Fountain Montessori Nido

Fountain Montessori Nido

Unique reference number (URN): 2759300 Address: 43 Capitol Way, London, NW9 0AW Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises Registered with Ofsted: 15/11/2023 Registers: EYR Registered person: Fountain Montessori Pre-School Limited

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Safeguarding standards met

The safeguarding standards are met. This means that leaders and/or those responsible for governance and oversight fulfil their specific responsibilities and have established an open culture in which safeguarding is everyone's responsibility and concerns are actively identified, acted upon and managed. As a result, children are made safer and feel safe.

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How we evaluate safeguarding

When we inspect settings for safeguarding, they can have the following outcomes:

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How we evaluate safeguarding

Met: The setting has an open and positive culture of safeguarding. Not met: The setting has not created an open and positive culture of safeguarding. Not all legal requirements are met.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard

Babies and young children demonstrate positive behaviour that consistently exceeds expectations for their ages and stages of development. They show respect, kindness and consideration for one another. Staff model expectations at children's level and support all children to share, take turns and cooperate. Children follow routines calmly and show growing independence in their self-care. Staff respect children's privacy and dignity at all times. Mealtimes are sociable occasions, and children enjoy nutritious food, freshly cooked on site. Staff sit with children, talk with them and encourage conversation about tastes, colours and healthy choices. Children practise hygiene routines as part of everyday expectations, such as washing their hands independently, with babies using a portable sink. Staff's sensitive support and explanations help children understand why these routines matter for their wellbeing.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard

Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are fully included in routines and learning. Staff adapt activities and provide reassurance to help children manage feelings and understand boundaries. Children show curiosity and persistence in play, such as collaborating and sharing when building train tracks. Children of all ages show positive attitudes to learning. They build independence and confidence and are prepared well for their next stage of education, as they make regular visits to the next-door nursery, where they will transition to. Leaders promote regular attendance and recognise its importance for children's learning and wellbeing. They monitor patterns of absence and work with parents and carers to provide timely support to help children attend consistently.

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Achievement Expected standard

In general, young children and babies achieve well from their starting points. Despite staff being at different stages of their professional journeys, any gaps in learning are beginning to close, especially for children who speak other languages at home. Children appreciate staff's efforts to learn their language and further develop their communication and speech using signing and visual aids. For example, during adult-led activities, children concentrate and focus to develop their understanding of Ramadan.

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Achievement Expected standard

Children demonstrate independence as they freely access creative materials. They practise using a range of tools to make marks with. Children display increasing control and dexterity. Furthermore, they demonstrate a growing range of vocabulary as they enjoy talking to staff and looking at books together, such as 'Simply Thankful' and 'No More Nappies'.

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Achievement Expected standard

Additionally, children show skilful balancing and coordination as they use the outdoor equipment. When sweeping and wiping tables, children are learning to care for the environment. Consequently, children are prepared well for the next stage in their education, including the transition to the next stage of their learning and development.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Expected standard

Children's individual needs are met well through care practices that are calm, responsive and thoughtfully organised. In the baby room, children form secure attachments as staff follow children's cues closely, offering comfort, shared attention and gentle interactions that help them settle quickly and feel safe. Children develop an early understanding of health and physical wellbeing through everyday routines. Staff talk with children about healthy food choices, and even very young children join in age-appropriate conversations during snack times. After meals, children learn the habit of brushing their teeth regularly and use their toothbrushes to get rid of 'the tooth bugs'.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Expected standard

Outdoors, babies and toddlers explore freely, making the most of running around the spacious garden area or waving a parachute up and down with enthusiasm. Staff respond to their curiosity and extend their physical confidence through well-judged supervision. Children learn to manage risk through balancing on the rocks or whizzing around on their bikes and scooters.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Expected standard

Children are supported to recognise and manage their emotions through calm spaces and consistent approaches to co-regulation. Staff help children identify feelings and settle into routines that reduce stress, including smooth transitions between activities and predictable routines throughout the day. For children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, leaders ensure that care plans, medical guidance and sensory strategies are followed consistently so that children remain comfortable, included and ready to participate.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Leaders have designed a curriculum that reflects children's developmental needs and the context of the setting. Staff understand the leaders' intentions clearly, including the emphasis on early attachment, emotional regulation and preparation for more structured learning when transitioning to the older children's nursery. Across rooms, staff make purposeful use of everyday moments to build children's vocabulary and communication. Staff interact warmly with babies, responding to their babbling and gestures. Practitioners model language and repeat words so babies begin to develop early communication skills. Children approach challenges with confidence and develop problem-solving skills through opportunities to explore and practise independently, such as using the Montessori equipment to promote their reasoning and mathematical skills. Babies are happy to play and explore alongside their peers, and toddlers learn how to share and take turns early on.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Teaching typically supports children's development well, particularly in personal, social and emotional development. Staff adapt teaching appropriately for young children with special educational needs and/or disabilities using specialist guidance, individual plans and small- group interventions to target communication and physical skills. Assessment is used effectively to check what children know and can do and supports staff to adapt their curriculum to meet individual children's needs. Routines for babies are efficient and calm, enabling secure relationships and uninterrupted opportunities to learn through stories, songs and early communication activities. Typically, experienced well-trained staff extend learning through language and model thinking during focused activities. However, the quality of teaching is not yet consistent. Occasionally, staff do not engage all children and babies effectively, meaning some children and babies do not

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

have the opportunity to learn more deeply from the learning experiences that have been prepared for them.

