Chiltern Hills Montessori

Sunshine Montessori Nursery Faulkner Way, Downley, HIGH WYCOMBE, Buckinghamshire, HP13 5AL

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 24/04/2014 10/05/2011

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early years provision

This inspection: 2 Previous inspection: 1 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 make good progress in their learning because they benefit from responsive and thoughtful teaching strategies. Staff ensure activities are well matched to children's individual needs.  The stimulating toys and resources capture children's interest and curiosity. As a result, children are motivated learners who sustain their attention well.  Staff foster close partnership working with other professionals. There are regular and purposeful exchanges of information to promote consistent and complementary practice. This practice supports the needs of all children and their families.  The management team demonstrates a good understanding of the safeguarding and welfare requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage and successfully promotes children's safety and well-being.  The provider and manager are highly committed to ensuring families and children access good quality nursery provision. Their thorough monitoring, evaluation and action

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This provision is good

planning ensure they identify and act on weaknesses promptly so that they make sustainable improvements.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 Staff do not consistently engage parents in supporting their children's specific learning and development needs at home.

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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 made observations of children's play and care in all of the rooms that children use.  The inspector spoke to parents to collect their views of the provision.  The inspector spoke to the staff and owner at suitable times.  The inspector sampled a range of documentation.

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Information about the setting

The nursery has been established since 1997 and registered at the current premises in 2010. It is a privately owned provision which operates from two main rooms in a purpose- built building situated in the grounds of Downley Primary School, Downley, Buckinghamshire. The nursery opens from 8.30am to 3.30pm, Monday to Friday, during term times only. Children can attend for a variety of sessions throughout the day. These include morning, afternoon or full-day sessions. Children can also attend 'early-bird', 'late- bird' and lunchtime sessions. The nursery follows the Montessori ethos. The nursery is in receipt of funding for free early education places. The nursery employs 11 staff, including the principal and manager. The principal has gained Early Years Professional Status, a Montessori Diploma and Forest School Practice qualification at level 3. Of the other staff, including the manager, eight hold an appropriate early years qualification. The staff care

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Information about the setting

for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and children for whom English is a second language.

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

 develop further strategies to engage parents in the learning and development of their children at home.

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who attend

Staff meet the individual needs of all children at this vibrant nursery and endeavour to give them the best possible start in life. As a result, children progress well in all areas of learning and development relative to their starting points. Staff establish children's starting points by gathering information from new parents and through early observations. This also ensures that staff identify any children who have special educational needs quickly so that they can provide them with targeted plans to promote their future learning. Key persons prepare clear plans for children's learning which they base on skilful analysis of observations and a thorough understanding of how children learn. They share these plans with other staff working with the children. This ensures that children receive good individual support because all staff working with the children know how to promote each child's learning.

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who attend

Staff provide a wide range of activities that allow children to explore and learn. For example, they enable children to concentrate for extended periods of time on their chosen tasks as they use wooden blocks to build an intricate maze. Staff interact with children carefully and intervene sensitively ensuring children lead their own play. They encourage children to either solve problems for themselves or request specific help. For example, when children say they cannot remove the lid from a box, staff ask them what they are finding difficult. The staff then help the children to explore strategies to overcome this. Consequently, children proudly solve the problem for themselves and demonstrate that they are motivated and independent learners.

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who attend

Staff consistently extend children's communication and language skills by asking questions that extend their thinking and language skills. For example, through sensitive questioning, children are able to develop their own roles during pretend play situations and explore number challenges. This shows children are confident in having their own ideas and are able to critically review the success of these through effective staff input. Children learn new words and new ways of expressing ideas as staff speak clearly to children in a calm manner and model new words. Children develop their confidence to speak in a group because staff give them time to speak and finish what they are saying, and ensure their friends listen to them. This prepares children well for school as they develop their confidence. Children who have English as an additional language make good progress in learning English because staff use effective strategies to support them. For example, they

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who attend

encourage children to use key words in their own languages during play and use group time to teach children simple words like, 'Hello' in other languages. Staff share selected stories with repeated words to build children's vocabulary. All children enjoy looking at books, both alone and together, with staff. Children sit in the cosy book corner and explore different areas of learning through books as they re-enact scenes and count the pages. This helps develop children's early reading skills. Children develop early writing skills as they make marks and, where they can, write their names on their work. Staff challenge more-able children to learn to read and write through a home-book scheme.

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who attend

Children learn simple addition and subtraction through weighing and measuring activities and counting through action songs and rhymes, and activities. Children's understanding of shape, colour and size is developed well in their play. For example, they place worms and snails they find in the garden against rulers to measure them and children spontaneously sort shells into groups according to their size and colour. Regular forest-school outings and free-flow play to the large well-resourced outdoor area, encourages children's physical skills.

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who attend

The staff work with parents well overall because they recognise, and value, the role parents play in supporting their children's learning and development. Most parents praise the nursery for the general support they receive to understand how to help children learn and develop at home. They benefit through weekly newsletters, parents evenings and their involvement in the book-bag scheme. Parents add their own comments, and special moments at home, to their children's 'Learning journey' progress files. This means they are involved in their children's learning to some extent. However, there are missed opportunities to share ongoing information about the next steps planned in children's learning. Consequently, parents are not consistently involved in systems to enhance children's day-to-day progress. Staff welcome parents to stay and settle their children on arrival and to share the nursery activities.

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

Children are happy and confident at the nursery. They make friends easily and treat one another with respect. Flexible settling-in procedures ensure staff get to know children, their families and their individual needs from the start of their placement. Consequently, children are very well cared for during the transition from home to nursery as staff continually foster their feelings of security. Each child has their own named drawer for their belongings. These enable all children to place their comforters and personal belongings securely while being accessible at all times. Transitions to school are well planned. Teachers spend time in the nursery to begin to build relationships with the children and enable them to visit the school next door. This practice clearly helps to prepare children for school.

