The Village Montessori Nursery School

Inspection of The Village Montessori Nursery School Cock Lane, Bradfield, Reading, Berkshire RG7 6HW

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Overall effectiveness Outstanding

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

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The provision is outstanding

Children are extremely happy and secure in this nurturing and engaging setting. They form exceptionally close bonds with staff and feel a secure sense of belonging. The highly qualified and experienced staff team of childcare professionals successfully fulfils the highest of expectations for all children. It creates a vibrant, inspiring environment, indoors and outdoors, and expertly plans a curriculum that ignites children's curiosity and thirst for learning.

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The provision is outstanding

Children choose from an extremely wide range of challenging and interesting learning resources that capture their imagination. Younger and older children have an amazing ability to sit and concentrate on their tasks. Children welcome a challenge and are extremely eager to learn. They persevere at the activities until they have achieved their purpose.

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The provision is outstanding

Children develop an exceedingly secure sense of belonging. They know where to keep their possessions, rapidly become familiar with the routines and carefully tidy away their playthings after each use. Children are exceptionally independent. For example, they freely select resources which are all accessible to them and are confident to ask staff to help them if their coat zips are too much of a struggle.

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need to do better?

n The nursery follows the Montessori method of teaching. The head, deputy head and their staff share a great enthusiasm for their work. Children's safety, well- being and learning are given a high priority. n Partnerships with parents are very strong. Staff ensure that all parents are fully involved in their children's learning. They support parents in many ways to continue the learning outside of the nursery environment. n Children demonstrate a broad understanding and develop high-level skills to support them in their future learning. For instance, as children prepare the tables for snack time, they carefully calculate how much cutlery and how many glasses and plates each table will need, demonstrating their strong mathematical and logic skills. n Children show an excellent attitude towards learning. Their behaviour is exemplary as they play harmoniously together. Staff are positive role models and provide children with warm praise for their achievements. This further

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need to do better?

boosts children's already considerable confidence and sense of worth. n All children make exceptional progress in their learning, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who speak English as an additional language. Staff make precise and accurate assessments of children's abilities, in partnership with their parents. This helps them to identify any delay in children's development. Staff work very closely with external professionals to

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need to do better?

29 January 2020 secure the correct support for children and their families, to ensure any gaps in learning are swiftly reduced. n Relationships at all levels are excellent. These reflect a respectful culture, where interactions are of high quality. Staff read stories in a lively way, so that children remain fully engaged, interested and involved in the story. As children listen to a favourite story, they excitedly choose puppets and props to develop their imagination and encourage participation. n The head and deputy head promote an outstanding culture of continuous improvement. They monitor staff performance and continuous improvement with their team. Leaders provide exceptional support to staff, organising training to enhance their skills and knowledge. They act with integrity to further promote staff's well-being. n Children benefit greatly from time spent outdoors which is extremely well resourced with static play equipment. In addition, they freely run across open

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need to do better?

meadows and walk along a woodland stream, searching for mini-beasts and birds as they walk. Staff interaction is fabulous. For example, they encourage children to wade in the stream in their wellingtons and feel the temperature change as the cold water runs over their feet.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

The head, deputy head and staff demonstrate excellent knowledge of their safeguarding responsibilities. They regularly attend safeguarding training to strengthen their expert knowledge. This helps them to identify, understand and respond to signs of possible abuse and neglect. The head, deputy head and staff understand their role to protect children from extreme views and beliefs. They have a shared understanding and a commitment to keeping children safe. Staff expertly explained the local procedures to follow if they have a concern about a child's safety. Safeguarding leads follow robust procedures for allegations made against staff, and report their concerns in a timely way to the correct external agencies. Staff are extremely vigilant and through rigorous risk assessments ensure the environment is safe and secure.

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Setting details

Unique reference number 507891 Local authority West Berkshire Inspection number 10108511 Type of provision Childcare on non-domestic premises Registers Early Years Register Day care type Sessional day care Age range of children 2 to 4 Total number of places 36 Number of children on roll 27 Name of registered person MacLean, Jacqueline Diana

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reference number

Telephone number 0118 9744643 (school) Date of previous inspection 29 June 2015

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Information about this early years setting

The Village Montessori Nursery School registered in 1992 and is situated in Bradfield Southend, Berkshire. The nursery is open during term time from 9am until 3.30pm Monday to Thursday and from 9am to 12.15pm on Friday. It is in receipt of funding for the provision of free early education for children aged three and four years. The nursery employs eight staff. The headteacher holds qualified teacher status and the deputy holds early years professional status. There is one member of staff with a qualification at level 6, one with a qualification at level 5, two with qualifications at level 3 and one with a qualification at level 2.

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Inspection activities

n The deputy head showed the inspector around the premises and talked about how they organise the rooms and support children's learning. n The inspector completed a joint observation with the deputy head and discussed the learning intentions. n The inspector spoke to children, staff, parents and the staff team during the inspection. n The inspector held meetings with the deputy head and the head, and examined relevant documentation, such as evidence of staff's suitability to work with children. n The inspector observed children and staff interacting indoors and ourdoors, and held discussions with staff regarding children's learning and development.

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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

29 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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