Holly Tree Montessori Nursery

Holly Grange Montessori Nursery Limited 108 Edgeley Road, Edgeley, STOCKPORT, Cheshire, SK3 0TT

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 10/10/2013 03/03/2011

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early years provision

This inspection: 1 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 1 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 1

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This provision is outstanding

 Practitioners have high expectations for children and teaching is superb, securely based on a thorough understanding of how children learn, which ensures each child makes exceptional progress. The records of assessment are expertly detailed and are used effectively in the planning of activities to move children on in their learning.  All practitioners consistently give the highest priority to the safety of children and effectively support children's growing understanding of how to keep themselves safe and healthy in the stimulating environment.  Children are extremely happy and enjoy secure and trusting relationships with practitioners who provide them with constant praise and encouragement. As a result, this boosts their self-esteem and results in them being extremely confident and self- assured individuals.  The excellent partnerships formed between the parents and practitioners provide a positive two-way flow of information that is highly valued. This enables them to fully

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This provision is outstanding

contribute and be actively engaged in their children's learning and progress.

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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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Information about this inspection

The provision is also registered on the voluntary and compulsory parts of the Childcare Register. This report includes a judgment about compliance with the requirements of that register.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector observed activities in all the rooms in the nursery and the outside learning environment, and also viewed toys, equipment and resources.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector held meetings with the registered provider, manager, childcare practitioners and parents at appropriate times during the day.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector spoke to practitioners about the progress of their key children and their understanding of the nursery's policies and procedures.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector examined documentation including a representative sample of children's records, daily diaries, risk assessments, safeguarding and complaints policies, practitioner's suitability and training records.

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Information about the setting

Holly Grange Montessori Nursery Ltd was registered in 2003 on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. The nursery operates from five rooms in a converted detached house in the Edgeley area of Stockport and is privately owned. The nursery serves the local area and is accessible to all children. There is an enclosed area available for outdoor play.

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Information about the setting

The nursery employs 12 members of childcare staff. All hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 3 and above. One member of staff holds Early Years Professional Status and one has Qualified Teacher Status. The nursery opens Monday to Friday all year round. Sessions are from 8am until 6pm. Children attend for a variety of sessions. There are currently 53 children attending who are within this age group. The nursery provides funded early education for two-, three- and four-year-old children. It supports a number of children who speak English as an additional language and children with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

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

 consider ways to build on the excellent practice in place to further stimulate children's interest in technology in order to enhance children's creative thinking and problem solving skills.

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who attend

The practitioners have an excellent knowledge of how children learn and develop. They help children to settle at the nursery by gathering a wealth of information about their interests and individual needs from the parents when they first join. From this information, they ensure that activities are shaped to meet the children's individual interests and learning needs. This supports the children to make very rapid progress in their learning towards the early learning goals. Regular and well-focussed observations of the children and precise assessments are used to plan for their individual next steps. Children's individual learning journey files provide a wealth of high quality information about what each child enjoys and can do. Parents fully participate in their children's learning through regularly updating key people about what their children enjoy and do outside of nursery. They look at their children's learning files daily and these are well received and valued by

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who attend

them. This is managed very effectively to provide the practitioners with a clear, precise and focused approach to how they plan for each child.

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who attend

Children are highly motivated and enthusiastic learners. They become engrossed in their play on their own, with friends and practitioners. Children become highly confident communicators. Practitioners working with babies and young children respond swiftly and sensitively to their non-verbal communications. They encourage children's language development as they listen carefully to them, mirror language very well and routinely give commentary as they play.

