Hare Hatch Montessori

Hare Hatch Montessori

Unique reference number (URN): 148660 Address: Hare Hatch Village Hall, Tag Lane, Hare Hatch, Wargrave, Berkshire, RG10 9ST Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises Registered with Ofsted: 22/02/1995 Registers: EYR, CCR, VCR Registered person: Cuss, Patricia Mary

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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 Exceptional

Staff promote a calm and respectful environment throughout the nursery. Expectations for behaviour are clear and consistently reinforced. The registration routine and daily allocation of responsibilities help children begin the day purposefully and understand their role within the community.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Exceptional

Children show very positive attitudes to learning. They take ownership of responsibilities, stating, 'I am laying the table today,' and approach tasks with confidence. When challenges arise, staff offer calm guidance and encouragement, supporting children to try again and develop resilience. Children increasingly manage their own feelings and behaviour and return to learning quickly following minor difficulties.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Exceptional

Staff explicitly teach kindness, cooperation and turn-taking. They guide children to resolve small disagreements using agreed language and encourage them to consider how others feel. As a result, children demonstrate empathy, invite others into play and work together harmoniously, contributing to a purposeful and joyful environment.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Exceptional

Leaders monitor attendance closely and take prompt action where patterns of absence or lateness emerge. They work with families to strengthen daily routines, particularly where children face additional challenges, ensuring consistent attendance and readiness for school.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Exceptional

Leaders place children's welfare at the centre of daily practice. They ensure that care routines are personalised, consistent and responsive to children's changing needs. Practitioners adapt sleep, rest and mealtime arrangements sensitively, enabling children to make independent choices while maintaining clear expectations for health and safety. Children confidently manage hygiene routines and understand why these matter.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Exceptional

Secure attachments are evident across the setting. Children seek reassurance when needed and return quickly to learning because adults respond promptly and calmly to emotional cues. Practitioners successfully teach children how to recognise feelings and use agreed strategies to regulate themselves. As a result, children demonstrate growing resilience and emotional security.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Exceptional

Leaders ensure that children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those facing additional challenges receive tailored support that promotes stability and continuity. Care plans are reviewed with external professionals when required, and adjustments are meticulously embedded into daily routines.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Exceptional

Children learn how to keep themselves safe. Adults model careful handling of tools and natural materials and explain risks clearly. The outdoor environment promotes physical

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Strong standard

development, strength and confidence. Children feel safe, valued and secure, which helps them thrive.

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Inclusion Exceptional

Leaders and staff have an incredibly nurturing approach and meet children's individual needs with an inspiring commitment. They are extremely effective at identifying and responding to children's special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), cultural and language needs. Staff have an excellent understanding of implementing the graduated approach. They use observations and assessments extremely successfully to promptly identify children's emerging SEND, speech delays or emotional vulnerability. Leaders ensure all children receive exemplary individualised support to meet their needs even in unexpected circumstances. For example, leaders quickly identify additional training for staff and organise staffing to offer one-to-one care to children when required. This meets children's individual needs in a meticulous, highly responsive way.

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Inclusion Exceptional

Leaders and staff use additional funding with the utmost care to provide a wealth of opportunities for children and families. This includes staff training specific to meet children's needs at the highest level, such as intensive interactions. Staff support children through enriching interactions to ensure they are all fully involved in routines and learning. Leaders work in excellent partnership with external professionals and parents to ensure children progress rapidly from their starting points. In addition, leaders provide guidance to other settings about SEND and become involved in shaping local policies to narrow the gap for all children. Staff work exceptionally well with parents, helping them to support their children's needs. Parents describe feeling listened to and very well guided, including when families face complex circumstances.

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Achievement Strong standard

Children are very well prepared for their next stage of learning, including school. They develop secure foundations in communication and language, sustaining conversations, recalling prior knowledge and applying new vocabulary confidently in play and group discussions.

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Achievement Strong standard

Children demonstrate connected knowledge and apply it independently across all areas of learning. For example, children count with accuracy, recognise and represent numerals in different ways, reason mathematically and draw on prior experiences to explain their thinking. They explore the natural world with curiosity, describe features of living things and use remembered knowledge to deepen understanding. Children sustain concentration, persevere with challenges and take pride in taking on responsibilities.

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Achievement Strong standard

Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who face barriers to their learning make consistent and sustained progress from their starting points. Adapted communication approaches and predictable routines enable them to participate fully in learning with growing confidence, resilience and independence.

