BishopKen Montessori Nursery

BishopKen Montessori Nursery

Unique reference number (URN): 2817431 Address: St. Michaels Church, 95 Bishop Ken Road, Harrow, HA3 7HP Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises Registered with Ofsted: 13/11/2024 Registers: EYR Registered person: Siddiqui, Rizwana

p.1

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.

p.1

How we evaluate safeguarding

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

p.1

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.

p.1

Achievement Expected standard

Children generally make suitable progress from their starting points, including in their communication and language skills. Children who face barriers to learning, including those learning English as an additional language, increasingly understand simple instructions, repeat familiar words and communicate their choices. Younger children develop greater independence in toileting, following routines and playing alongside others.

p.2

Achievement Expected standard

Children develop early literacy, mathematical and physical skills. They make marks with chalk and crayons, name colours and complete puzzles that develop concentration and hand-eye coordination. As children pour sand through sieves, they explore quantity, texture and cause and effect. Some children count to 10, recognise familiar shapes and sort objects according to their features.

p.2

Achievement Expected standard

These achievements typically prepare children for their next stage of learning. Children learn to communicate their needs, manage aspects of their self-care, persist with tasks and participate in shared experiences.

p.2

Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard

Leaders have established generally understood expectations for behaviour. Staff model calm language, explain routines and praise children when they behave kindly or use good manners. Children feel secure with familiar adults and become increasingly confident when joining activities. Staff consider children's ages and stages of development and offer reassurance when children find it difficult to communicate or regulate their emotions.

p.2

Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard

Children generally cooperate and enjoy playing together. For example, they create ball games in the garden, take turns throwing and catching and encourage one another to continue. Staff calmly help children resolve minor disagreements and remind them to share resources. This approach supports positive relationships and encourages children to learn with others.

p.2

Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard

Leaders monitor attendance daily, record reasons for absence and contact families promptly when children do not arrive as expected. Flexible attendance arrangements help families use their funded entitlement, and children attend regularly.

p.2

Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Expected standard

Staff generally respond sensitively to children's individual needs. However, they do not consistently adapt established routines when children's needs or interests change, including during the settling-in period. Consequently, some children's engagement and sense of security are not fully supported.

p.2

Children's welfare and wellbeing Expected standard

Staff generally meet children's care needs and promote their health and wellbeing. Key staff gather detailed information before children start and offer flexible settling-in visits. Staff know children well, respond warmly when they need reassurance and help them recognise and manage their emotions. These secure relationships help children feel confident and ready to explore.

p.2

Children's welfare and wellbeing Expected standard

Staff help children understand personal safety. In the garden, staff show children how to use climbing and sliding equipment safely while allowing them to take suitable risks. Children enjoy fresh air each day and develop coordination, balance and strength through climbing, jumping and riding wheeled toys.

p.3

Children's welfare and wellbeing Expected standard

Staff supervise snack times closely and create a calm mealtime environment. Children sit with staff, use cutlery and pour water independently. Staff prepare fruit in pieces suitable for children's ages and remind them to chew and finish eating before leaving the table. Children wash their hands with soap and learn that this removes germs. Staff also teach children about oral hygiene and provide nutritious food. However, staff do not consistently explain how nutritious foods benefit children's bodies. This reduces children's understanding of why healthy choices matter.

p.3

Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Leaders provide a curriculum that covers the different areas of learning and generally builds on children's interests, starting points and stages of development. Staff give suitable priority to communication and language, physical development and personal, social and emotional development with reference to the ages of children attending. Planning provides an appropriate balance of adult-led experiences and child-initiated play.

p.3

Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Staff use observations and discussions about children's progress to decide what to teach next. During autumn activities, children explore and attach real leaves to make collages. Staff introduce the names of trees, such as sycamore, oak and silver birch, and explain how leaves change colour and fall. Children compare the leaves, repeat new vocabulary and connect the activity with seasonal changes they have noticed.

p.3

Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Staff generally model language, narrate play, repeat key words and give less-confident children time to respond. Leaders prioritise mathematics because they recognise that children need further support in this area. Staff generally weave mathematical ideas through routines and play, including counting, sorting, shape, size, capacity and positional language. They typically adapt experiences when children appear reluctant to participate. For example, staff add animal figures to sensory materials to sustain children's interest while retaining the intended learning.

p.3

Inclusion Expected standard

Leaders and staff generally identify emerging needs promptly. They observe children's communication, social interaction, physical development, concentration and responses to sensory experiences. Staff discuss concerns with parents and carers, monitor children's progress and seek advice from relevant professionals when necessary.