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who attend

Children are exceptionally curious and active learners, showing a high degree of confidence and enthusiasm. This is because practitioners make the nursery environment a fun place to be, where children are active participants in the learning process. The excellent use of both inside and outdoors areas enables the children to continually make choices in what they do. The exceedingly rich learning environment provides lots of experiences, which the children readily take part in. Older children become engrossed in projects, which support their understanding of mathematics, for example, when setting the table for lunch, a child places too many drinking glasses on the table. The practitioner encourages the children to count the glasses and then take the number of children away from the number of glasses using their fingers. This type of activity results in children listening attentively to what others say, responding appropriately, whilst introducing the

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who attend

concept of subtracting. Babies show contentment because the practitioners give high levels of attention to their personal care routines and their need to explore. They have many opportunities to develop early skills, such as pointing and reaching when choosing their activities. They crawl and explore a variety of natural materials, such as soft and hard brushes, beads, rough and smooth textures stimulating their senses. Practitioner's help all children to make rapid improvement in their learning from their starting points. They involve children in decision making allowing them to freely choose from the extensive choice of resources that are easily accessible, building confidence in their own abilities to make decisions.

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who attend

All children thoroughly enjoy being outside and practitioner's very enthusiastic approach and excellent understanding of how to promote learning ensures children are always motivated. The quality of the teaching is exemplary and practitioners are extremely skilled in using open-ended questions to promote children's language to an optimum level. For instance, as children take part in imaginary play, practitioner asks 'what is happening to the water?' and 'how do you think we can stop this happening?' Children benefit greatly from the exciting outdoor play area that is creatively enhanced in all areas of learning. Children develop their physical skills as they balance, jump and ride bikes and scooters. They concentrate when making marks and babble to practitioners when they are asked about their drawings, helping develop their listening and speaking skills. Children see print and numbers all around them. There are lots of games and activities to expertly promote

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who attend

problem solving. This fully extends children's growing understanding of mathematics through their daily play. Older children confidently attempt to write their names on their pictures, developing meaning to the marks that they make. The excellent selection of books, story sacks and various props, fully capture children's interest in storytelling.

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who attend

There are successful strategies used to support children with English as an additional language. The nursery environment is very rich in print both in English and a wide range of other languages. Practitioners ask parents to provide key words in the child's home language, which they use during play and routines. This helps to effectively promote all children's language. Support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities is exceptional. There is very close liaison with external agencies and practitioners are able to provide individual attention where needed. This enables targeted intervention to ensure all children make rapid progress in their learning and development.

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who attend

The practitioners are committed to providing an inclusive environment where everyone is welcome, valued and respected. Children understand about different festivals and cultures from one another. In this way, they learn about similarities and differences between people and their diverse backgrounds. Children have numerous opportunities to use technology as they have access to an interactive tablet, laptop and various programmable toys. However, there is room to enhance this already very good practice for technology to further enhance children's creative thinking and problem solving skills. Due to the excellent range of activities and learning opportunities available to the children, they are prepared extremely well in their readiness for school.

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

The nursery is fully inclusive where all children and their families are welcomed and supported in an exemplary way. The highly successful settling-in procedures implemented in partnership with parents ensures children are happy, relaxed and settle quickly into the setting. Extensive transition arrangements for children moving from room to room are sensitively managed by practitioners. The key person visits the room with the child to offer security and there is a detailed exchange of information on their learning and development to ensure they make continual rapid progress. First class procedures are implemented to enable smooth transitions to the local schools. Key persons work with their local schools exceptionally well to ensure that the methods of teaching are complementary. For example, the nursery ensures that the written word is produced in a pre-cursive way, to allow children to become familiar and confident when looking at this form of print.

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

The children are exceptionally well behaved and thrive on the individual attention received from the practitioners, who consistently boost their confidence and self-esteem. They carefully remind children of any dangers, which help children to learn about keeping safe. Practitioners are highly skilled in recognising the uniqueness of each child and providing for their individual needs and interests. Babies are secure and confident to explore their surroundings, safe in the knowledge they have a supportive and nurturing practitioner who have high expectations. They form close attachments to them and enjoy cuddles, as they listen to music or explore the texture of the natural objects in the treasure baskets. They look for reassurance as they pull themselves up to stand. Practitioners provide consistently high levels of praise and encouragement for children to try new activities and develop their independence. For example, by giving them appropriate responsibility to

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

undertake, such as folding up their outdoor clothing and putting it away.

