Brightstart Montessori Nursery, Scottow

Brightstart Montessori Nursery, Scottow The Old School, The Fairstead, Scottow, Norfolk, NR10 5AQ

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 26/11/2014 17/03/2009

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early years provision

This inspection: 1 Previous inspection: 2 How well the early years provision meets the needs of the range of children who attend The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children 1 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 1

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This provision is outstanding

 The quality of teaching is consistently of a very high quality, often inspirational, because staff use skilful questioning techniques to encourage children to think critically and creatively in their learning. As a result, children are enthusiastically motivated and very eager to learn.  Staff provide a rich variety of challenging activities in an exciting and extremely stimulating learning environment. This results in children who are actively involved in their learning, making excellent progress.  Management and staff provide a highly effective secure, safe environment, so that children feel safe in their care and build significantly strong attachments. The manager has an excellent knowledge of child protection procedures and ensures that staff receive robust training.  Children's emotional well-being is given a high priority from the outset. As a result, they are happy, settled and confident to explore their environment, preparing them

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This provision is outstanding

extremely well for the next stages in their learning.  Partnerships with parents are prioritised and highly valued by the management team. As a result, opportunities for parents to share information about their children and to become actively involved in their children's learning are promoted continuously.

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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 play activities and staff interaction with children both indoors and in the outdoor environment.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector held discussions with the manager, staff and children during the inspection.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector undertook a joint observation with the manager of an outdoor forest school initiative.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector examined a representative sample of children's records, policies and procedures and safeguarding children documentation.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector took account of the views of parents spoken to on the day of inspection.

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Information about the setting

Brightstart Montessori Nursery opened in 2008 and is privately owned. It operates from a converted former school building in the village of Scottow, Norfolk. The nursery serves the immediate locality and also the surrounding areas. The nursery opens five days a week from 9am until 3.15pm during term time only. Children attend for a variety of sessions. Children have access to an enclosed outdoor play area. There are currently 62 children in the early years age range. The nursery receives funding for the provision of free early education for two-, three- and four-year-old children. The nursery supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and children who speak English as an additional language. There are currently nine staff working directly with the children, all of whom have an appropriate early years qualification. Eight of the staff have qualifications at level 3. The manager is a qualified teacher. The nursery receives support from the local

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Information about the setting

authority. The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register.

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

 consider enhancing the already excellent partnerships with other Early Years Foundation Stage providers by disseminating high quality practice which reflects the highest aspirations for all children's safety, well-being and learning.

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who attend

Children are enthusiastic, highly motivated explorers of this exciting stimulating environment. They are confident learners who are able to solve problems and make decisions to develop their own ideas, to try new things and take risks to succeed. The quality of teaching is consistently of a very high quality. Children are supported by staff who value their opinions and ideas so much that activity planning is varied and changed by the children themselves. This leads to exciting, challenging and interesting play experiences for all children. For example, children express their interest in water conservation. In particular, they have a desire to create a water fountain to collect rain water and they make intelligent links from real life events to their play. An absorbing activity follows in the outdoor environment, using a variety of natural materials. Children gather wood, natural bricks, pipes, and excitedly listen to the member of staff who

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who attend

suggests they build in the sandpit. They agree, 'we like building,' and become instantly engaged in their task. Children carry the drain pipes over to the sandpit to establish a site for their construction project. The pipes are various sizes and children are busy deciding how many crates they need to support the piping, using mathematical terms to convey more and less, higher or lower. Interaction between staff and children is inspirational as they learn new words relating to construction as they add natural bricks to support the structure. They add, subtract, recognise and test their own theories, busily absorbed in their task of problem solving as a leak in the piping is noted and discussed. Children solve their own problems of where to find corner joints from the trays of sand play equipment. They are very creative in their play and enthusiastically embrace the challenge of where to build the corners into their structure. Children discuss and share ideas, solve their own

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who attend

problems and find successful solutions of how to collect, recycle and conserve water. Children are well motivated, very eager to join in and consistently demonstrate their ability to be creative, think critically and sustain their thinking over a period of time. Staff value children's achievements highly, taking time to allow each child to re-tell the story to the manager, as they recall proudly the sequence of events. They proudly take photographs of their wonderful 'water fountain' to write about later in their news books.

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who attend

Exceptional educational programmes have depth and breadth across all areas of learning enhanced by a range of innovative resources to create stimulating exciting play activities for children. Staff have very high expectations of children. Using their expert knowledge of the areas of learning and a clear understanding of how children learn, they provide rich, varied and imaginative experiences for the children. Playrooms are colourful and inspirational, and children are fully involved in initiating their own play experiences and organising resources, supported by staff who value children's preferences and interests. There are separate areas of learning, and innovative Montessori tasks, which children choose to complete, enabling children to move independently between activities. In the reading area, there are a rich variety of books on display, enhanced by puppets and soft toy characters from familiar stories. Staff have designed and created a series of recorded

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who attend

stories in various languages, with the wonderful additional of parents' voices, reading in their cultural languages, to provide fun resources to bring children's life experiences from their own lands into their play. This fires the imagination, as children seek out an atlas, maps, flags and jigsaws of countries of the world to extend their learning using these innovative props. There are pictures of familiar equipment taken by children, with bilingual words, provided by parents in Polish, Russian, Lithuanian and French to promote diversity and a sense of belonging for children. Factual books and computer programmes compliment children's cultural language and enrich children's understanding of the world.