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

Children are well-behaved. They learn to share and take turns as they play. They ask questions and relate well to staff who are caring and responsive towards them. Children understand their routines and actively help to keep their environment tidy. For example, they help to wipe the table and set out cups for snack time and tidy away their toys after they have played with them. This means children learn to be independent. Staff follow good practices and procedures to support children's health. Children enjoy healthy snacks provided by parents and have access to fresh milk and water during the day.

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

The environment is safe and clean and well organised. Staff set up a good range of resources, indoors and outdoors, which encourage children to use their imaginations. For example, children sit on a constructed train built with blocks, wave flags to stop the train and hand out train tickets. They use a till to collect money and read train timetables. Toys and resources are regularly checked for safety. This ensures that children play safely and activities and resources are appropriate. Staff are vigilant in their supervision of children at all times, especially when they are climbing equipment. Daily checks identify any potential hazards as they are found and staff effectively take action to remove them. Children develop an understanding of challenge and risk in their activities. For example, as children climb the rope equipment a member of staff supports a conversation around where to place their hands to be safe. Staff are thoughtfully deployed, ensuring that each child has

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

quality one-to-one time with staff during each session.

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

The staff develop children's cultural awareness well through teaching them about customs and people who live in other cultures. Children learn about festivals such as Diwali, and Chinese New Year through tasting food and celebrating through creative activities. The staff promote children's understanding of diversity as children routinely explore the differences between themselves and others. For example, during lunch children are encouraged to express their individual food preferences and displays celebrate different types of living accommodation.

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provision

The manager is clear about her role in meeting the safeguarding and welfare requirements so that children are kept safe from harm. All staff have a good understanding of the safeguarding children procedures and they attend regular training to update their knowledge and skills. There are clear about the procedures and documentation needed to record any concerns. As a result, children's welfare and safety are promoted well. There are good risk assessment procedures, both inside and outdoors. Recruitment and vetting procedures are robust. All staff have undergone suitability checks to help ensure that they are suitable to work with children. This helps to keep children safe.

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provision

The inspection was brought forward following information received that raised concerns about a child who had received a burn during a cooking activity. The provider also notified Ofsted of this incident in line with requirements set out in the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage. The inspection found that although an incident did take place, staff are fully aware of their responsibilities and took all necessary steps to ensure that the child was safe. A suitably qualified staff member provided first aid, the child was comforted and staff immediately informed parents as well as the relevant authorities. At inspection the manager shared the risk assessment for the activity at the time of the incident and the review following the incident. The manager and local authority carried out a full review of safety during cooking activities and put in place additional arrangements to ensure that all risks to children are minimised and risk is monitored. In addition, risk

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provision

assessments are routinely reviewed with the staff team for activities. This helps them to consider children's safety routinely while enabling children to explore activities offering more challenge. Staff are vigilant and safely maintain the areas where children play. Supervision of children is well planned and carried out to ensure that staffing ratios during challenging activities are always met. The nursery keeps comprehensive written record of accidents or injuries and first aid treatment and reports these to parents. Visitors can only enter the nursery through a main door which is electronically opened from inside the nursery. This means that only staff and parents can enter the nursery. Staff are aware of the policies and procedures that underpin their work. They are able to explain in detail their responsibilities for implementing the Health and Safety policy. This creates a culture of responsibility among staff who are clear about their individual roles. Regular staff

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provision

meetings include regular discussions about health and safety. Staff work closely with parents to ensure children's safety. For example, staff created a road safety book bag resource for parents to use with their children after a parent expressed concern around their child's behaviour on their walk home.

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provision

The manager effectively monitors the educational programmes and the consistency of assessment procedures for individual children through meetings with staff and a system of observations. The meetings enable her to check on all children's development records regularly, including reviews of children's progress and their next steps needed in learning. This approach ensures that all children receive an enjoyable learning experience tailored to their individual needs. For example, the manager has recently worked with the local authority to monitor the provision which has focused on supporting children who learn English as an additional language.

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provision

The nursery provides good support for all staff to develop their professional knowledge and to pursue further qualifications as necessary. Training is identified as part of the monitoring systems of self-evaluation which means that it effectively improves children's learning and development. A rigorous induction procedure ensures that new staff become familiar with their roles, responsibilities and the nursery's policies and procedures. The management team actively encourages feedback from staff, parents and children and local authority partners to inform the self-evaluation process. There are several plans in place to drive forward improvement to enhance outcomes for children. These include embedding the ways children learn in their activities and developing children's communication. These also include strengthening parent partnerships in line with national initiatives. The staff use self-evaluation to effectively identify strengths and weaknesses.

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provision

Recommendations from the previous inspection have been addressed. Staff reflect upon any changes or incidents to review the organisation, environment and resources for children. Therefore, the nursery has a strong capacity to maintain ongoing improvement to benefit the children in the future.

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provision

Staff have good partnerships in place with parents who comment very favourably on the nursery. Parents state that staff are very welcoming, easy to talk to and that their children settle quickly, learn and develop well, and are happy. The nursery is proactive in developing links with other early years settings that children attend. They have developed good links with other professionals to ensure that children who may have additional needs receive effective support. This ensures that any gaps in children's learning close quickly. The nursery shares a site with the local primary school and staff in both settings are effective in preparing children for the transition to school. These processes demonstrate that the nursery is able to build positive partnerships to enhance children's care and learning.

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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 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 EY417560 Local authority Buckinghamshire Inspection number 967759

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 8 Total number of places 26 Number of children on roll 54 Name of provider Virginia Margaret Roden Date of previous inspection 10/05/2011 Telephone number 01494442057

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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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