p.3

Inclusion Expected standard

Leaders and staff know how to use an appropriate approach to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities or other barriers to learning. Staff have supported children with autism by working with families, special educational needs coordinators from other nurseries, speech and language therapists, occupational therapists and their local authority. Staff use visual timetables, picture cards and short instructions to help children understand routines and progress from having no spoken language to communicating with single words.

p.3

Inclusion Expected standard

When children require additional help, leaders use available funding to provide individual support and suitable resources. Staff make reasonable adaptations, review the effectiveness of strategies and share relevant information with families and professionals. Training helps staff recognise possible developmental delays and understand how the progress check at age 2 informs early support.

p.4

Leadership and governance Expected standard

Leaders generally understand the provision's strengths and priorities for improvement. The nursery is currently operating with small numbers of children on roll and staff. Leaders have adjusted sessions and planning to respond more flexibly to families and make decisions that prioritise children's safety, care and learning.

p.4

Leadership and governance Expected standard

Staff say that leaders support their wellbeing. Termly supervision meetings enable staff to discuss concerns and workload. Staff meetings and peer observations help the small team reflect on practice. Leaders focus professional development on behaviour management, special educational needs and/or disabilities and child development. This training helps staff understand the development of 2-year-olds, support children's emotional regulation and recognise possible developmental delays. Staff understand how the progress check at age 2, and the approaches specific to children with learning delays, inform early support. Leaders recognise that more-frequent check-ins would help them monitor individual professional-development targets more closely.

p.4

Leadership and governance Expected standard

Leaders work with local schools, early years settings and specialist professionals to support continuity in children's care and learning. They maintain partnerships with parents and carers through daily conversations, secure messages and photos. Leaders use termly meetings and learning portfolios to keep families informed about children's progress. Staff also provide home-learning advice to help parents support children's language, enjoyment of stories, toileting and physical development.

p.4

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

Children receive a warm welcome and typically enter the nursery confidently. Children build secure relationships with familiar staff, who understand their routines, interests and ways of communicating. Children enjoy familiar songs, choose books and recall parts of stories as they turn the pages. These experiences strengthen children's sense of belonging and encourage them to communicate with adults and other children.

p.5

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

Children play indoors and outdoors each day. Children explore practical resources, make choices and repeat activities to develop confidence. Children respond positively when staff praise their efforts and reassure them during unfamiliar tasks. Children who are learning English participate and express their needs because staff use gestures, familiar words from their home languages and appropriate waiting time.

p.5

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

Children develop their physical skills and confidence in the small garden. Children learn to use equipment safely because staff offer gentle reminders and explain how to make safer choices. Children pedal wheeled toys while staff model movements and introduce positional words, such as 'left', 'right', 'forwards' and 'backwards'. Children listen carefully, persevere and practise until they gain greater coordination and control. Children explore cause and effect as sand moves through a wheel and staff introduce words such as 'slow' and 'fast'. Children also develop sharing, turn-taking and hand–eye coordination through ball games.

p.5

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

Children generally behave well, share resources, take turns and follow simple instructions. Children show that they enjoy attending and often talk about the nursery at home. Children benefit from leaders' monitoring of attendance and flexible sessions, which help families use their funded hours. Children experience continuity between home and the nursery because parents and carers share information about their routines, interests and home languages. Children generally make suitable progress from their starting points.

p.5

Next steps

Leaders should support staff to adapt routines to children's changing needs and interests, to help them remain more consistently settled and engaged in learning. Leaders should ensure that staff use mealtimes to explain how nutritious food supports children's health, helping them understand why healthy choices matter. Leaders should use supervision and support staff more effectively to access targeted professional development matched to their individual needs, to strengthen the quality and consistency of practice further.

p.5

About this inspection

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

p.5

Address:

St. Michaels Church 95 Bishop Ken Road Harrow HA3 7HP

p.6

Address:

Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises

p.6

Address:

Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 08:30 - 15:30

p.6

Facts and figures used on inspection

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

p.6

2 to 2

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.

p.6

Exceptional

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

p.7

Strong standard

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

p.7

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.

p.7

Needs attention

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

p.7

Urgent improvement

The setting needs to make urgent improvements to provide the expected standard of education and/or care.

p.7

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.

p.7

Urgent improvement

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

p.7

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 . Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.7

Urgent improvement

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

p.8