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who attend

Assessment at all ages is precise, sharply focused and includes all those involved in the child's learning. It is monitored and used to secure timely interventions and support, based on a comprehensive knowledge of the child and their family. For example, children's progress is consistently shared with parents during individual meetings with parents and their children with their key person. This enables staff and teachers to moderate assessments exceptionally well. This ensures all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities or who speak English as an additional language, are progressing exceptionally well towards the early learning goals and any gaps are closing rapidly. Children are working within the typical range, with some exceeding levels of development for their age. Communication and language development is effectively supported through songs, stories and literacy. This promotes their personal and emotional

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who attend

development at an early age and strengthens attachments with adults. Children participate continuously in a school readiness programme, mixing daily with teachers and children within the unique Foundation Stage areas of the pre-school. In this way, children are developing an excellent level of confidence and independence in key skills and are exceptionally well prepared for school.

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

Staff are highly skilled and sensitive in helping children of all ages form secure emotional attachments. They provide a strong base for helping them develop their independence and ability to explore. Right from the start, settling-in procedures for new children are extremely well embedded and effective through discussions with parents to meet individual family needs. Parents are very complimentary about the high level of care staff provide. They say that their children adore coming here and that they absolutely love spending time at pre-school. Children demonstrate they feel a strong sense of belonging and security in the pre-school. Staff actively encourage them to develop independence and to care for their environment. They support them in keeping themselves and others healthy by learning to address their own personal needs. For example, children are independently adept in the safe use of the toilets and staff encourage them to wash their

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

hands. This promotes well-being and limits cross infection, instilling a healthy lifestyle for children. As a result, they develop self-help skills of independence and confidence in caring for themselves and others appropriate to their age and level of understanding.

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

Children increasingly show high levels of self-control during activities and confidence in social situations. For example, during mealtimes, children serve themselves a choice of healthy foods. They pour drinks, lay tables, wash and dry dishes and are proficient in the use of social manners. Established routines ensure children form happy, secure attachments with staff and each other. Staff model and consistently give clear guidance on expected behaviour, providing secure boundaries for children. As a result, minor conflicts are minimised, strengthening relationships amongst children and their peers.

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

Children are developing an excellent understanding of how to manage risks and challenges relative to their age. In the outdoor environment, children enjoy vigorous play in the fresh air. In this way, staff actively promote physical development and a healthy lifestyle. There is a highly stimulating environment with child-accessible resources that promote learning and challenge children both inside and outdoors. Children run and play ball games in small groups. They ride tricycles around a specially modelled tricycle track, challenging one another in a light-hearted, competitive way. Children are busy in their play, laughing and learning together, moving excitedly from one activity to another. Children's safety and safeguarding is central to everything staff do. They effectively support children's growing understanding of how to keep themselves safe and healthy. Tall, secure fencing and locked gates enclose the garden. A variety of mature trees provide natural shade from

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

direct sunlight, encouraging children to sit in small social groups to forge lasting friendships with their peers. In this way, children are extremely well prepared emotionally and socially for the next stage in their learning journey, including school.

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provision

The pursuit of excellence in all management team activities is demonstrated by an uncompromising, highly successful and well documented drive to strongly improve achievement for all children over a sustained period of time. Robust recruitment procedures ensure all staff are suitable to work with children. The safeguarding and security of children are a clear priority for the manager. She ensures stringent risk assessments, both indoors and outdoors, are in place daily to ensure children are safe and secure at all times. She is able to demonstrate an excellent awareness and understanding of potential harm to children and confidence in dealing with any potential safeguarding issues or causes for concern. She ensures staff receive regular training, so that they have a robust knowledge of the procedures. Children's behaviour shows they feel safe in the pre-school, as they share concerns with staff with ease. Visitors are approached and their

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provision

identity checked. Security arrangements and effective procedures are in place to ensure children's safety. For example, the children's transitions, as they arrive and leave the pre- school, are managed exceptionally well. An inviting welcoming reception entrance is utilised as an area for children to arrive in. Staff maintain close supervision of children in the wider outdoor environment and ensures children leaving the premises are collected by parents or authorised adults.

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provision

The manager has an excellent understanding of her responsibility to ensure that her provision meets the safeguarding, welfare, learning and development requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. She is an inspirational leader, who has a clear view of how to drive forward improvements for the benefit of children entrusted to her care. For example, an astute and targeted programme of professional development has been put together by the manager, who is a qualified teacher, to moderate areas of learning and assessment of children. This ensures staff are constantly improving their already first-rate understanding and practice. A high quality professional partnership has been created to enhance parents' knowledge and understanding of their children's learning, with the introduction of parent individual meetings. This results in children making excellent progress because of the high quality of teaching and learning experiences they receive

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provision

from teachers and staff, who are highly enthusiastic and committed to achieve outstanding performances in all areas. The manager has an excellent overview of the educational programmes in all areas of learning.

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provision

Children's needs are quickly identified and exceptionally well met through highly effective partnerships between staff, parents, and external agencies. This means that children are fully supported in their learning now and in the move to school in the future. There is scope to enhance links with other providers even further to disseminate the excellent practice and share expertise to benefit children in this nursery and in the wider community. Parents value the contributions staff make to their children's learning, praising the educational curriculum they receive. They say that the Montessori philosophy, mixed excellently with the Early Years Foundation Stage, gives their children a most wonderful start to life.

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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 EY375401 Local authority Norfolk Inspection number 858298

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 5 Total number of places 30 Number of children on roll 62 Name of provider Brightstart Montessori Nursery, Scottow Partnership Date of previous inspection 17/03/2009 Telephone number 01603 738360

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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

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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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