Little Robins Montessori Nursery & Preschool

Little Robins Montessori Nursery & Preschool 2 Craigdale Road, HORNCHURCH, Essex RM11 1AE

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Inspection date 12 February 2019 Previous inspection date 23 August 2018

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3

Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

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3

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

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3

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Requires improvement

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3

Outcomes for children Requires improvement

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This is a provision that requires improvement

n The provider has just recently appointed a new manager and although improvements have been made, they are not yet embedded and need more time to show an impact. Leaders have started to evaluate all the staff's practice to help identify areas for further development. However, they have not yet been able to address all the weaknesses in the staff's engagement with children to build on their learning. n The learning environment, including resources and activities for older children, needs to improve further to enable them to be more engaged in purposeful play and to extend their learning during self-chosen play. n The daily routines and setting up of activities are not yet effective. This causes disruption to children's learning and some unnecessary waiting times for the children.

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It has the following strengths

n The provider has worked closely with the local early years officer and started to take some positive steps since her last inspection. She has enrolled in a level 3 course in childcare and started to use her newly gained knowledge to identify weaknesses in her provision. n Parents are happy with the provision and comment on the regular updates they receive about their children's development. n Staff work well together with families and other professionals involved in the children's care. This helps to provide and maintain a shared knowledge to help children make progress in their development.

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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

n build on monitoring and the support of staff to help improve their skills and knowledge, and their ability to meet children's individual needs n improve the learning environment for the older children to help them become more engaged in learning and purposeful play, when choosing resources and activities themselves n ensure daily routines are more effective, especially during mealtimes, providing more learning opportunities for children to become responsible and independent.

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What the setting needs to do to improve further

Inspection activities n The inspector observed the quality of teaching inside and outside, and assessed children's learning. n The inspector undertook a joint observation with the manager and discussed staff's practice with her. n The inspector sampled a range of documentation, such as policies, procedures and children's learning records. n The inspector held meetings with the provider and the manager of the setting. n The inspector took into account the views of parents, staff and children spoken to on the day of inspection.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management requires improvement

The provider has identified the weaknesses in leadership and management and has put a new manager in place, using effective recruitment procedures to help ensure she is able to fulfil her role and responsibilities as a manager. Safeguarding is effective. All staff are aware of their duty to keep children safe. They know what steps to follow if they have a concern about a child's safety and well-being. Staff are aware about whistleblowing and know how to directly contact the local authority's designated safeguarding officer. Leaders have started to put new systems in place to support the staff in their practice. However, these procedures are not yet fully embedded and need some more time to show an impact on the quality of the staff's practice. The manager has started to put procedures in place to track and monitor children's progress. These will help to ensure any gaps in children's development are identified and addressed in a

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment requires improvement

The teaching is not yet consistent. However, improvements have been made to the assessments of children to help plan more appropriate activities that are challenging and of interest to them. This can be seen when children enjoy learning by playing in the garden. Children make cupcakes using wet sand and count how many cakes they can make. They learn about hot and cold, and staff skilfully extend children's learning, for example, asking what they could do to cool down the cupcakes. This helps children to develop problem-solving skills, drawing on their own experiences. Although children enjoy the planned activities, those who are not interested in these do not always have a challenging alternative to engage in purposeful play.

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare require improvement

Children are happy and feel secure at the setting. They develop strong bonds with staff, who care for them and support them with their self-care needs. Staff get to know their key children and their families to help provide a smooth transition to the setting. Staff follow good hygiene procedures to ensure that children's health is well promoted. They also ask about the food the children eat, helping them to learn about what is good for their body. Staff support children's understanding about the difference between right and wrong. However, staff do not use daily routines effectively enough to provide the most of opportunities for children to be purposefully engaged in learning.

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Outcomes for children require improvement

Most of the children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, make progress from their starting points. However, due to the variable quality of teaching, some children are not making the progress they are capable of. Children develop good socials skills. Older children develop an awareness of letters and writing as they play together cooperatively. They look for eggs in the garden and negotiate where to look first. Children develop their communication skills, learning how to express themselves and asking for help if they need it. They become independent learners using resources available to them, to initiate their own play. They gain some of the necessary skills in preparation for the next stage of their education.

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Setting details

Unique reference number EY549496 Local authority Havering Inspection number 10082730 Type of provision Childcare on non-domestic premises

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Registers

Early Years Register, Compulsory Childcare Register, Voluntary Childcare Register Day care type Full day care Age range of children 1 - 4 Total number of places 48 Number of children on roll 33 Name of registered person Niranjan, Kavitha

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reference number

Date of previous inspection 23 August 2018 Telephone number 01708 607760

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reference number

Little Robins Montessori Nursery and Preschool registered in 2017. It is located in Hornchurch in the London Borough of Havering. The nursery is open each weekday from 7.30am to 6.30pm, all year round. The nursery employs eight members of staff, of whom six hold appropriate childcare qualifications at level 2 and above. The nursery receives funding to provide free early years education for children aged four years.

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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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procedures 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 . 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 and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, 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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