Montessori Nursery

Hayle Montessori Nursery Methodist Church, Chapel Hill, Hayle, Cornwall, TR27 4JU

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 25/09/2013 12/03/2010

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early years provision

This inspection: 2 Previous inspection: 2 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

 Enthusiastic and knowledgeable staff create a welcoming and caring atmosphere in the nursery. They establish exceptionally positive relationships with children, so they feel safe and are eager to learn.  Children are very well behaved and considerate of each other and their environment.  Staff provide exceptionally enjoyable learning experiences that enable children to make very good progress in their learning and development.  Partnerships with parents, early years practitioners and agencies are strong which effectively contributes to staff meeting children's needs successfully.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 Staff do not always enable children to make independent choices about when to play outdoors, which slightly reduces physical and exploratory experiences for children who specifically enjoy the outdoor learning environment.

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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 engaged in discussion with parents, children and staff.  The inspector viewed the premises, toys and equipment.  The inspector and manager engaged in a joint observation of an activity.  The inspector observed interactions between children and adults.  The inspector sampled nursery documentation and children's records.

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Information about the setting

Hayle Montessori Nursery registered in 1998 and operates from two rooms in the Methodist Church, close to the centre of the town in Hayle, Cornwall. The nursery operates from Monday to Friday during term time only. On Monday, Tuesday and Friday sessions are from 9am until 12pm. On Wednesday and Thursday, sessions are between 9am and 3pm. There are currently 32 children on roll who are in the early years age group. The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register. It receives funding for the provision of free early education for children aged two, three and four years. There are six members of staff, all of whom hold appropriate early years qualifications. One member of staff is a qualified teacher; two are qualified to international Montessori Diploma level 4 and three at level 3. The nursery follows the Montessori method of teaching.

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

 extend opportunities for children, in particular for those who enjoy outdoor exploration to choose when they play outdoors, in order to enhance their exploratory and physical skills further.

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who attend

Staff have an extremely good understanding of how children learn and develop. They know children very well and provide an exceptionally enjoyable and stimulating range of learning experiences, based on their individual preferences and abilities. For example, children enjoy water play with realistic teapots, jugs and teacups. After they have fully explored this activity with their friends, adults join-in to purposefully and skilfully interact, extend the experience further and challenge children. They introduce a tea bag, milk, sugar and warm water. They talk about the changes in colour, smell and taste, as they follow the tea making process through to completion. Adults also introduce discussion about safety, as they talk about taking care when pouring hot water. Staff are extremely skilful in their interactions with children, supporting, encouraging and challenging them in their play. As a result, children, despite their very young age, are very confident, highly

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who attend

inquisitive and exceptionally keen to learn.

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who attend

Staff ensure that children enjoy a broad and balanced range of activities across all areas and make exceptionally creative use of the indoor and outdoor learning environments. Children particularly enjoy outdoor physical play and benefit from access to the outdoors at regular times throughout the day. This supports their good health and physical development. Staff are highly creative in their use of resources to enhance play in the outdoors. They have recently sourced recycled kitchen equipment to enhance the outdoor kitchen role-play area. The addition of mixing bowls, baking trays, compost, spoons, and muffin cases successfully supports and extends children's play, as they follow examples they have observed and pretend to make cakes. Children have grown flowers, fruit and vegetables in the garden. They also enjoy use of a raised platform, which offers an exciting area for drama, dance, group story time, chalking and painting. Children are

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who attend

industrious, as they engage in self-chosen activities with a wide range of interesting toys and natural resources. They develop their mathematical and creative skills as they count, sort, match and print with objects such as pinecones, sand, fruit and vegetables.

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who attend

Assessment systems are robust. They clearly show children's individual starting points and celebrate ongoing progress. Parents are actively involved in their child's learning, as they contribute to the assessment process and liaise effectively with their child's key person. This also enables them to share ideas for shared home learning. There is evidence from these records that children make very good progress in relation to their starting points. Staff successfully promote children's key skills for future learning well, which helps prepare them for their move to school. Adults actively engage children in purposeful ongoing discussion to successfully extend their communication and language skills. Children follow the very positive examples demonstrated by adults and are extremely well mannered and socially skilled.

