Castalia Montessori Day Nursery and Preschool

HeadStart Nursery 21/23 Castalia Square, Docklands, London, E14 3NG

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 26 October 2017 22 July 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

 The management team and staff have high aspirations and work together effectively to drive continual improvement. The self-evaluation is extremely accurate and has a clear vision to help ensure that managers and staff are continually improving and maintaining an outstanding service for children and parents.  Children are highly motivated to learn. Children develop excellent independence skills and confidence. Staff prepare children extremely well for their move to school.  Children establish extremely strong attachments with the staff, who are warmly attentive and quickly respond to children's needs. The exceptionally strong and secure key-person system ensures that all children are emotionally well prepared to learn.  Staff place exceptional value on working in partnership with parents and other relevant professionals. They provide high-quality information on the early years foundation stage and how children are supported to learn through play. Parents contribute to initial

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This provision is outstanding

assessments and are widely encouraged to continue children's learning at home.  Children have ample time to be active. They thoroughly enjoy playing outdoors, exploring nature, and improving and testing their physical skills. Children show great confidence in demonstrating what they know and can do.  The dedicated management team leads a highly motivated team of staff who know children very well and show a genuine interest in helping them achieve to their full potential.

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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

 implement plans to enhance the excellent processes for monitoring children's progress even further to continually enrich the overview of progress relating to specific groups of children.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector observed children taking part in a range of activities indoors and outdoors.  The inspector spoke with staff and observed their teaching.  The inspector carried out a joint observation with the manager.  The inspector spoke to parents and children to take account of their views.  The inspector sampled a wide range of documentation, including staff suitability checks, children's development records and attendance registers.

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Effectiveness of the leadership and management is outstanding

The managers and staff have an excellent understanding of their responsibilities to safeguard children. Safeguarding is effective. Staff fully understand the procedures to follow should they have any concerns about a child's welfare and clearly adhere to them. The managers are dedicated to continuing to seek further ways of enhancing the outstanding teaching practice within the nursery. For example, all of the staff have attended 'sign along' training which has positively improved all children's communication and language skills, especially those who speak English as an additional language. The manager uses additional funding exceptionally well to help support children's individual needs and development. For example, pupil premium funding has been used to further develop the excellent role-play area.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is outstanding

All staff are exceptional practitioners who have a deep understanding of how children learn. Staff focus sharply on following children's ideas as they play and use spontaneous opportunities to build on their learning. They help children to become excellent communicators. For example, children discuss the intricacies of their sandcastles as they develop the models, by putting in windows and doors, and discuss if the door is big enough for the models to fit through. Staff teach children exceptionally well about mathematical concepts. For instance, they learn how to divide, add and subtract as they sort pipe cleaners into groups of eight to use as legs for their dough spiders. Staff use rigorous observation systems, particularly to support children who have special educational needs. However, the manager has identified, through the self-assessment processes, that monitoring for other specific groups of children is not quite as rigorous.

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare are outstanding

Children develop a strong sense of emotional well-being. Highly effective settling-in procedures and the well-established key-person system help to ensure children settle very quickly and develop the confidence to explore and learn. Very well-established routines, combined with the excellent layout of the nursery, help promote children's independence and self-esteem to the highest level. Children learn about staying safe and take calculated risks. For example, they independently and confidently climb up the steps to the slide in the garden and remember to walk indoors.

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Outcomes for children are outstanding

All children, including those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities, gain excellent skills to help prepare them for their future learning, including their move to school. Children are exceptionally confident and self-assured for their age. They proudly take responsibility for small tasks. For example, they eagerly volunteer to help with the preparations for lunch, setting out the places with name cards and the right number of plates and cups. Children who are below typical levels of development in speaking on entry to the nursery catch up quickly. They laugh, talk confidently and engage socially with staff and each other.

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Setting details

Unique reference number EY470006 Local authority Tower Hamlets Inspection number 1071635 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 1 - 5 Total number of places 26 Number of children on roll 47 Name of registered person Childcare Nurseries Limited

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reference number

Date of previous inspection 22 July 2014 Telephone number 02079870246

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reference number

HeadStart Nursery registered in 2014. It is situated in Crossharbour, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The nursery is open each weekday from 7.30am to 6.30pm for 51 weeks of the year. The nursery receives funding to provide free early education for children aged two, three and four years. The nursery currently employs 13 members of staff. Of whom, the provider holds early years professional status, the manager holds a relevant qualification at level 6 and a further seven staff hold relevant childcare qualifications at level 3 or level 2.

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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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