The Beeches Montessori Nursery School

The Beeches Montessori Nursery School Osier Way, Banstead, SM7 1LL

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 08/10/2014 20/06/2014

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early years provision

This inspection: 2 Previous inspection: 4 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 2

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This provision is good

 The nursery is warm, welcoming and provides stimulating activities to challenge children's imagination.  Children and their families are highly valued, and well-embedded partnerships with parents contribute significantly to the staff's knowledge of children's individual needs.  The manager and her staff team are passionate, conscientious practitioners; they have carried out a major review of their practice since the last inspection demonstrating their support for all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities.  Staff's very good understanding of their responsibilities with regard to child protection ensure that children's well-being and safety is secure.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 Staff do not make best use of constructive observations of each other as part of their continuous professional development.

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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 enjoy activities both inside and outdoors.  The inspector conducted a joint observation with the manager.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector held a meeting with the nursery manager and spoke to staff and children at appropriate times throughout the inspection.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector checked evidence of the suitability and qualifications of staff working with the children, the provider's self-evaluation document and improvement plans.  The inspector took account of the views of parents and carers spoken to on the day.

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Information about the setting

The Beeches Montessori Nursery School is privately owned and registered in 2013. It operates from Beech Holm Pavilion, which is situated on the High Beeches estate in Banstead, Surrey. There are parking facilities on site. The children have the use of one large room which is divided into different areas of learning plus two smaller rooms. Children have access to an enclosed outdoor play area. The nursery serves the local area and opens from 9am to 12 noon on Mondays and Fridays and from 9am to 3pm on the other days of the week. The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register and the compulsory part of the Childcare Register. There are currently 37 children in the early years age range on roll. The nursery is in receipt of funding for the provision of free early education for children aged two, three and four years. The nursery supports children who have special educational needs and/or disabilities, and those children who are learning

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Information about the setting

English as an additional language. There are eight members of staff, including the manager, who work with the children. Of these, seven hold appropriate early years qualifications from levels 1 to 4 and one member of staff is working towards an accredited qualification in childcare. The nursery subscribes to the Montessori method of teaching and there are currently four qualified Montessori nursery teachers. The nursery achieved quality assurance scheme recognition with Surrey County Council in July 2013.

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

 enhance the current good teaching by enabling staff to carry out joint observations of each other and using this as part of their ongoing reflective practice to continually raise standards.

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who attend

Children thrive and are motivated to learn because this nursery provides a very stimulating and nurturing environment. Staff organise activities well to optimise learning opportunities for children and promote their well-being. Children quickly become engaged in the interesting range of activities on offer. These include many Montessori resources and practical life activities. For example, children learn how to count in many ways. During the inspection, they sang number rhymes and showed they could count both forwards and backwards. Staff played games with the children, helping them to recognise the order of numbers, what was higher and what was lower? Consequently, children become proficient in their early skills of problem solving while they counted beads and placed them in the correct compartments. This enables children to transfer these skills to everyday life skills such as when they counted objects in their basket and checked these on their shopping

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who attend

lists. Outside, children took part in activities to find mini-beasts and they were able to match these with pictures that staff displayed. Consequently, children also learn about the wonder of the creatures in their natural world.

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who attend

Children have the support of a knowledgeable staff team who provide children with a good balance of child-led exploration together with adult-led learning. Staff listen to children's interests and extend upon these very well. For example, children loved to listen to funny stories about aliens. This prompted staff to engage children in talking about the moon. Children immediately related to making the moon models which staff hung from the ceiling. Younger children marvelled at their creations and talked about the moon being in the sky. Staff talked about the different textures of the moon surface. Children then explored their imaginations as they immersed their hands in the soft foam and helped their moon men to walk on the surface. Staff equally engaged older children and parents into this exciting theme by inviting knowledgeable visitors to give talks about the use of telescopes. This enabled children and parents to participate in learning about the world

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who attend

Observations and assessments are accurate and staff use these well to identify children's starting points for learning and to record assessments for their progress checks. These include the progress check for children aged between two and three years. As a result, staff are quickly identifying any delay or gaps in children's learning. They then immediately put individual action plans into place for the extra support. This attention to detail has been very much welcomed by parents. They state that they could not fault the care and learning plan that enabled their children to be ready for their reception class at school. The nursery works very closely with parents on all levels. Parents confirm that there is a constant two-way communication, both by discussion, one-to-one reviews and weekly emails that include planning and newsletters. Consequently, parents are very proactive in continuing their children's learning at home.

