Iverna Gardens Montessori

Inspection of Iverna Gardens Montessori Armenian Church Hall, Iverna Gardens, LONDON W8 6TP

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Overall effectiveness Good

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

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The provision is good

Children enjoy their time at nursery. They are happy, confident and emotionally secure in this welcoming environment. Children develop friendships with each other and play cheerfully together. They form positive bonds with the caring staff and engage busily in a wide range of stimulating and enjoyable experiences. Following the Montessori philosophy of teaching, staff plan activities for children that have a start and end that helps encourage children's sense of achievement in completing tasks. Children show very high levels of motivation and concentration, as they carefully choose and master a wide range of challenging activities. Staff question children well but occasionally they miss opportunities to extend children's thinking skills further. Children take great pride in their achievements, confidently designing their model at the art station, and show a strong confidence in their own abilities.

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The provision is good

Children practise skills, such as chopping fruit and using tools to juice the orange for snack to support their fine motor skills. Children are exceptionally independent and well behaved. Staff have recently introduced ideas, such as a peace table in the reading village, for children to reflect on their feelings and emotions. Children are supported to develop feelings of empathy and an understanding of their emotional intelligence through acts of kindness. Staff give lots of praise and encouragement during activities, which supports children's confidence and self- esteem. Overall, staff have high expectations for children's learning and development. The curriculum is broad and covers all areas of learning well. All children make good progress, including those who speak English as an additional language and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Staff successfully use observations to help them plan a curriculum around what children

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The provision is good

know and can do, and what they intend children to learn next.

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need to do better?

n Children benefit from an environment which is organised and well planned and allows them to return independently to their favourite activities, building on their knowledge and skills as they learn to master skills in the practical life skill areas of the nursery. Staff competently support child-led play, building on what children can do and teaching them new skills. However, when staff lead activities, they do not always use questions to encourage more able children to develop different ways of thinking and understanding. . n Overall, staff plan well for children's learning. Young children learn about the basics of mathematics as they sort objects 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 games. For example, during a number game, children begin to complete simple addition sums as they add two

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need to do better?

sets of fish in a bowl together. n Children are extremely motivated to learn and staff support their early reading

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need to do better?

10 February 2020 skills well. For example, children use familiar objects to segment and build words using wooden letters and using the sounds of each letter. n Staff support children's language development well, overall. They encourage children's home languages as they support them to gain vocabulary in English. Children who speak English as an additional language make good progress in their communication skills. Children develop confidence in speaking and listening and are keen to talk to each other and visitors. They engage the inspector in conversations and confidently ask her what she is doing and excitedly telling her what they have been doing. n Staff understand how physical activity has a positive impact on children's development. They encourage children to be active, children eagerly design their own obstacle course in the garden and build block stations to jump from. n Children are extremely independent and are confident when managing their own

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need to do better?

tasks, such as washing up after snack time. Staff have extremely high expectations of children's behaviour and children listen well and follow clear instructions from staff. 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. The regular use of sign language has had a positive impact on children's communication and language development. n Staff work closely with parents and other professionals to support children who need extra help and those who speak English as an additional language. For example, staff provide good 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 any possible gaps in children's

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

The manager places high priority on making sure that children are safe. 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:

10 February 2020 n ensure staff make the most of all interactions with children to consistently challenge children to develop different ways of thinking, understanding and expressing themselves clearly.

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Setting details

Unique reference number EY387406 Local authority Kensington and Chelsea Inspection number 10128477 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 Sessional day care

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inspection

Total number of places 40 Number of children on roll 50 Name of registered person Multistori Limited

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reference number

Telephone number 020 7589 6802 Date of previous inspection 5 March 2015

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Information about this early years setting

Iverna Gardens Montessori School registered in 1988. It is one of two nurseries owned by a private provider. The setting operates from an Armenian church hall in Kensington in the London Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. The setting focuses on providing care and learning, based on Montessori principles. The setting is open Monday to Friday, from 9am until 12 noon and from 1.25pm until 3.55pm during school term time only. Staff provide a lunch club for children who stay for both sessions. There are eight members of staff, including the manager. Of these, one staff member holds qualified teacher status, two hold educational qualifications at level 6 and all other staff hold Level 4 Montessori qualifications. The setting offers early years funding for three- and four-year-old children.

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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 deputy manager. n 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, children's progress files and policies.

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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

10 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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