Linnet Montessori

Linnet Montessori CHURCH OF CHRIST, Cranley Road, Ilford, IG2 6AG

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 24/03/2014 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 spend their time in purposeful and stimulating activities indoors and outdoors.  Staff work well with children as key persons and as a team, to promote individual learning.  Children are active learners; the organisation and planning of activities and resources promotes all ages to develop a strong sense of confidence and independence.  Staff work well with parents to engage them in their child's developmental progress and contribute to the setting.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 Staff do not implement the teaching of phonics across a range of activities, to extend the current systems to support early literacy skills  The setting provides some resources to promote imaginative play in the home corner, yet the range is limited and does not fully reflect the home lives of the children attending. Resources to raise awareness of disability as part of children's learning about diversity and inclusion, are minimal.

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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 observed children attending in routine activities, observed staff and spoke to parents to gather their views.  The inspector carried out a shared observation with the manager.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector sampled a range of documentation that is required to be kept, and systems used for self-evaluation.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector observed play resources accessible to children, both indoors and outdoors.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector spoke to a number of staff, student and parent volunteers , to explore their knowledge of the setting's policies and procedures, and their understanding of the role of key worker, and designated responsibilities.

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Information about the setting

Linnet Montessori re-registered in 2013, after operating for 30 years, following a change in ownership within a family-owned limited company. The setting is situated within Church of Christ, in Ilford within the London Borough of Redbridge. Children have access to three play rooms, associated facilities, and an outdoor play area.

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Information about the setting

The setting operates Monday to Friday from 8.45am to 3.15pm, term-time only. The setting is registered on the Early Years Register. Children may attend for part-time and full-time sessions. There are currently 63 children in the early years age range on roll, who attend both part-time or full-time sessions. The setting provides funded education for three and four-year-old children. The setting currently supports children who are learning English as an additional language. The setting implements some aspects of the Montessori teaching methods. The setting employs seven members of staff including the manager. Of these, all members hold appropriate early years qualifications. This includes two Montessori trained teachers and one with a recognised degree in Early Years Professional Status. There are regular parent volunteers attending throughout the week.

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

 increase the range of resources on offer to promote diversity and inclusion, to reflect the backgrounds of the children attending and for children to develop a positive outlook to those with a disability.

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

 further promote children's early reading and writing skills, implement the use of phonics as part of routine activities.

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who attend

Children are happy on arrival at the setting and settle quickly into activities laid out for them. In addition, they make choices of their own from the well-organised storage, which allows for children to do this. They benefit from positive staff guidance and interaction, to ensure they select resources that will support their individual development. Children are familiar with the staff. They are happy to have support from them and allow staff to guide them in their learning. They are confident to share their experiences with staff because they feel emotionally secure and form strong attachments with key persons. Staff have a clear understanding of how they can best meet children's needs by engaging with parents. They do this through daily communication and periodic parents' meetings to provide parents with feedback on their child's 'learning journey'. Children are introduced into the setting gradually, allowing the key person to gain relevant information about children's

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who attend

development through engagement with the parent. This information is used well to allow the key person to plan learning activities according to the child's development. These arrangements, including the information obtained from parents, support all children to make a smooth transition from home to the setting. The welcoming environment and the opportunities to explore their surroundings, contribute well to children's sense of enjoyment in the setting. This is reflected in children's good behaviour and the way in which they play with others. They are confident as they interact with adults and are at ease when engaged in speaking and listening activities.

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who attend

Staff provide a wide variety of activities that promote children's learning effectively across all areas and prepare children well children for the move to school. Children show a great interest in activities designed to support mathematical development, as staff provide a broad range of puzzles that offer challenge and develop good skills and attitudes. Children spend long periods in activities, demonstrating high levels of concentration and perseverance, as they learn to match by colour and sort by size. Staff are skilful in giving children time to address the challenges, and are sensitive in the way they provide suggestions or offer their help. The staff strongly support the children's language development in English, yet, at the same time, they recognise that the children are fluent in a number of community languages spoken at home. The staff make use of their own bilingual skills to help children with no English to communicate, and to learn English

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who attend

alongside their own home language. Early writing is highly promoted indoors and outdoors, with resources that are easily accessible. Staff encourage children to draw and practise their writing skills throughout a range of activities. Books are organised in cosy areas and also used as part of group times. Consequently, children develop a good understanding of familiar characters in books and join in with story telling. However, the teaching of phonics is limited and does not extend children's learning fully, especially for those older children who have a good recognition of the alphabet and familiar words.

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who attend

Children enjoy messy and creative play; they paint, use combs and gliders with sand, and create collages with a range of materials. Staff provide activities that allow children to develop their fine motor skills and to achieve good control with tools. For example, they learn to use spreaders for glue and pincers to pick up conkers, and they wind up the toy torch to operate it. The children have access to a computer for educational programmes and they develop coordination in using the controls. Children have opportunities to learn about the world around them. For example, as part of learning about Spring, children grow cress seeds, taking care of them so that they grow successfully.

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who attend

The children enjoy imaginative play, as they explore dressing up as doctors and nurses, and use the props on offer to assist them in their roles. Children are eager to 'cook' for the staff and friends, as they access the props in the home corner. However, resources in the home corner and dressing up area do not reflect the cultural and diverse backgrounds of the children attending. This does not promote positive self-awareness and confidence, through having access to familiar resources, nor does it provide opportunities to learn about others. Overall, however, staff competently support children to develop the characteristics of effective learning. Staff follow children's choices of playing indoors or outdoors, and they join in spontaneously, supporting and extending children's play appropriately by selecting additional resources from the low and visible storage.

