Ashbourne Montessori Stoneygate

Inspection of Ashbourne Montessori Stoneygate 279 London Road, Leicester LE2 3BE

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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 Not applicable

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The provision requires improvement

Children are greeted warmly by the friendly and caring staff. Those children who are new or less confident are offered encouragement and reassurance to separate from their parents and carers. Staff provide a range of resources, indoors and outside, for children to use. They provide activities that reflect children's interests and experiences from home. However, the curriculum is not consistently implemented to help children build on what they already know and need to learn next. Additionally, staff do not always offer good-quality interactions that help children to build on their knowledge and skills. Nevertheless, in the main, children are settled and happy and enjoy their time at nursery.

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The provision requires improvement

Overall, children learn to behave appropriately. Staff help children to become familiar with the daily routines. Younger children willingly respond to staff's request to wash their hands before lunch. Pre-school children know to go one by one down the stairs and to hold onto the handrail. Children benefit from frequent opportunities to be physically active in the nursery garden. They develop their physical skills as they climb large play equipment and ride wheeled toys. Additionally, children develop an awareness of the world around them as staff talk to them about insects that they see in the garden. Children comment on the orange wings of a butterfly as it lands on a tree. During a bug hunt activity, staff explain to children how grasshoppers hop and encourage them to count the number of legs.

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need to do better?

n Although leaders understand the intended curriculum this is not consistently well delivered by all staff. Not all staff understand the intentions for children's learning. There are occasions when staff do not present clear information or adapt their interactions for children. This means that children are not always offered an appropriate level of challenge to sustain their interest in activities and learning. n The leader understands the strengths of the setting and recognises the areas for improvement. Through staff supervision, the leader offers some support and opportunities for staff's professional development. However, this is not robust enough to help all staff develop the knowledge they need to further improve their teaching skills, and to ensure that all children make the progress they are capable of. n Staff maintain a two-way exchange of information with parents to ensure that they are kept informed and involved in their children's care and learning. Parents

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need to do better?

comment positively about the nursery. Staff speak with them as they drop off and collect their children and add regular updates on the online application. Parents are invited to attend parents' evenings and to join stay-and-play

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need to do better?

17 September 2024 sessions with their children. n Children play well together, overall, and often with others that are either younger or older than themselves. Staff are aware of unwanted behaviour and do intervene. However, sometimes they are not consistent in their approach, nor do they explain the impact of children's behaviour on others. As a result, children do not always gain a clear understanding of the expectations for behaviour. n Staff are kind and attentive. They have a secure knowledge of children's individual needs, such as sleep routines and what they like to eat and play with. Young children build strong bonds with their key person, seeking them out for cuddles and reassurance when needed. Older children show a familiarity and positive relationships with all staff as they come together in the garden. They ask staff for help confidently and invite them to join in with their play. n Children enjoy exploring a range of different materials provided by staff. They

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need to do better?

encourage young children to use their senses and smell dough infused with fresh herbs. Children develop their small-muscle strength as staff show them how they can poke and squeeze the dough with their hands. Older children explore water play. They play with pretend sea creatures, naming the ones that they recognise and show their delight as they learn how to squeeze water out of spray bottles. n Staff support children's communication and language skills well overall, including those children who speak English as an additional language. Staff talk to children as they play, they introduce and model the correct use of new vocabulary. Children develop an interest in books and stories as staff read to them regularly. Books are readily accessible to children of all ages in cosy corners throughout the nursery.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

There is an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts children's interests first.

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Due date

ensure staff implement a curriculum that identifies what all children need to learn and offer appropriate challenge to sustain their interest in activities and learning 19/10/2024

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Due date

17 September 2024 target professional development plans on improving staff's knowledge and teaching skills to help them to further support all children's learning. 19/10/2024

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should:

n improve staff's teaching of behaviour boundaries, so that children gain a clear understanding of the expectations for behaviour.

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Setting details

Unique reference number 2688104 Local authority Leicester Inspection number 10326632 Type of provision Childcare on non-domestic premises Registers Early Years Register Day care type Full day care

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inspection

Total number of places 42 Number of children on roll 33 Name of registered person Ashbourne Day Nurseries Limited

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reference number

Telephone number 00162706662 Date of previous inspection Not applicable

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Information about this early years setting

Ashbourne Montessori Stoneygate registered in 2022. It is located in Leicester. The nursery opens Monday to Friday, all year round. Sessions are from 7.45am to 6pm Monday to Friday, except for bank holidays and between Christmas and New Year. The nursery employs 10 members of staff. Of these, nine hold appropriate early years qualifications. The setting provides funded early education for two-, three- and four-year-old children.

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Inspection activities

n The inspector talked to staff at appropriate times during the inspection and took account of their views. n The inspector spoke with the regional manager and manager about the leadership and management of the setting. 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 The inspector spoke to several parents during the inspection and took account of their views. n The deputy manager, manager and inspector completed a learning walk together of all areas of the nursery and discussed the early years curriculum. n The inspector looked at relevant documentation and reviewed evidence of the suitability of staff working in the nursery.

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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

17 September 2024 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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