The Little Learners Montessori at Cricklewood

The Little Learners Montessori at Cricklewood St Vitus Hall, 35 Cricklewood Lane, London, NW2 1HR

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 15 June 2018 14 March 2013

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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

 Parents are highly complimentary of the nursery and are fully involved in their children’s learning through a wide range of very successful processes. They particularly praise how staff support them through difficult times and how they, and their extended families, are actively included to help support children’s learning at home.  Children benefit immensely from the highly stimulating activities that staff plan. These take account of their interests and level of development. Consequently, children are very motivated, eager to learn and rapidly develop the skills required for school.  Leaders and managers are inspirational and extremely passionate about ensuring the highest standards in the nursery. Their rigorous monitoring of the provision is exceptionally effective and provides highly successful outcomes for children.  The quality of teaching is outstanding. Staff provide excellent support for children’s

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This provision is outstanding

language skills, which enables rapid development of their communication.  Children, including those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities, progress exceptionally well in their learning. Staff work remarkably well with other professionals to ensure that children swiftly achieve 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

 continue to reflect on areas for improvement to maintain the exceptional levels of practice.

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Inspection activities

 The inspectors spoke to parents and carers to gain their views on the quality of the nursery.  The inspectors conducted joint observations with the nursery director and manager to assess how leaders monitor staff practice.  The inspectors sampled a range of documentation, including children’s developmental records and staff information.  The inspectors observed activities both inside and outside, including care practices, to evaluate the support for children's learning.

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Effectiveness of the leadership and management is outstanding

Safeguarding is effective. Leaders and staff thoroughly understand their responsibility to safeguard children. Recruitment procedures are exceptionally robust, which ensures that staff are suitable to work with children. Highly effective professional support for staff is provided through supervision, training and mentoring. This results in high quality teaching. Leaders and managers are extremely skilled at evaluating the quality of the provision, including how to further improve staff performance. Consequently, they have an excellent overview of where further improvements can be made. Parents’ views are actively sought and contribute to the improvement plan. For example, the setting has produced a display board for parents to explain the curriculum in more detail, as a result of parent feedback.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is outstanding

Children benefit from excellent learning opportunities. Activities are exceptionally well- planned and delivered. For example, staff use skilful questioning to encourage children to work out how to get a frozen dinosaur out of the ice. Staff use a wide variety of exciting sensory props to engage children during story time. As a result, they remain enthusiastic about their learning for a considerable time. For example, children have fun creating ‘snow’, laughing and giggling as they try to catch it as it falls. Staff observe and track children’s progress. They complete precise assessments and utilise this information exceedingly well to identify clear targets and close any identified gaps in children’s learning.

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare are outstanding

Staff provide an exceptional range of opportunities to encourage children to respect each other’s differences and value diversity. For example, children dress up, listen to music and taste food from other countries during ‘international day’. They develop an excellent awareness of healthy lifestyles, using real fruit and vegetables when they play in the outdoor café. Children behave extremely well and concentrate for long periods of time. They explore spices such as coriander and cloves with curiosity and this leads to discussions about what foods are good for their teeth. Children learn the importance of respecting their friends, good manners and sharing throughout the day. For example, staff encourage children to wait for each other to finish speaking, children serve their food at lunchtime, and take turns to tap the ice in the dinosaur activity.

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Outcomes for children are outstanding

Children are very motivated learners. They show high levels of curiosity and imagination. As a result, they make excellent progress, taking into account what they know when they start. Children are exposed to a rich language environment. For example, they learn new vocabulary, such as ‘herbivore’ and ‘carnivore’ when discussing dinosaurs. Children efficiently learn about keeping themselves safe, in particular road safety, such as when they discover how to stop and go at the traffic lights while taking their ‘driving test’. Children successfully engage in a wealth of problem solving activities. For instance, they work out how many children are in for lunch, and how many cups and chairs they need.

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Setting details

Unique reference number EY449566 Local authority Barnet Inspection number 1139380 Type of provision Full-time provision Day care type Childcare - Non-Domestic Registers Early Years Register, Compulsory Childcare Register Age range of children 0 - 8 Total number of places 40 Number of children on roll 56 Name of registered person Little Learners Montessori Ltd

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reference number

Date of previous inspection 14 March 2013 Telephone number 0208 450 3322

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reference number

The Little Learners Montessori at Cricklewood registered in 2012 and is run by Little Learners Montessori Ltd. The nursery operates from the grounds of St Agnes centre, within the London Borough of Barnet. It is open each weekday from 8am to 6pm for 48 weeks of the year. The nursery receives funding to provide free early education for children aged two, three and four years. The provider employs nine members of staff, eight of whom hold a relevant childcare qualification at level 2 or above. The nursery follows the Montessori philosophy of teaching.

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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

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

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