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

Children develop excellent self-care skills and are aware of the importance of following good hygiene practices as they are becoming competent in managing their personal needs relative to their ages. For example, they are learning to wash their hands before snack and dinner. They do this spontaneously, often without having to be reminded by the practitioners. Children have an excellent understanding of the importance of healthy lifestyles. They help themselves to drinking water when they are thirsty and are offered a range of healthy snacks of fresh fruit and eat well-balanced and nutritious meals. For example, lunch is freshly home-made meat balls and brown rice, followed by carrot cake. Lunch time routine is extremely well organised where children are actively involved in their select tasks, such as putting out place mats, napkins, knife and forks or serving the food. They ask their peers if they would like 'big' or 'small' developing their understanding of

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

portion size. Very good hygiene practices are adhered to when practitioners change children's nappies. They record routine information about nappy changes, sleep patterns and details of food eaten by the children, which is given to parents at the end of each day. This information in addition to the verbal feedback ensures that parents are kept fully informed about their children's routines throughout the day.

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provision

The practitioners have an excellent knowledge of the learning and development requirements of the Statutory framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage. They continually evaluate and plan an inspiring range of activities and experiences that highly motivate and develop from the interest of the children. Their planning is based on their excellent knowledge of the areas of learning and of how children learn. The practitioners also have an excellent understanding of the safeguarding and welfare requirements of the Statutory framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage. The robust recruitment and vetting procedures undertaken by the provider and manager help ensure that practitioners are suitable and safe to work with children. They are extremely well safeguarded as the practitioners make sure their welfare and safety is of the utmost priority at all times and in all situations. They demonstrate an excellent understanding of their roles and

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provision

responsibilities to protect the children in their care and this is further supported by a meticulously maintained set of policies and procedures. The practitioners take highly effective steps to promote children's safety throughout the nursery and on outings and supervise them at all times. They complete extremely comprehensive risk assessments that are displayed in each room and regularly reviewed and adapted, as and when required. Children have fun in their play and learning and are well supported by caring practitioners, who have excellent knowledge of how best children learn. Consequently, children are becoming independent and self-assured. Practitioners act as excellent role models and respond to children in a calm and polite manner. As a result, children are learning to treat others with respect and their behaviour, manners and social skills are exemplary. Children moving on to their next stage of learning have high self-esteem and

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provision

present as inquisitive and independent learners.

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provision

The partnership with parents, other providers and external agencies involved in the children's care is outstanding. Parents and carers receive extensive information through policies, procedures, daily diaries, verbal discussion and children's progress records. Information displayed on the notice boards as well as through regular newsletters, updated website, e-mails, and social media pages provides an abundance of useful information to keep parents fully informed about their children and the nursery. Parents are consulted regularly through discussion and questionnaires about the service to help the practitioners consistently meet children's individual needs. Parents are highly complementary about the care and education their children receive. They comment upon the excellent care and range of activities provided, as well as the extremely good two-way flow of information.

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provision

Management and practitioners are highly motivated, enthusiastic, and are committed to the continuous development of their early years practice. They attend a significant number of training courses provided by the local authority and external agencies, and plan ahead to update their knowledge. There are excellent systems in place for monitoring and evaluating practice through appraisals and supervision. Peer assessments mean they can evaluate their practice frequently to make sure children receive high quality learning experiences. The excellent self-reflection on practice improves all aspects of the provision and demonstrates a strong drive to maintain the highest levels of achievement. The provider and manager also regularly reviews children's progress by sampling learning journals to oversee the quality of assessment and planning for their individual learning needs. Robust attention to reviewing and updating all documentation and procedures

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provision

ensures that all of the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage are extraordinarily well met. Regular reflection and self-evaluation assist the practitioners in continuing to make improvements to an already outstanding service provided for the children and their families.

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The Childcare Register

The requirements for the compulsory part of the Childcare Register are Met The requirements for the voluntary part of the Childcare Register 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 EY275469 Local authority Stockport Inspection number 937110

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 17 Total number of places 30 Number of children on roll 53 Name of provider Holly Grange Montessori Nursery Limited Date of previous inspection 03/03/2011 Telephone number 0161 477 5388

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Type of provision

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

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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