Crickets Montessori Nursery School

Inspection of Crickets Montessori Nursery School 51a Chatsworth Road, LONDON NW2 4BL

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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 have very high self-esteem and are extremely motivated learners. Staff take great care to learn about children's individual preferences. They build strong, caring relationships with children and value them highly. For instance, staff place a great importance on greeting each child individually with smiles when they arrive and when they leave the nursery. Children are exceptionally capable of doing things for themselves. For example, even the youngest children can put on their coats and shoes, and help to prepare fruit snacks. Children have an excellent awareness of safety. For instance, they check the garden with staff to identify any hazards, such as slippery, wet leaves and sweep them up. Children tuck chairs under tables when they leave. They handle a wide range of tools and delicate materials with great care and caution. Staff have high expectations of children and manage children's behaviour very successfully. For example, children make

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The provision is outstanding

excellent attempts at trying to resolve differences between each other. Older children remind younger ones of group rules.

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need to do better?

n Staff offer a very rich and exciting range of activities. They make thorough and comprehensive observations of children, which they make excellent use of to ensure that children are highly challenged. Children make exceptional progress. Staff monitor children's progress robustly and provide excellent support to those children needing extra help. n Staff support children's understanding of the natural world in exceptional ways. For example, they take children on a nature hunt in the garden, where they use binoculars made by the children to spot different birds. Children match the bird to pictures in non-fiction books and staff teach them names of different kinds of birds. n Staff teach children excellent early literacy skills. For example, even younger children have an excellent knowledge of letters and the sounds they make, and many older children are able to read simple words. Children have a great love of

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need to do better?

books and often retell stories in the correct sequence. n Children have very good understanding of their feelings and how to manage them. Staff use creatively inspired ideas to support children in this area. For instance, children draw faces with different emotions on sand-filled balloons or use emotion puppets to tell stories about feelings. Children have an excellent understanding of and respect for people from different religious or cultural backgrounds. For example, they make costumes and masks to pretend to be in a parade at a South American festival. n Children develop a wide range of excellent physical skills. For instance, they take part in Montessori activities, such as transferring rice grains very skilfully from one small container to another. Children use tongs to pick up and place small

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need to do better?

12 February 2020 objects in containers, which helps to develop their exceptional small-muscle control. Children have excellent opportunities to practise a variety of physical skills, such as climbing, balancing and jumping. They take part in organised group games to help them to aim, throw and catch balls. n Staff work with parents in highly effective ways. They ensure that parents are kept very well informed of their children's progress, using flexible and successful approaches. For example, staff provide contact books, daily verbal feedback and parents' meetings. They offer parents excellent opportunities to support their children's progress, such as home-learning activities based on nursery themes. One parent commented, 'When I drop my child off I feel like I have left him in a magical place.' n The manager provides excellent levels of support to staff. For instance, staff are given a generous amount of time each week to plan activities and complete

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need to do better?

children's assessments. The manager meets with staff regularly to have robust discussions on work performance and to accurately identify training needs. Staff have attended a very wide variety of courses, including a course on managing children's behaviour which has led to great improvements in this area.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Staff have an excellent understanding of what they need to look out for regarding concerns about a child's welfare. They have full understanding of the procedures to follow to deal with their concerns. Staff undergo regular, comprehensive training to keep their skills and knowledge up to date. The manager has excellent systems in place to make sure that children are readily identified and well supported, where necessary. She has a robust recruitment procedure in place, including a series of comprehensive background checks to ensure staff suitability for their roles.

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Setting details

Unique reference number EY435609 Local authority Brent Inspection number 10137783 Type of provision Childcare on non-domestic premises

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Registers

Early Years Register, Compulsory Childcare Register Day care type Full day care Age range of children 2 to 4 Total number of places 60 Number of children on roll 75 Name of registered person Stephenson, Karen Celia

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reference number

Telephone number 0208 451 6186 Date of previous inspection 14 March 2016

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Information about this early years setting

Crickets Montessori Nursery School registered in 2011. It is located in Brondesbury in the London Borough of Brent. The nursery is open during term time from 8.45am to midday and 12.30pm to 3.45pm, with an option to attend from 8.45am to 3pm, Monday to Friday. There are 10 staff, including the manager, all of whom hold appropriate early years qualifications. Two staff members hold qualified teacher status, two hold a level 6 qualification in early years, two hold a level 4 qualification in early years and four hold a level 3 qualification in childcare. The nursery provides funded early education for two-, three- and four-year-old children. It uses the Montessori method of education combined with learning through play.

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Inspection activities

n The inspector carried out a joint observation of a group activity, with the manager. n The inspector went on a learning walk around the nursery with the manager and discussed the curriculum. n Interactions between the staff and children were observed and the inspector spoke to children when appropriate. n The inspector tracked the experiences and activities of several children. n A sample of documentation was checked and the inspector held a discussion with the manager. n The inspector considered the views of staff and parents during the inspection.

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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

12 February 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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