Trillium Montessori House

Inspection of Trillium Montessori House Mount Pleasant, Paddock Wood, Tonbridge, Kent TN12 6AH

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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 Not applicable

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The provision is good

Staff and children have warm and trusting relationships. For example, they laugh together uproariously as they pull faces at the imagined taste of the concoctions they invent with the pretend food.

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The provision is good

Children understand and follow established routines. This helps to support their good behaviour. Children learn to be independent. For instance, at meal times, they pour their own drinks, wash their plates and help to tidy up.

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The provision is good

Staff effectively help children to learn to share and take turns. For instance, they take turns to find matching pairs of cards. Other children share out the dinosaurs between the adults. Outside, children demonstrate their learning as they voluntarily take turns to roll their cars down the slopes.

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The provision is good

Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are well supported. Staff make good use of the expertise of external professionals to support the learning and development of these children. Additional funding is used effectively to purchase specific resources to help children close gaps in their learning and make progress.

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The provision is good

The manager is reflective and constantly seeks to improve the setting. For instance, children are introduced to yoga and French. Prior to the pandemic, they visited a residential home where they played simple games with the residents.

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need to do better?

n Children make good progress in communication and language. For example, younger children learn to name common foods and animals, while older children develop mathematical vocabulary, such as understanding the language of weighing. Children apply their learning in their independent play. For example, they compare the size of the monkeys and the dinosaurs and sing familiar songs. n Staff have good partnerships with parents. Parents appreciate that their children are safe, happy and are learning. They help to establish children's starting points when they join the nursery but would like more detailed, specific information about how their children are progressing. n The manager holds regular meetings with her staff to discuss their practice, safeguarding knowledge and training needs. Staff are encouraged to pursue training in areas that are of particular interest to them, such as well-being, and this helps to support children and their families.

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need to do better?

n Staff encourage children to develop their sensory and creative skills. For example, children explore the feel of 'gloop' and compare it to the feel of ice,

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need to do better?

2 August 2021 recognising that one feels warm while the other is cold. Children are fascinated that they can peel the skin off an onion. They cut open onions, smell them and notice the layers inside. They enjoy the taste of plums and nectarines, which are new experiences for them. Children create pictures and patterns using rollers in the paint. n Staff make the most of opportunities to develop children's mathematical skills. For instance, children recognise that some potatoes need to be moved from the heavy side of the scales to the lighter side, in order to make the scales balance. Staff support children to count the number of vegetables on each side of the scales. Children recall previous learning, remembering that they planted potatoes. n Children delight in observing live creatures. They are utterly absorbed in watching the snails an adult brought in. They demonstrate kindness and sensitivity as they gently pick them up to observe them more closely. Children

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need to do better?

notice that some are striped and some are not. They comment that two snails are 'having a cuddle'. Staff extend their language, using correct terminology, such as 'antennae'. n There are good links between the nursery staff and those in other settings children attend, including school. Information is shared and this helps to facilitate a consistency of approach to children's care and learning. n Overall, most staff know the starting points of children, plan appropriate activities based on children's interests and monitor their progress. At times, there is a lack of clear learning intent in the planning and organisation of activities. A few children are not extended in their learning. Children make good progress, on the whole. They learn to think for themselves and solve problems. For example, they re-arranged plastic gutters, noting that the higher it was, the faster the cars travelled downwards.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Regular training helps to ensure that the manager and her staff have a good understanding of the signs and symptoms that may indicate a child is at risk of harm, including the wider issues of radicalisation. They know the procedures to follow and the people to contact if they have concerns about a child's safety or welfare. All staff know who to inform if they have concerns about the actions of another member of staff, including the manager. The manager has thorough recruitment procedures in place to ensure that new staff are suitable to work with children.

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should:

2 August 2021 n support staff to consistently plan and organise activities which provide clear learning intent n provide detailed and specific information to parents about their children's learning and progress.

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Setting details

Unique reference number EY556635 Local authority Kent Inspection number 10175129 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

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inspection

Total number of places 24 Number of children on roll 36 Name of registered person Trillium Montessori House Ltd

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reference number

Telephone number 01892 835710 Date of previous inspection Not applicable

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Information about this early years setting

Trillium Montessori House day nursery registered in 2018. It is open Monday to Friday 8am to 6pm, for 50 weeks of the year. The nursery is in receipt of funding for children aged two, three and four years. The manager holds a level 4 childcare qualification and employs four members of staff, of whom all have relevant early years qualifications.

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Inspection activities

n This was the first routine inspection the provider received since the COVID19 (coronavirus) pandemic began. The inspector discussed the impact of the pandemic with the provider and has taken that into account in her evaluation of the provider. n The inspector and the manager undertook a joint observation of children interacting with adults and discussed the learning that took place. n The manager and her staff explained their role in safeguarding children. n The inspector reviewed a range of documents relating to safeguarding, record keeping and suitability. n During the learning walk, the inspector and leaders discussed the learning intent behind the activities taking place. n During the day, the inspector spoke to staff, parents and children and took their views 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

2 August 2021 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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