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Inclusion Expected standard

Leaders make informed decisions about how best to spend additional funding that children are in receipt of to support their next steps and progress, for example by providing extra resources, training and support. Parents are involved in these decisions. Leaders carefully monitor and review the impact of additional funding. They provide additional staff and resources to support the children when needed. Parents comment on how well the setting identifies and helps their children to receive the additional support they need. Parents have a good understanding of how targeted support plans are helping their children to progress in their development.

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Inclusion Expected standard

Staff receive help from leaders to support all children, particularly those who are disadvantaged, those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who face other barriers to their learning and/or wellbeing. Appropriate and timely referrals to other agencies are made when needed, including the local authority. Leaders work in partnership with parents and other professionals to secure support and interventions for children, as required. There is a range of training and support to extend staff's knowledge and expertise so they can best support children, and in particular babies, with gaps in their learning and development, although this could be developed further to include all staff.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Leaders show commitment and great enthusiasm for leading practice at the nursery. Staff share a wealth of information with parents to help them work collaboratively to support children's needs. Parents very much value the daily chats and regular meetings to keep them up to date on all that their children are doing. Partnerships with other settings that children will attend and outside professionals are valued and fostered, focusing on offering joined-up working to consistently meet the needs of each child.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Leaders are mindful to support staff's wellbeing, arranging activities to show they are valued. Staff show dedication to the work that they do at the nursery and demonstrate that they really care about the children. Leaders meet regularly as a team to evaluate their effectiveness and outline areas for improvement. They supervise and support the practice of the team, helping staff undertake qualifications and a range of suitable training. Typically, leaders work promptly to help staff develop their skills, especially to ensure their effective safeguarding knowledge and practice. Leaders have identified the need for further professional learning for staff, especially with regards to more expert knowledge of the learning and development of babies, and have formulated a plan for improvement to help the children make even better progress. In addition, leaders and those responsible for governance have not always ensured that all

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

policies and practices are fully up to date with the latest requirements. This has not had an impact and has been rectified.

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What it's like to be a child at this setting

Babies and young children are happy and eagerly enjoy exploring their surroundings. They develop secure bonds with staff and confidently share their thoughts and ideas. For example, children indicate which song they would like to sing, enjoying nursery rhymes and moving excitedly in time to the music. Staff promptly identify when children need emotional support and offer them comfort and reassurance. Children respond positively to staff, helping them to settle quickly and actively engage in their learning.

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What it's like to be a child at this setting

Staff follow children's interests and support their learning. For example, children practise balance and coordination as they walk across stepping stones, whizz around on bikes and scooters and climb up the stairs. Staff recognise when to offer help, matching support to children's ages and stages of development.

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What it's like to be a child at this setting

All children, including those with barriers to learning, are typically prepared well for their next stage of development. They make appropriate progress from their starting points and gain the skills they need to move on to the next stage of their learning. For example, children learn to become independent and complete tasks for themselves. They serve their own food, pour their own drink of water and pour milk over their cereal. Children show kindness to their friends with gentle encouragement from staff, such as learning to share toys with each other, keenly focusing on, for example, building train tracks. This helps them learn how they are expected to behave.

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What it's like to be a child at this setting

Staff provide experiences for children that help to build on what they know and to enrich their learning further. Children join staff on trips into the local community, such as shopping at a local supermarket. They learn about nature, planting seeds in the garden or on their regular walks to the local park. Staff and children learn from each other about various festivals and the wide variety of cultures that they come from. For example, they invite mothers and grandmothers to tea for Mother's Day. They share vocabulary in different languages. This develops their confidence with new experiences and their knowledge of the world effectively.

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Address:

Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises

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Address:

Registered person: Fountain Montessori Pre-School Limited

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Address:

Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 08:00 - 18:00

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Next steps

Leaders should continue to be rigorous and alert in ensuring that all policies and practices are fully up to date. Leaders should support all staff to further improve their understanding of the curriculum, particularly through planned activities with babies so that teaching is consistently embedded across the nursery for all children to make progress.

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About this inspection

The inspectors spoke with leaders, staff, children and parents during the inspection.

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About this inspection

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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Facts and figures used on inspection

This data was available to the inspector at the time of the inspection.

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Exceptional

Practice is exceptional: of the highest standard nationally. Other settings can learn from it.

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Strong standard

The setting reaches a strong standard. Leaders are working above the standard expected of them.

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Expected standard

The setting is fulfilling the expected standard of education and/or care. This means they are following the standard set out in statutory and non ‑ statutory legislation and the professional standards expected of them.

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Needs attention

The expected standards are not met but leaders are likely able to make the necessary improvements.

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Urgent improvement

The setting needs to make urgent improvements to provide the expected standard of education and/or care. services providing education and skills for children and learners of all ages, and inspects and regulates services that care for children and young people.

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

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