any changes to practice to make certain children's health and safety is paramount. A number of staff throughout the nursery hold valid paediatric first aid certificates in order to treat children appropriately in the event of a minor accident.

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provision

The manager and staff team closely monitor the educational programmes, observations and planning to make sure all children are making good progress. Staff are supported well in their professional development. Formal supervision takes place regularly, providing opportunities for the manager and staff to discuss performance, areas for development and any training needs. These systems improve the outcomes for children because staff are able to develop their skills and knowledge.

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provision

The systems for self-evaluation are thorough and everyone is included in the process to improve the nursery. The parents and children contribute to changes and staff and management take on board all views that are expressed. The manager and her staff demonstrate that they have clearly identified strengths and weaknesses of the nursery effectively. They are monitoring the effectiveness of the educational programmes to make sure children enjoy activities that reflect their developmental needs and interests. The manager shows a strong drive for making continuous improvements to the nursery.

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provision

The staff have a good relationship with parents. Parents have access to their children's profile and attend regular meetings with their key person to share information and assessments of their child's progress. This helps to ensure that parents are fully involved in their child's learning and how they can support their children's learning at home, in conjunction with the nursery. Parents complete annual questionnaires and the nursery uses their feedback to identify areas for development. Staff provide verbal daily feedback as well as using a daily diary as a home link book. This enables parents to add comments and share important messages with key persons. This supports consistency and continuity of care for the children. The staff work with a number of different partnerships and share information so that all parties involved are able to work collaboratively to meet the individual care and learning needs of the children. This consistency of care and learning

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provision

positively bring about better outcomes for 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 action. 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 EY455587 Local authority Enfield Inspection number 890136 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 2 - 5 Total number of places 20 Number of children on roll 26 Name of provider Bumble-Bees Montessori (Grange Park) Ltd Date of previous inspection not applicable Telephone number 0208 3643647

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Setting details

set out in the guidance ‘Complaints procedure: 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, which are usually the childminder’s 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

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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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