The Colourwheel Montessori

Inspection of The Colourwheel Montessori The Colourwheel, Denton Crescent, Black Notley, BRAINTREE, Essex CM77 8ZZ

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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 Good

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The provision is good

Children smile with delight as they enjoy their time at this nurturing nursery. They wave goodbye to their parents at the door and happily greet staff by name. They freely access the vast array of learning activities available throughout the day, both indoors and outdoors. An inviting and stimulating learning environment enables children to make independent choices in their play. Children have opportunities to develop their fine motor skills by doing up buttons and fastenings on clothing boards, a skill which supports children to learn how to dress themselves.

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The provision is good

Children of all ages show curiosity and positive attitudes to learning. Staff excitedly engage in activities, which helps all children remain focussed in their play. Young babies immerse themselves in a rice-play activity and enjoy using different utensils to pick up the rice and pour it into their bowls. Supportive staff extend this to introduce colour names to children to widen their vocabulary. Staff capture older children's attention while building with small bricks. Children respond positively to one another and proudly identify whose turn it is to build next. Staff continually praise children for their efforts. This helps children to take pride in their achievements.

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need to do better?

n Staff offer children new experiences to support their understanding of different occupations and how to contribute positively to society. For example, parents come into the nursery to talk about their job as a dentist, also helping to support good oral health. Children of all ages show confidence in social situations and interact well with visitors to the nursery. n Children receive warm and responsive interactions from staff. Young children enjoy listening to stories snuggled up to their key person and staff give them time to identify what they can see in the pictures. Older children laugh with delight as they play number games in the garden with friends, and supportive staff encourage them to match numbers with quantity. This helps children to feel safe and build trusting relationships with staff. n Children behave well in the nursery. They are kind and considerate towards one another and older children excitedly invite young children to join them in their

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need to do better?

play. Staff are wonderful role models. They consistently demonstrate politeness and respect towards children and remind them of their behaviour expectations. Children show awareness of the rules and support one another to follow them. Children remind each other to wait for their friends to finish self-serving their own food at mealtimes. However, during mealtimes staff are not deployed as effectively as possible, and this leads to long periods of waiting for children. n Older children demonstrate high levels of independence. They develop a good understanding of how to manage their own risks during play. For example, when

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need to do better?

6 March 2023 participating in an obstacle course outside, they identify which surfaces may be slippery due to the rain. They confidently attend to their own care needs and enjoy additional responsibilities of helping to prepare the tables for their friends at mealtimes. However, when carrying out hygiene routines with young children, staff do not consistently demonstrate effective health practices, such as handwashing, to prevent the spread of infections. n Partnerships between parents and staff are good. Parents speak highly of the managers and staff and state that they are 'kind' and 'considerate'. Parents value the progress their children have made and comment on the effective communication they receive, sharing how this gives them ideas to support their child's learning. Parents show immense pride as they explain staff have supported children to learn simple sign language to aid communication. n Managers are highly reflective on all aspects of the nursery. They have a clear

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need to do better?

vision for driving improvement and regularly seek feedback from parents and staff to make informed changes to the provision. Senior staff meet regularly to share what has been working well and discuss the effectiveness of any changes that have been made. n Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are well supported. The special needs and/or disabilities coordinator (SENCo) enthusiastically works collaboratively with other settings in the local area to lead on good practice and create a support network within the community. This helps to ensure a consistent approach for all children and promote their development.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Staff have a sound understanding of their own roles and responsibilities to keep children safe from harm. Leaders and managers regularly quiz staff to ensure policies and procedures are well understood, and provide them with regular training on relevant safeguarding topics. This ensures staff have an up-to-date knowledge of wider safeguarding issues, such as witchcraft. Staff confidently discuss the importance of keeping children safe online and how this links to concerns of county lines in their local area. Staff are confident in the process of recording and reporting concerns, including if they were concerned about the conduct of a colleague.

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should:

n review the organisation and deployment of staff during mealtime routines, so that the needs of all children are considered n support staff to consistently demonstrate good hygiene procedures with younger children, to help them learn effective care practices.

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Setting details

Unique reference number EY373962 Local authority Essex Inspection number 10280526 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 Full day care

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inspection

Total number of places 51 Number of children on roll 102 Name of registered person The Colourwheel Montessori Nursery Limited

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reference number

Telephone number 01376 339 139 Date of previous inspection 23 August 2017

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Information about this early years setting

The Colourwheel Montessori registered in 2000. It is situated in Braintree, Essex and is privately owned. The nursery employs 13 members of childcare staff. Of these, nine members of staff hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 3 or above. The nursery opens Monday to Friday, all year round. Sessions are from 7.30am until 6pm. They provide funded early education places for two-, three- and four-year-old children.

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Inspection activities

n This was the first routine inspection the nursery received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The inspector discussed the impact of the pandemic with the provider and has taken that into account in their evaluation of the setting. n The manager joined the inspector on a learning walk and talked to the inspector about their curriculum and what they want their children to learn. n Children communicated with the inspector during the inspection. n Staff spoke to the inspector during the inspection. n The SENCo spoke to the inspector about how they support children with SEND. n The inspector observed the quality of education being provided, indoors and outdoors, and assessed the impact that this was having on children's learning. n The inspector carried out joint observations of group activities with the manager. n Parents shared their views of the setting with the inspector. n The manager showed the inspector documentation to demonstrate the suitability

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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

6 March 2023 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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