Privett Montessori Nursery School

Inspection of Privett Montessori Nursery School Privett Village Hall, Hemplands Lane, Privett, Alton, Hampshire GU34 3NU

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Overall effectiveness Good

The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Good Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Outstanding

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The provision is good

This Montessori nursery offers a welcoming environment where children show that they feel happy, safe and emotionally secure. Staff have very high expectations for all children attending. They know children well and build positive relationships. Staff interact with warmth and kindness. They gain information from parents when children first start attending, to promote a consistent approach to children's care and learning. Staff quickly respond to children who find it difficult to settle. They are sensitive, reassuring and caring, ensuring they meet children's emotional needs.

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The provision is good

Staff successfully use observations to help them plan a curriculum around what children know and can do, and what they intend children to learn next. All children make good progress and achieve well. They benefit from carefully planned opportunities where they learn how to master everyday skills in the 'practical life' area of the nursery. However, staff do not always adapt their activities to enhance children's spontaneous interests.

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The provision is good

Children are well behaved, independent and show excellent manners. They are developing key skills for their next stage of learning. For example, children put activities away before they choose another, put their chairs under the tables and happily help to tidy away when they hear the cue to stop and listen.

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need to do better?

n Children benefit from an environment which is organised and well planned to allow them to return independently to favourite activities, building on their knowledge and skills. They carefully construct towers and use tweezers to grasp small items. Staff competently support child-led play, building on what children can do, teaching them new skills. However, when staff lead activities, they do not always recognise and encourage the youngest children's spontaneous interests and develop these further, to fully extend children's learning, for example during creative activities. n Staff plan well for children's learning. Young children learn about the basics of mathematics as they sort and order by size and shape. Older children have opportunities to build on their prior learning. They explore numbers and count as they complete number patterns on activity boards. n Staff skilfully support children's literacy development. Children enjoy listening to

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need to do better?

stories, independently looking at books, singing songs and using various tools, such as chalk, to draw and make marks. Older children enjoy retelling their favourite stories to their peers. They role play as they pretend to be teachers, repeating the refrain that runs through the book. They demonstrate their understanding that print carries meaning and follow the words from left to right

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need to do better?

14 January 2020 with their finger. n Staff support children's language development well. Children develop confidence in their speaking and listening skills and are keen to talk to each other and visitors. They engage the inspector in conversations and excitedly tell her about their Christmas celebrations. n Staff understand how physical activity has a positive impact on children's development. They encourage children to be active and to participate in a range of adult-led sporting activities. For example, the nursery employs a sports coach to provide children with new and exciting play opportunities. However, there are limited chances for children to test their own ideas and abilities and to evaluate risks. n The manager and staff work closely with parents and other professionals to support children who need extra help with their speech and language, and those who speak English as an additional language. For example, staff provide good

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need to do better?

home-learning opportunities for children and parents. They also welcome parents into the nursery to share their language, heritage and culture. This positive support means gaps in children's development are closing quickly. n The manager works well with her staff to evaluate the effectiveness of the nursery. They talk daily and reflect on practice to identify areas for further improvement. Through regular meetings and observations of practice, staff gain the support and knowledge to develop their teaching skills. Training has a positive impact on experiences for children, as staff apply their new-found knowledge and skills. For example, staff recently completed online behaviour management training to further support managing children's emotions successfully.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

The manager places a high priority on making sure that children are safe, and this is well managed throughout the nursery. All staff understand their responsibilities to safeguard children. Staff know the signs to look for and the procedures to follow if they have any concerns about a child's welfare. Staff all receive up-to-date safeguarding training. The manager implements secure recruitment procedures and ensures the ongoing suitability of adults working with children. Staff are vigilant and supervise children carefully at all times.

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should:

n encourage staff awareness of younger children's spontaneous interests to enhance their learning to the highest level n ensure learning experiences provide children with opportunities to evaluate and

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should:

14 January 2020 take age-appropriate risks.

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Setting details

Unique reference number EY264559 Local authority Hampshire Inspection number 10128713 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 2 to 4 Total number of places 26 Number of children on roll 26 Name of registered person Pritchard, Katherine

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reference number

Telephone number 01730 828405 Date of previous inspection 19 October 2015

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Information about this early years setting

Privett Montessori Nursery School was founded in 1988. It opened under new ownership in 2003. It is located in the village of Privett, in Hampshire. The nursery is open Monday to Friday, during term time only, from 8.45am until 3pm. The setting receives funding for the provision of free early education for children aged two, three and four years old. There are three staff who work at the setting and the manager holds a recognised level 6 qualification.

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Inspection activities

n During a learning walk, a discussion was held with the manager about how the early years provision is organised, the Montessori curriculum and the experiences on offer for children. n A joint observation of an activity was carried out by the inspector and the manager. Discussions were held with children and staff throughout the inspection. n The inspector observed the quality of teaching during activities to assess the impact this has on children's learning. n Parents provided verbal feedback during the inspection. The inspector took account of their views. n The inspector viewed documents, such as evidence of suitability checks for staff and external providers. She looked at the safeguarding policy online and the first-aid certificates for all staff.

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Inspection activities

We carried out this inspection 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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Inspection activities

14 January 2020 regulates and inspects to 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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Inspection activities

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Inspection activities

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Inspection activities

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Inspection activities

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