Patchwork Montessori Nursery

Patchwork Nursery Lowbrook Academy, The Fairway, Maidenhead, SL6 3AR

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 31/10/2013 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

 Children are happy at the nursery and benefit from a wide range of learning resources and activities that promote their development in all areas of learning.  Children behave very well. They have warm bonds with staff and the other children attending. Parents are happy about the care their children receive.  The nursery environment is safe for children, who have plenty of opportunities for outside play. Children are making good progress overall.

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It is not yet good because

 Procedures to ensure that prior written consent from parents, for the administration of medication and the systems to document medication administered by staff are not secure.  Partnerships with parents to help them understand the Early Years Foundation Stage areas of learning, how to promote home-nursery learning further and contribute to children's development records are not firmly established.  Staff sometimes miss opportunities to promote all children's communication to its fullest potential.

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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 compulsory part 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 children in their play and in their interactions with staff.  The inspector engaged in conversation with staff, children and their parents.  The inspector took part in joint observations with the management team.  The inspector read and took into account the nursery's self-evaluation form.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector sampled the nursery's documentation and children's development records.

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Information about the setting

Patchwork Montessori School was originally registered in 1997 but re-registered with the same provider as limited company in 2013. The company have two other Montessori Nurseries in the area. The nursery operates from purpose built premises within the grounds of Lowbrook Academy in the village of Cox Green near Maidenhead, Berkshire. It serves children from the local community and surrounding areas. Children have use of seven classrooms. There is a large garden for outdoor play, which surrounds the building. The nursery is open weekdays from 8 am until 6 pm for 48 weeks of the year and is closed for two weeks during the summer, one week at Easter and another at Christmas. The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register and the compulsory part of the Childcare Register. There are currently 130 children on roll who are all in the early years age range. The nursery supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities

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Information about the setting

and children who are learning English as an additional language. The nursery follows the principles of the Montessori approach and traditional teaching methods. There are 23 staff in total. The Principal holds Early Years Professional Status and is supported by a staff member with a Degree in Montessori Teaching. The manager and four other staff hold Montessori qualifications, one also holds a Foundation Degree in Early Years Learning and Development. All but five of the remaining staff hold appropriate childcare qualifications. Of those unqualified staff four are completing appropriate Level 3 training. The nursery also employs an administrator and a cook.

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must:

 ensure that written consent from parents/carers is always in place prior to administering any medication to children

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must:

 keep a written record each time a medicine is administered to a child, and inform the child's parents and/or carers on the same day, or as soon as reasonably practicable.

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

 use different strategies and techniques to offer children more thinking time to extend how they express themselves and share their ideas

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

 improve the systems for home-nursery learning and support parents in contributing to their children's assessments.

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who attend

Staff demonstrate a good understanding of the learning and development requirements for the Early Years Foundation Stage. They plan effectively to support children's individual needs. Children benefit from a wide range of learning opportunities and resources. They have very regular access to the outdoors. This means that children are free to explore, learn and interact with other children.

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who attend

Nursery children, particularly those in the reception classrooms aged from two years old follow a balanced mix of traditional and Montessori learning approaches. Children learn to sequence numbers by placing numbers in order and recognising the numeral. They identify colours through well-planned activities. Children learn to steer and use their space effectively as they ride about on scooters and tricycles. They access a broad range of other transport vehicles such as diggers, wheelbarrows and trucks to promote the weekly topic. Children play in the sensory woodland area that promotes their curiosity of the natural world. Babies grasp at bubbles as a staff member blows them into the air, while others investigate in corn-flour gloop.

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who attend

Children are able to explore a broad range of learning opportunities. They demonstrate they are very happy at the nursery. Children are active learners who are eager to join in and have fun as they learn. They access resources easily from low-level storage and therefore can choose what they want to do. Effective adult-planned activities mean that children can explore and think about problems. Children dress up for Halloween and help to cut out pumpkins. They talk about the shapes being triangles or circles. Overall staff interact with children well. Their teaching skills help children to explore actively and be curious about what they do and help to support children's language development. However, although communication between staff and children is good overall, sometimes the interactions between staff and children are not consistent. For example, occasionally, staff offer children less time to think about what they want to say or how they want to

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who attend

respond to the questions staff ask to develop children's learning. Some younger children use their dummy as a comforter and staff are not always proactive at retrieving these so that children can develop their speech more securely.

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who attend

Staff base their planning on children's starting points and interests. They demonstrate that they have a good understanding of children's attainments overall. The ongoing changes to children's assessment records are improving the ways that staff plan for children's next steps. Nevertheless, regular quarterly reports mean that staff can effectively track children's progress in all seven areas of learning. This means that staff can make timely interventions if they identify any gaps in learning. Staff are also able to effectively inform future key person staff about children's progress when they move up between age group rooms.

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

Children are extremely happy and engaged in their play. They show high levels of self- control during their activities. For example, they are extremely confident to concentrate on activities and demonstrate their focus and cooperation when taking part in adult-led play. There is a well-established key person system, which ensures that staff understand their children well and can support their growing needs. Staff have warm relationships with the children and give clear guidance about what is acceptable behaviour. Because children are thoroughly engaged in what they do and understand the routines of their day, they are very well behaved at all times. Consequently, children are making very good progress in their personal, social and emotional development. As a result, they are very well prepared for the next stages in their learning. Staff plan children's transitions on to the next age group room well and this makes a significant impact on how confidently children move on

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

to the next stage of their learning. However, children's well-being is compromised by weaknesses in the implementation of the nursery's medication policy.