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Curriculum and teaching Strong standard

Leaders design a coherent curriculum across all areas of learning and development. They organise mixed-age groups intentionally so that children learn from one another. Leaders regularly review the quality of teaching and provide feedback to ensure the curriculum is implemented consistently. Staff plan focused activities that build knowledge in small steps and use assessment to identify next steps.

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Curriculum and teaching Strong standard

Practitioners model language and thinking clearly. They extend learning through questioning and adapt expectations so that all children are appropriately challenged. Daily routines support early literacy and independence by providing opportunities to read, write and take responsibility within authentic contexts. For example, children recognise their names and select responsibilities as they arrive in the morning.

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Curriculum and teaching Strong standard

Staff demonstrate secure subject knowledge, introduce mathematical language during play and encourage children to explain their thinking. Older children repeat mathematical phrases when comparing quantities and deciding if they match. During circle time, children sequence the months and say, 'December is when Baby Jesus was born', showing recall and making connections.

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Curriculum and teaching Strong standard

Staff expertly use visual prompts and sign language, such as Makaton, to reduce any barriers for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and ensure they seamlessly access all aspects of the curriculum.

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Leadership and governance Strong standard

Leadership is reflective, principled and firmly centred on securing the best outcomes for children and their families. Leaders articulate a clear educational ethos. Long-standing relationships within the community strengthen this work and provide continuity for children. Leaders model high expectations for inclusion, communication and respectful interactions. Staff mirror these expectations consistently in their conduct and decision-making.

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Leadership and governance Strong standard

Leaders make timely and proportionate decisions that prioritise children's safety, stability and learning. They respond swiftly when needs change and work constructively with external professionals to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those facing additional challenges. All staff are trained to support children with additional needs.

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Leadership and governance Strong standard

Leaders sustain a culture of continuous improvement. Professional development is purposeful and aligned to the setting's improvement priorities. Regular supervision and careful management of workload promote staff wellbeing and consistency for children. Close partnership with the schools the nursery feeds into supports a clear and well-planned pathway for transition, which parents value and rely on.

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Compulsory Childcare Register requirements

This setting has met the requirements of the compulsory part of the Childcare Register.

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Register

When we check if settings meet the Compulsory Childcare Register requirements, they can have the following outcomes:

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Voluntary Childcare Register requirements

This setting has met the requirements of the voluntary part of Childcare Register.

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Register

When we check if settings meet the Voluntary Childcare Register requirements, they can have the following outcomes:

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

Children experience a calm, predictable and purposeful start to each day as they follow the nursery's carefully structured routines. On arrival, children move independently through a familiar self-registration sequence. They recognise their names, place them on the sign-in board and, if they choose, select a daily responsibility. Children confidently explain their roles, such as laying tables or supporting routines, and carry these out with pride. Even the youngest children understand the routine well and build their independence, sense of identity and early literacy skills. The nursery's curriculum is designed to extend learning seamlessly indoors and outdoors. Outside, children explore the natural environment with curiosity and confidence. They investigate living creatures, talk about habitats and recall previous learning about seasonal change and life cycles. Children care for animals and resources thoughtfully, demonstrating

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

respect and responsibility. Staff use open questions and precise language to deepen thinking, allowing children to lead their own investigations while extending vocabulary naturally.

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

Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities participate fully because clear language, visual cues and signing are seamlessly embedded as everyday staff practice. These adaptations ensure all children access the same learning experiences without separation. Staff observe closely, respond sensitively and adjust support in the moment, preserving children's dignity and emotional security. Families benefit from the nursery's strong culture of partnership. Leaders work closely with external experts and support services to identify needs early and coordinate timely support.

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

Children build deep, secure relationships with familiar adults. This continuity supports children to feel safe, to belong and to engage fully in learning. As a result, they develop resilience, curiosity and the confidence needed for their next stage of education.

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Next steps

Leaders and those responsible for governance should sustain their work to ensure continued improvement and high standards. They should continue to focus on creating a transformational impact on the outcomes and experiences of disadvantaged children, those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, those who are known (or previously known) to children's social care, and those who may face other barriers to their learning and/or wellbeing.

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About this inspection

The inspector spoke with leaders, practitioners, the special educational needs coordinator, 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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About this inspection

The inspection started on 3 December 2025. Inspectors returned on 4 March 2026 to gather additional evidence in line with Ofsted inspections and visits: Deferring, pausing and gathering additional evidence policy.

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Address:

Hare Hatch Village Hall Tag Lane, Hare Hatch Wargrave Berkshire RG10 9ST

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Address:

Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises

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Address:

Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 08:15 - 15:00

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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.

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Urgent improvement

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

You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

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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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