Little Graduates Montessori School

Little Graduates Montessori School School Lane, Littlewick Green, Maidenhead, Berkshire, SL6 3QY

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 5 September 2017 10 September 2014

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This inspection: Outstanding 1

Effectiveness of the leadership and management Outstanding 1

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This inspection: Outstanding 1

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Outstanding 1

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This inspection: Outstanding 1

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Outstanding 1

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This provision is outstanding

 Highly experienced staff quickly settle babies and toddlers into the nursery. They sensitively observe, respect and meet children's individual needs for sleep, comfort, food and play. Thoughtful and accountable partnerships with parents promote highly effective communication exchange and continuity in children's care.  The owner and the manager are highly responsive to the latest guidance in best practice. They also draw on ideas from staff, parents and children to risk assess and continually improve the rich indoor learning environments they provide for children.  Highly professional staff, motivated to provide the very best levels of care and learning, willingly underpin their practice with further study and reflection. For example, following a recent focus on understanding children's individual learning styles, staff are even more responsive and successful in helping all ages of children achieve outstanding

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This provision is outstanding

rates of progress in their learning.  Staff prepare children exceptionally well emotionally for changes to new room teams. They develop excellent partnerships with local schools and help ensure children, their parents and new teachers have accurate expectations of the exciting changes ahead.  Outcomes for children are excellent. Staff observe, and managers monitor, children carefully, and swiftly assess their individual needs and secure any additional help they need.

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What the setting needs to do to improve further

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

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What the setting needs to do to improve further

 enrich babies' sensory play opportunities even further, particularly for those who enjoy exploring in the outdoor play environment.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector observed, listened to and talked with children as they played.  The inspector talked with parents and listened to their views about the nursery and their children's progress.  The inspector looked at children's records, discussed staff planning and evaluation of activities, and how they exchange information with parents.  The inspector reviewed records and procedures relating to safeguarding and risk assessment, and discussed a range of other procedures relating to children's welfare with the owner and the manager.  The inspector observed care routines and completed a joint observation with the manager. Together they discussed how staff training had contributed to children's learning and development.

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Effectiveness of the leadership and management is outstanding

The owner and the manager work exceptionally effectively together to set and sustain very high levels of practice in health, hygiene and welfare across the nursery. For example, the dedicated onsite chef prepares highly nutritious meals and creatively adapts these to meet children's various dietary needs. Children eat particularly well and thrive in extremely hygienic, well-furbished premises. The manager's skills in research, her breadth of training and diligence in monitoring and guiding staff practice helps ensure they are especially well equipped to deliver high-quality care and learning. Safeguarding is effective. The manager checks staff know how to recognise and respond swiftly and appropriately to any concerns they may have about children's welfare and protection.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is outstanding

Teaching is inspirational. For example, before challenging children's understanding of their place in their family tree, staff develop children's enthusiasm for exploring trees in their own rich play areas. Children are extremely curious to investigate and understand growth, change and life cycles in the world around them. Staff creatively model being a thinker, listening to each other's ideas and working out problems. Children rapidly adopt these skills and use more precise mathematical and descriptive language in their activities. For instance, children debate the texture of bark, compare the breadth and height of branches, and estimate the weight of fruit they will need to make a pie. They continue to express their ideas about growth, such as through their crafts and as they exercise.

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare are outstanding

Staff deftly follow each child's interests and further enhance their successful social, communicative and physical skills. For example, fascinated by the arrival of a new baby, toddlers rehearse their experiences. They learn why they need to hold their baby doll's head safely, share their observations of small details in care routines and persist in mastering tricky fastenings on clothes. Children rapidly gain confidence in using new skills. The older children thoroughly enjoy experimenting, planting and listening outdoors. However, some outdoor areas are not so exciting for babies who wish to explore further.

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Outcomes for children are outstanding

All children make excellent progress in their learning. This includes children who have special educational needs and/or disabilities and those learning to speak more than one language. Older children are exceptionally well prepared for school. For instance, they work well in groups and show high levels of respect for their friends and staff. Children independently choose, responsibly care for, and tidy away toys and specialist resources. They concentrate well, become highly involved in activities and are persistent when learning gets tough. Children review and adapt their work to further improve it.

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Setting details

Unique reference number 108416 Local authority Windsor & Maidenhead Inspection number 1070092 Type of provision Full-time provision Day care type Childcare - Non-Domestic Registers Early Years Register, Compulsory Childcare Register, Voluntary Childcare Register Age range of children 0 - 4 Total number of places 52 Number of children on roll 49 Name of registered person L G Montessori School Limited

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reference number

Date of previous inspection 10 September 2014 Telephone number 01628 828258

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reference number

Little Graduates Montessori School registered in 1994. The nursery school is situated in Littlewick Green, near Maidenhead in Berkshire. It is open each weekday from 8am and 6pm, for 48 weeks of the year. The nursery is in receipt of funding for the provision of free early education to children aged three and four years. There are 14 staff working directly with the children, including the chef, 12 of whom hold appropriate qualifications between level 2 and level 7. The manager holds qualified teacher status. The nursery follows the Montessori ethos.

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reference number

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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reference number

procedures set out in the guidance ‘Complaints procedure: raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted’, which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted. If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk. 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, safeguarding and child protection.

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reference number

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reference number

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reference number

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted

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