Mace Montessori Nursery

Inspection of Mace Montessori Nursery 69 Thorparch Road, LONDON SW8 4RH

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

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

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The provision requires improvement

Children settle well in the nursery. The friendly staff offer a warm welcome to children and their families. Parents comment positively on the service overall. They feel the new manager has made some improvements since starting. However, they do not feel that parent partnerships are fully embedded in the nursery to help support children's learning even more. The environment is stimulating for children and provides enjoyable experiences. Following the Montessori philosophy of teaching, staff plan activities for children that have a start and end, which helps encourage children's sense of achievement in completing tasks. Children are confident. They develop their curiosity and drive to explore well. However, staff working with the older children do not always communicate or recognise children's interests to help encourage their engagement. As a result, the learning needs of all children are not consistently met. Transition between activities, particularly in the

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The provision requires improvement

pre-school room, is not well planned. Hence, children's behaviour is not supported effectively. Younger children are well motivated. For example, they excitedly join in and follow a story with props. Staff use questions skilfully to encourage toddlers to think, and give them time to respond, which supports their language skills well.

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need to do better?

n The quality of teaching is inconsistent, although the manager is aware of weaknesses in areas of teaching and has ensured staff attend appropriate training. Monitoring of staff practice and implementing the knowledge gained from training is not yet fully effective. Hence, all children, particularly those identified with additional needs, do not receive sufficient support. Staff do not always consider the learning needs of each child when planning activities to ensure their interests are taken into consideration. As a result, at times, children do not listen and are not engaged, particularly in the pre-school room. Children's capabilities are not consistently supported to help prepare them for starting school. n Staff provide opportunities for children to learn about nature and the natural world through their regular visits in the community. In the setting, older children learn about volcanoes and how they erupt. For example, they carry out

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need to do better?

experiments of making volcanoes and learn about the different parts, such as the 'magma', 'crater' and 'lava'. n Toddlers enjoy taking part in story time. They are enthusiastic and eagerly engage with their friends. Staff give them opportunities to use puppets to join in, to complete sentences and repeat words and phrases, for example, 'all owls think a lot'. Children excitedly join in singing songs and rhymes with staff. These activities support their speaking skills well. However, in the older age group, the transition between activities is not always well thought through. This does not ensure it is as smooth as possible to help children understand and meet

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need to do better?

31 January 2020 behavioural expectations. n Staff seek appropriate help from other agencies. They have devised appropriate learning plans to support children identified with additional needs. However, these are not effectively implemented as all staff are not working together to provide strong consistent support to help children achieve the best outcome. Hence, all children do not make good progress from their starting points. n Children develop a range of skills during some activities. For example, toddlers develop their finger muscles well as they mould play dough, which they use to follow shapes and learn what they are. Older children carefully match pictures of different-sized planets and their names. They learn which is the hottest planet and which is the coldest. Staff ensure children have plenty of opportunities to be outside and exercise. Children understand about staying safe when they are on

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need to do better?

outings. Staff help children to understand about other people's cultural festivals and join in learning about celebrations. Babies have ample amounts of space to move about freely and safely. They form close attachments with familiar staff. Children are independent. n Parents provide information about children's individual needs to help ensure staff understand these. However, they are not satisfied with the level of parent partnership and feel this can be further improved.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

The manager and staff have a suitable understanding of child protection issues. Staff know who their designated officer is and the correct procedures to follow if they have concerns regarding a child's welfare. The manager follows effective recruitment processes to ensure staff are suitable to care for children. She also updates these checks regularly to ensure their continued suitability for their roles. Staff are vigilant about safety and complete robust risk assessments, including for when children go on outings in the local community. Children are learning about road safety and how to keep themselves safe.

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Due date

provide stronger support for staff to help improve the quality of teaching, particularly for the older children 28/02/2020

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Due date

ensure children's behaviour is more consistently supported to help them improve their emotional well-being. 28/02/2020

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should:

n develop the implementation of planning further to help ensure the needs of all children, including those with additional needs, so that they are more effectively supported n strengthen parent partnerships to help enhance outcomes for children even more.

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Setting details

Unique reference number EY395978 Local authority Lambeth Inspection number 10128481 Type of provision Childcare on non-domestic premises Registers Early Years Register Day care type Full day care Age range of children 0 to 4 Total number of places 60 Number of children on roll 54 Name of registered person Busy Bees Nurseries Limited

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reference number

Telephone number 02078018608 Date of previous inspection 5 May 2015

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Information about this early years setting

Mace Montessori Nursery school's Wandsworth branch registered in 2009. It is located in the London Borough of Wandsworth. The setting is open each weekday from 8am to 6pm for 52 weeks of the year. The setting follows the Montessori teaching method. There are 13 staff, all of whom hold relevant qualifications, from level 2 to level 6, including one member of staff who has qualified teacher status and the manager, who has a level 4 Montessori diploma. The setting receives funding to provide free early education to children aged two, three and four.

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Inspection activities

n The inspector completed a learning walk with the manager and discussed how the curriculum and setting are organised. n The inspector observed the quality of teaching and assessed the impact this has on children's learning. n A joint observation was carried out by the inspector and the manager to help evaluate staff practice. n The inspector looked at a sample of documents. This included evidence of staff's suitability and training. n Parents, staff and children shared their views about the setting verbally, and these were taken into consideration.

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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

31 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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