Chartam House Nursery

Inspection of Chartam House Nursery 16 College Avenue, Maidenhead SL6 6AX

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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

There is plenty of laughter, joy and smiles at this welcoming nursery. Children arrive excited to greet staff and their friends. They settle with ease into their self- chosen activities. Staff get to know children well and establish trusting relationships with them from the start. Mealtimes replicate a family dynamic as children sit together with staff. This promotes their social skills and emotional well-being, and makes them feel secure and comfortable. The well-established routines help children know what is happening next and what is expected of them, which in turn means children show consistently good behaviour.

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The provision is good

Promoting children's decision-making skills is at the forefront, such as choosing to play indoors or outdoors. Staff facilitate this process seamlessly, deploying themselves appropriately to ensure children remain safe at all times. In this way, children feel valued, knowing that their choices are important to staff.

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The provision is good

A thoughtfully structured curriculum is strongly based on the principles of children developing curious mindsets and healthy bodies. For example, babies and young toddlers play percussion instruments. They sing along to familiar rhymes and bounce to the beat. Older children concentrate hard as they learn new yoga poses that help to increase their body flexibility. An abundance of praise echoes around the provision, as staff commend children's improving resilience and perseverance. Children relish these moments and beam with pride.

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need to do better?

n Communication and language skills are taught across the setting in a sequenced way, building on what children already know. Staff provide a consistent dialogue when interacting with children. Babies begin to use sign language to express themselves, such as 'more', 'please' and 'thank you, which have been previously modelled by staff. Older children learn key words that extend their knowledge and vocabulary, such as when handling plants, they explain how the roots suck up water from the soil. All children actively listen to staff who enthusiastically share books with them. Children also select and look through books independently, clearly demonstrating a true love for books. n The nursery chef's nutritionally balanced, home-cooked food is well received. Older children frequently ask for more helpings, saying the meals are 'delicious'. Children develop good hygiene routines from an early age, such as washing

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need to do better?

hands thoroughly before mealtimes. Babies begin to feed themselves with spoons, sensitively encouraged by staff. Older children initially use forks and then learn to use knives and forks, as their manual dexterity improves. This shows that children learn to manage their personal needs. n Across the setting, children's imaginations are positively enhanced by staff, for

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need to do better?

10 March 2025 example, through role play. Staff readily engage with babies who enjoy making pretend meals. Babies collect the natural items available to them in the well- presented play kitchen. Older children negotiate different roles when setting up 'home' scenarios, such as when they care for dolls, ensuring they are fed, nappies checked and remain warm with blankets. In this way, children develop their qualities of compassion and care towards others. n The indoor environment is well-organised, with activities that appeal to children's interests and motivate them to explore and investigate. For instance, babies use big and small scoops to pour mud from one container to another, practising their transferring skills. Older children plant bulbs in mud and learn about the best conditions for growth. Outside in the garden, opportunities to build on children's natural curiosity, are less well planned. This is particularly the case for older

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need to do better?

children. Consequently, children are sometimes not focused or engaged enough to pursue, deepen and expand their own learning when outdoors. n The pursuit for high standards of education and care are extremely apparent. Leaders continue to review, evaluate and consider ways to improve the provision for all. For example, through their monitoring of teaching, leaders have identified the need for further refinement to elevate children's natural curiosity, in the room for older children. However, on occasion, the quality of staff's interactions across the setting, is variable. Although improvement in some staff's practice is identified by leaders, precise coaching to enhance individual teaching skills, is still in it's infancy. This has an impact on children's learning. n Parents are highly complimentary about the good education and care their children receive. They admire staff's abilities to follow their children's care

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need to do better?

routines well and form affectionate bonds. Staff provide daily updates, as well as weekly photographs and videos of their children's time at the nursery. Parents note the great progress their children make, particularly in their speech, confidence and independence.

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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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should:

n support staff to strengthen their planning and organisation of the curriculum outdoors, in order to help older children to focus and engage more purposefully in learning n refine and improve the coaching and mentoring arrangements for individual staff to raise the quality of interactions across the setting to a consistently high level.

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Setting details

Unique reference number 2695370 Local authority Windsor and Maidenhead Inspection number 10388548 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 53 Name of registered person Chartam House Nursery Limited

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reference number

Telephone number 07342 643439 Date of previous inspection Not applicable

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Information about this early years setting

Chartam House Nursery registered in 2023 and is situated in Maidenhead, Berkshire. It offers care Monday to Friday, from 8am to 6pm, throughout the year. The nursery employs 15 staff, 12 of whom hold childcare qualifications from level 2 to level 7. The nursery is eligible to receive funding to provide free early education for children aged nine months to four years.

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Inspection activities

n The manager and inspector completed a learning walk together of all areas of the nursery and discussed the early years curriculum. n Children spoke with the inspector during the inspection. n The inspector talked to staff at appropriate times during the inspection and took account of their views. 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, the manager and the deputy manager carried out joint observations of group activities. n Parents shared their verbal and written views of the setting with the inspector. 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

10 March 2025 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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