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

Staff work exceptionally well together with a full understanding of the importance of the key-person system. This results in children showing they are extremely happy and have a very strong sense of well-being and belonging in this caring nursery. All staff are very supportive with the children's individual programme for settling into the nursery. They treat all children as unique persons with respectful kindness. The start of the children's day begins with a warm greeting for each child from staff as they arrive with their parents. During the inspection, children showed they are very familiar with the flexible daily routines. They eagerly took off their coats, hung them on the correct peg and gave a quick wave to their parents before rushing off to play with their friends. Staff make each child feel very special in the way they gently speak to them and sensitively include them in all activities. This is particularly demonstrated during small group times where children

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

show confidence to express their ideas and views about the stories they hear. Children with limited communication, due to them either learning English as an additional language, or where staff have identified a delay also have excellent support. The staff provide children with props, pictures and use sign language to ensure that every child's voice is also heard. This demonstrates the ethos of the nursery to be totally inclusive and supportive of all children. Children are very polite and this is due to the extremely positive and consistent role modelling of all staff. Children learn about 'gentle hands' and 'kind feet' when minor disagreements occur. Children show very good manners as they pass other children plates and fruit. They welcome visitors with warmth and invite them to play.

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

Children have a wealth of excellent opportunities to develop their independence and self- help skills. This is because staff know the children exceedingly well and recognise when they are ready to take responsibility, such as managing their own hygiene needs when using the bathroom. Staff guide children as to reasons why they must have clean hands and keep their noses clean. Children help themselves to tissues and appropriately dispose of these after blowing their noses, showing their understanding of hygienic practice. Staff also encourage children to help to keep their nursery tidy. Children are fully engaged in preparing snacks such as cleaning tables and helping themselves to fruit, crackers or brown bread. Children concentrate cutting fruit in quarters and carefully spreading butter on bread. It is an enjoyable time where staff and children recall their healthy eating project where they grew fruit and tomatoes in their garden. This supports children's

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

growing appreciation of eating healthily. Children's outside play environment is a particular strength because the exciting resources and activities outside entice children to play in the fresh air. For example, rain did not diminish children's enjoyment as they put on their hats, coats and boots to experience the sensation of raindrops on their faces. Children have fun digging for mini beasts and role playing in the mud kitchen. They have also dug earth with parents to plant daffodil bulbs which they will see next springtime.

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

Children learn about being safe in their environment as staff encourage children to explore and challenge their physical skills while outside using an impressive range of resources. Children learn about being safe during woodland walks and staff teach children about road safety when visiting local shops. All children wear bright fluorescent jerkins when they go on outings to identify them as part of a group to help to keep the children safe.

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provision

All staff members have a very good knowledge and understanding of their roles and responsibilities in regard to safeguarding and promoting children's welfare. Since the last inspection the manager has carried out a thorough review of staff checks with regard to their suitability to work with children to ensure they are up to date. The manager has worked tirelessly, with the support of her local authority advisor, to implement and secure new procedures that embed practice. Consequently, all staff have received training to ensure they are fully familiar with the child protection procedures. Robust systems are in place for staff recruitment and subsequent induction training. This means that new staff are competent and fully understand the policies and procedures for children's safety. Staff work exceedingly well together in this small supportive team and the manager has also implemented regular individual supervision sessions to further support staff's professional

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provision

development. The manager ensures the staff maintain a high standard in children's education by employing qualified staff who clearly show passion for their work with children. The manager monitors the education programmes by reviewing the progress children make through observation and the methods of tracking progress. Recent methods to measure the effectiveness of teaching has also been introduced. However, feedback from this has yet to be incorporated into the supervision sessions to enable staff to participate in further reflection to raise standards even more. The attention the nursery gives to the requirements of the role of special educational needs coordinator. This enhances the excellent support that parents receive where their children need extra assistance. Children make rapid progress while at the nursery and the strong bonds staff have with the local schools means that children are ready and able to make a smooth

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provision

The nursery is continuously striving to make improvements, putting children at the centre of their self-evaluation. They work very closely with parents through the parent association who feed back to the managers on any developments for improvement. The nursery is obtaining children's views through making lists of children's current and changing hobbies.

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provision

Parents highly value the positive relationships they have with the staff and the sincere warmth they receive. Parental involvement is integral to the success of this nursery. Parents speak of the high calibre of staff's skills and commitment to meeting their children's individual needs. This is from the moment their child starts to making links with their future school to support their child's transition. Staff are vigilant in ensuring the action plans and advice from other professionals are included into children's individual education plans. They also monitor the regular on-going reviews and assessments to ensure their progress is secure and at least good.

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The Childcare Register

The requirements for the compulsory 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. We re-inspect nurseries and pre-schools judged as requires improvement within 12 months of the date of 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

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Grade Judgement Description

is not meeting the safeguarding and welfare requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. It will be monitored and inspected again within six months of the date of this inspection. Met There were no children present at the time of the inspection. The inspection judgement is that the provider continues to meet the requirements for registration. Not met There were no children present at the time of the inspection. 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 EY473020 Local authority Surrey Inspection number 981563 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 2 - 8 Total number of places 26 Number of children on roll 37 Name of provider Sharon Osman Date of previous inspection 20/06/2014 Telephone number 01737359500

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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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