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who attend

Parents' meetings are held each half-term, to allow staff to discuss progress reports and to invite parents to feed back their views of the children's achievements. Staff complete he statutory progress check for two-year old children and staff clarify how children are developing according to age-related expectations. Staff provide clear guidance on how to promote further learning for parents who want to continue with activities at home. Staff also complete transition reports for all children moving on to other settings, such as school.

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

Children show a strong sense of belonging to the setting. They are confident to approach staff and they have friends who they play with in pairs or in small groups. Staff are attentive to those children who are shy and lack confidence. They take care to include them in small-group activities and engage with them gently, to promote a sense of trust and belonging. Children's behaviour is good because staff are positive role models and demonstrate to the children good manners and respect for others. Children also benefit from being closely supervised and kept occupied in interesting activities.

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

Staff deployment ensures ratios are met and children are supervised well in all areas. The staff promote children's understanding of safety well. For example, they teach them about road safety within the setting and they reinforce the children's understanding when they go out into the community, on regular walks to shops for snacks, for example. As a result, children show a good awareness of how to protect themselves. They know, for example, that they cannot use the slide until a member of staff is present and that it is sensible to wear aprons when engaging in messy play.

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

The setting provides children with healthy snacks, such as a variety of fruit, vegetables and biscuits. They have access to drinking water, and milk at snack times. The preparation of snacks is organised to be a learning activity for the children. As snacks are self-served, children develop independence and learn to make choices based on their preferences. Children help to cut out the fruit under staff supervision and guidance. This activity is very relaxed and provides an opportunity for the children to talk about healthy eating, as well as developing fine motor skills as they handle the knife safely. Staff sit with their key group of children and they make the most of the opportunity to encourage children to practise their speaking and listening skills and gain the confidence to socialise with others. Discussions and the sharing of information amongst the groups, demonstrate clear understanding of the importance of eating healthily. Children learn about good hygiene,

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

such as hand washing, before helping to prepare snacks and they develop independence and a sense of responsibility, when they help clean the table before, and after, having snacks.

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

Staff place high value on outdoor play. Children play outside daily and learn about the effects of exercise on their bodies as they run around in the available space. The emphasis is just not on large physical play, but also on 'bringing the indoors, outdoors,' to allow children to play in an open and fresh environment in activities that reflect all seven areas of learning. Quiet times and quiet areas are created to allow children to rest during the day.

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provision

The arrangements for safeguarding children in the setting are known well by staff, who implement them in day-to-day practice. The management and staff have a clear understanding of their responsibilities to protect children in their care. They have a good knowledge of safeguarding procedures and know what to do should they have a concern about a child in their care. The management implement 'safer recruitment' procedures, to ensure that all staff are suitable to work with children. Ongoing suitability is discussed at regular supervision sessions, to ensure staff continue to meet the requirements for the work they are doing. All records required for the smooth running of the setting are in place.

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provision

The management team monitor the practice of staff while they work with the children. Doing this has helped them to improve the quality of the teaching and care provided. The impact of staff qualifications on the quality of learning experiences for children is good. Further training is promoted by the registered individual to improve the service provided to the children. Management also receive ongoing advice, support and training for staff from the local authority advisory team. Staff also follow the Pre-School Learning Alliance on-line training modules. As a result, staff have a clear understanding of how to support children's learning effectively.

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provision

Staff are given responsibility for specific aspects of the running of the setting. For example, there are staff responsible for implementing specific Montessori learning, which is evident in the cognitive and independence skills that children acquire. Partnership with parents is good, as there is open communication at all times. Parents receive a welcome pack when children start in the setting and they have access to the setting's policies and procedures. Newsletters and a parents' notice board, help keep parents abreast of changes and events in the setting. The management team are responsive to concerns raised by parents. For example, in response to concerns regarding the use of the outdoors in the cold weather, management have taken steps to inform parents about outdoor play, how the area is used, and its impact on both health and learning.

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provision

Parents comment positively on the atmosphere in the setting. They praise the children's progress since starting, including the skills children acquire and their progress in learning of English. They comment that the approach of the staff is both friendly and professional. Partnerships with other professionals is developing well as management make links with local agencies and settings.

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provision

Management's systems for monitoring and self-evaluation, since the change in ownership of the setting in the last year, are robust. They include regular staff meetings, exploring parental feedback, using peer-on-peer observations, and obtaining feedback provided by the local authority. Self-evaluation aims not only to build on strengths, but also to set out clear actions and plans for improvement. As a result, significant changes have already been made. These include purchasing additional play resources, using the outdoors on a daily basis, welcoming input from the local authority advisory team, identifying the use of additional play space for the children, and promoting parental partnership. The leadership team show a clear commitment and drive towards improving outcomes for the children attending.

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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 Requires improvement The provision is not giving children a good standard of early years education and/or there are minor breaches of the safeguarding and welfare requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. It will be monitored and inspected within twelve months of the date of this inspection. 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

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Grade Judgement Description

the Early Years Foundation Stage. It will be monitored and inspected again within six months of the date of this inspection. 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 EY465633 Local authority Redbridge Inspection number 936407 Type of provision Sessional provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 2 - 5 Total number of places 32 Number of children on roll 64 Name of provider Linnet Montessori Limited Date of previous inspection not applicable Telephone number 07528584825

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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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