Perfect Start Montessori School

Inspection of Perfect Start Montessori School St Michaels Church, The Riding, London NW11 8HL

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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

All children, including those who have recently started attending, demonstrate that they feel happy, safe and secure in the warm and welcoming nursery. Leaders and staff provide an inclusive environment for all children. An effective key-person system supports children's emotional development. This helps to foster children's early attachments and meet individual children's care needs from the start. Children demonstrate a positive attitude to their learning and behave well. The dedicated leaders and staff have high expectations for children's behaviour and conduct. They act as positive role models. There are rules and boundaries in place to help children to understand what is expected of them.

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The provision is good

Children make good progress from their starting points in development. Leaders establish effective partnerships with other professionals in children's care and learning. They regularly liaise with them and follow their advice. Leaders use this information to provide targeted support for individual children as part of the curriculum. Staff promote children's communication and language skills effectively. Throughout their interactions, they provide a dialogue, repeat words and phrases and introduce new words to extend children's vocabulary. Children talk with confidence and engage in effective two-way conversations with staff, who listen with interest to what they say.

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need to do better?

n Partnerships with parents and carers are well established. Parents praise staff members for their support and guidance. Staff gather valuable information about children's interests and development. They use this to guide activities. Staff inform parents about their children's care and education through verbal discussions and an online app. They give ideas to encourage children's learning at home. This helps to support continuity in children's learning and development. n Staff skilfully use children's play to develop their understanding of mathematics. For example, as children use shape cutters with dough, staff encourage them to name simple shapes. Children use language associated with size, such as 'tall, bigger' and 'small', as they build towers with construction blocks. n Staff read high-quality texts to children, which link to the theme they are learning about. For instance, children explore their feelings through reading a

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need to do better?

book about a colour monster. These interactive story times engage children and support them to develop a love of reading. n Staff support children's creative skills successfully. Children enjoy using recycled materials, such as cardboard tubes and paper, to create models. Staff encourage children to make colourful patterns with ribbons on a giant weaving table. Children enjoy making pictures using paint and brushes. This helps children to develop good creative skills.

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need to do better?

5 September 2025 n Leaders care about the well-being of staff, children and families. Staff receive regular supervision sessions and access to ongoing training. They also attend team meetings to share ideas for improvement. Leaders model high-quality teaching practice. However, there are inconsistencies in the quality of some staff's teaching, particularly in the use of open-ended questions to support children who speak English as an additional language. This does not consistently support children to extend their communication skills. n Staff are committed to providing a curriculum to ensure that all children develop the knowledge and skills they need for the next stage of their learning. They assess children's development to find out what they already know and can do. Staff use this information to identify any emerging gaps in children's development and plan for their next steps in learning. n Children enjoy play and learning in the outdoor areas at the nursery and in local

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need to do better?

parks. They develop their physical skills, such as as they climb and slide on play equipment and negotiate ride-on toy vehicles. Staff help children to develop their coordination skills by encouraging them to pass balls through hoops. They promote children's overall physical development well. n Staff work in partnership with parents to promote healthy lifestyles for children, for example only water is permitted in the nursery. Staff give parents guidelines on what should be included in a healthy packed lunch. They also encourage children to try new fruits and vegetables through cooking activities. n Staff help children to learn key life skills. Children enjoy calm mealtimes, where they learn about social interaction. Staff help children to put on outdoor clothing and footwear as they become increasingly independent. Children's personal skills are well promoted.

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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 strengthen performance management so that all staff are supported to deliver consistently high-quality teaching, with particular focus on children who speak English as an additional language.

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Setting details

Unique reference number EY550271 Local authority Barnet Inspection number 10398850 Type of provision Childcare on non-domestic premises Registers Early Years Register Day care type Sessional day care

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inspection

Total number of places 40 Number of children on roll 31 Name of registered person Perfect Start Montessori School Ltd

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reference number

Telephone number 07956408118 Date of previous inspection 12 November 2019

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Information about this early years setting

Perfect Start Montessori School registered in 2017 and is located in Golders Green, in the London Borough of Barnet. It follows the Montessori educational philosophy. The nursery opens Monday to Friday, during term time. Sessions are from 8am until 6pm. The nursery employs seven members of staff, all of whom hold appropriate early years qualifications ranging from level 2 to level 4. It offers government funded childcare.

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Inspection activities

n The inspector viewed the provision and discussed the safety and suitability of the premises. 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 on children's learning. n The inspector carried out two joint observations with the manager. n Parents shared their 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

5 September 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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