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

Children enter the nursery enthusiastically and separate easily from their parent. They form a secure and positive attachment to adults, in particular their key person. This promotes their sense of belonging and self-confidence. As a result, children are independent learners, who initiate ideas for play. Children are well behaved, kind and helpful. They successfully cooperate and negotiate to maintain harmonious relationships with other children. This is because they develop a positive respect of people's differences, because of the good examples set by staff. Children learn to identify and manage everyday risk as they handle small tools and equipment safely. They also talk about moving carefully and keeping rooms tidy to avoid trips and falls. Outdoors, they follow agreed safety codes as they ride bikes, which help them to avoid collisions. As a result, of these good practices, children learn to keep themselves and others safe from harm.

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

Staff are attentive to children's needs and act promptly to meet them. They promote children's safety very well, which helps children to feel safe and secure. Staff also reinforce good health and hygiene procedures, as they help children to identify and manage their own personal care needs. For example, children wash their hands before eating and use the tissues provided, to wipe their nose and face when required. Adults have placed a small mirror beside the tissues to help children ensure that their face is clean. Children help themselves to food and drink as and when they are thirsty and hungry. They enjoy healthy and nutritious snacks in sufficient quantities for their individual needs. Children sit socially with their friends to eat and are keen to take responsibility for washing their plate and cup afterwards.

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

Children use the outdoor play area and large communal hall for free-play and focused activities, which successfully promote children's physical skills. For example, they run, jump, climb, ride bikes and use small and large tools and equipment. They also dance and play organised games. Children make independent choices about what they will do as they play indoors and outdoors. However, because the outdoor play area is detached from the nursery playroom, adults currently facilitate most of the timings of outdoor play. As a result, children who particularly enjoy outdoor play do not have a high level of independent choice or influence on when this happens. For example, they do not have pictures to show staff or have a bell to ring when they wish to go outside to play. This slightly limits their free choice for physical and exploratory play experiences outdoors.

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

The nursery is welcoming and enabling. Toys, resources and equipment are stored attractively at child height, on open labelled shelving. Therefore, children select favourite toys and activities as they wish. This supports their emotional well-being and enhances their sense of belonging. Strong partnerships with parents, other practitioners and early years agencies promote children's continuity of care and learning. Parents provide very positive feedback on the quality of provision, in particular safeguarding and opportunities for shared home learning. Staff regularly share good levels of information about children's care and progress with parents and other early years providers, which successfully supports children as they prepare for their move from one setting to another.

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provision

Staff have a secure understanding of the learning and development and safeguarding and welfare requirements of the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage. They are confident and competent in their delivery of planned activities and they interact very skilfully during child-initiated play to support children's good progress. Adults have a secure understanding of the local safeguarding procedures and are confident to follow these if required. A written risk assessment is in place and the staff complete daily visual checks on the premises, toys and equipment. Children learn how to identify and manage risk, as they regularly participate in emergency evacuation procedures, in order to develop their confidence and familiarity in this practice.

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provision

Management provide a good range of written policies and procedures to share and agree with parents and staff. This helps to maintain consistency and high standards in the nursery practice. They monitor staff performance and the effectiveness of the provision regularly and effectively through staff meetings and appraisal. As a result, they have identified appropriate areas for future development, which include enhancing the outdoor area further by introducing resources to promote children's literacy skills, such as displaying letters, numbers, signs and symbols.

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provision

Staff attend regular early years training to update and extend their knowledge and skills. This contributes positively to children's learning and development. Staff and parents regularly celebrate children's achievements, through daily discussion and by sharing children's 'learning journals'. These records show that children make good progress through a wide range of enjoyable play experiences. This is because staff provide individually tailored learning opportunities and a balance of adult-led and child-initiated play. Very positive partnerships with parents, other providers and agencies help ensure that children are ready for school and that their unique needs are met.

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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 102984 Local authority Cornwall Inspection number 911578 Type of provision Sessional provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 5 Total number of places 20 Number of children on roll 32 Name of provider Alison Pauline Fujiwara Date of previous inspection 12/03/2010 Telephone number 07880 643269

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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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