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

The nursery environment is highly stimulating and children have a wide variety of experiences to enjoy. Children spend a lot of time outdoors and therefore benefit from regular fresh air and exercise. Babies sleep outside in their pushchairs or prams. They are therefore able to benefit from the fresh air, watch older children as they play, while staff watch over the babies as they sleep. There are close relationships between babies, toddlers and staff and children are supported well in their physical development. For example, babies and toddlers are encouraged to feed themselves. Toddlers learn about the necessity of washing their hands prior to eating and can do so independently. Babies are encouraged to be mobile and have space to move. A staff member nurtures a baby to give her confidence to pull herself up independently. The staff member rolls a ball across the floor, moving it to a low-level shelf when the baby is ready. The staff member

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

maintains eye contact and offers gestures to develop the baby's verbal and non-verbal communication effectively.

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

Children enjoy nutritious and healthy meals provided by the nursery. Staff understand children's dietary needs and any allergies or preferences and adhere to these at all times. Staff use meal times to develop children's learning further. For example, the older children talk about the vegetables in their pasta bake at lunchtime. They acknowledge how these foods are 'good for us'. At snack times, children are eager to join in with guessing what the shape of the bread is or what the jam may be from the colour it is. They identify that the bread is square and the jam is strawberry. As children sit eating, they recognise it is getting dark, find the moon and talk about the celebration of Halloween, later recalled by a story read by staff.

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provision

Staff at the Montessori nursery school demonstrate a sound understanding of the safeguarding and welfare requirements for the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage. The nursery management team share their policies with parents on children's admission to the setting. They have plans to publish these on their website so that parents can familiarise themselves with the procedures that help to keep their children safe and support children's health and well-being. Staff sign to acknowledge these procedures and also any updated policies. However, staff do not consistently adhere to these policies. For example, although there are systems for parents to sign to acknowledge medication administered to their children with verbal agreement, staff do not ensure written parental permission is sought prior to administering. This is a breach of a welfare requirement. The administration system for recording medication administered to

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provision

children is not robust. Staff sign to acknowledge children have been given medication and parents sign to confirm this. However, on occasions when staff administer medication more than one time in the day, the recording procedures are not effective. Therefore, the nursery does not have an accurate record of each time medication is given to children, and who administered it. Therefore, staff cannot be certain that the prescribed dose has been adhered to. This is a breach of welfare requirements. Both breaches also apply to the Childcare Register. This poor practice potentially puts children's health at risk. There are however, health care plans in place for children on long-term medication that meet requirements.

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provision

The leadership and management team understand their accountability in relation to ensuring the suitability of staff working with children. Recruitment procedures are effective. Staff complete safeguarding children training as part of their induction and understand their responsibilities to safeguard the children they care for. They are aware of the procedures to take should they have a concern about a child in their care. Staff receive regular supervision and attend staff meetings to promote their personal development and to support children's learning. The leadership team is introducing new practice to further enhance the ways in which staff record their observations, planning and assessments on children. Staff are also being further supported by the introduction of peer observations that form part of their staff supervision. Staff have opportunities for further training, which in turn promotes the outcomes for children.

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provision

The nursery environment is safe for children. Staff identify visitors on arrival. Staff, parents and visitors do not use mobile phones or cameras within the nursery, apart from in the designated area. Parents drop off and collect children from their child's nursery classroom. This enables parents to speak to staff regularly and maintain a two-way communication system. Parents state that they are happy with the care their children receive. They acknowledge the importance of the daily diary in the baby room and the usefulness of regular newsletters and reports on their child's learning. Parents state however, that they would benefit from regular information to support learning at home in order to maintain consistency in children's development. Staff display some information about topics and photographs of children's activities as well as inviting parents to view and contribute to children's development records. Parents contribute to children's learning

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provision

journals initially by providing staff with important information so they are aware of children's starting points. Parents are invited to open days and social events. However, the partnership working with parents is not yet fully effective in relation to staff encouraging parents to contribute regularly to their children's progress records and supporting parents to understand the Early Years Foundation Stage learning and development requirements and the Montessori approach. The nursery has established partnerships with other professionals, for example speech therapists and teachers at local schools. This means that children requiring additional support or intervention can be identified quickly and their needs met well. Furthermore, children's transitions on to school support their next steps in learning.

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provision

The nursery has appropriate systems for evaluating their priorities and in identifying future targets. They are confident to demonstrate and highlight their strengths and to show how they will act on identified weaknesses. Children benefit from a broad range of learning resources and activities. They are making good progress overall in relation to their starting points.

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The Childcare Register

The requirements for the compulsory part of the Childcare Register are

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To meet the requirements of the Childcare Register the provider must:

 keep a record of any medication administered to a child, detailing who administered it, together with a record of a parent/carer's consent.

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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 EY461549 Local authority Windsor & Maidenhead Inspection number 919376 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 8 Total number of places 88 Number of children on roll 130 Name of provider Patchwork Nursery Limited Date of previous inspection not applicable Telephone number 01628628898

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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

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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