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The Children's House Montessori School

Inspection report for early years provision

Unique Reference Number: 144325
Inspection date: 09/11/2011
Inspector: Marilyn Joyg

Setting Address:
Hanham Road, Corfe Mullen, Wimborne, Dorset, BH21 3PX
Telephone number: 01202 690800

E-mail: helensutcliffe@btinternet.com
Registered person: Helen Sutcliffe & Michael Sutcliffe
Type of Setting: Childcare - Non-Domestic
Type of inspection: Integrated
Type of care: Full day care

Introduction

This inspection was carried out by Ofsted under Sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 on the quality and standards of the registered early years provision. ‘Early years provision’ refers to provision regulated by Ofsted for children from birth to 31 August following their fifth birthday (the early years age group). The registered person must ensure that this provision complies with the statutory framework for children’s learning, development and welfare, known as the Early Years Foundation Stage.

The provider must provide a copy of this report to all parents with children at the setting where reasonably practicable. The provider must provide a copy of the report to any other person who asks for one, but may charge a fee for this service (The Childcare (Inspection) Regulations 2008 regulations 9 and 10).

The setting also makes provision for children older than the early years age group which is registered on the voluntary and/or compulsory part(s) of the Childcare Register. This report does not include an evaluation of that provision, but a comment about compliance with the requirements of the Childcare Register is included in Annex B.

Please see our website for more information about each childcare provider. We publish inspection reports, conditions of registration and details of complaints we receive where we or the provider take action to meet the requirements of registration

Description of the setting

The Children's House Montessori School is privately owned and opened in 1996. It operates from premises in the grounds of Rushcombe County First School, Corfe Mullen. The accommodation is divided over three rooms in a single storey building, with access to toilet and kitchen facilities. There is an enclosed outdoor play area. The setting is registered on the Early Years Register and both parts of the Childcare Register for a maximum of 40 children aged from two years. There are currently 97children in the early years age group on roll. The setting is open Monday to Friday for 48 weeks of the year, from 8.30am until 6pm. They are registered to receive funding for the provison of free nursery education for children aged three and four years. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities attend. The setting employs eight members of staff, of whom seven hold an early years qualification, and one who is working towards a relevant qualification.

The overall effectiveness of the early years provision

Overall the quality of the provision is good.

An extremely warm and welcoming and overall, well organised environment is offered where outcomes for children are excellent in many areas. They benefit from the dedication and commitment of an effective staff team who know them well and effectively respond to their individual needs. High expectations and appropriately rigorous monitoring contribute towards continual improvement and identification of most areas for further development. Highly effective partnerships with parents provide secure foundations from which children gain confidence and make good progress overall in their learning and development.

What steps need to be taken to improve provision further?

To further improve the early years provision the registered person should:

The effectiveness of leadership and management of the early years provision

Excellent arrangements are in place to safeguard children's welfare and protect them from harm. Staff have an extremely thorough understanding of child protection issues and know what to do if they have concerns about a child in their care. Robust recruitment and employment procedures ensure staff have a secure understanding of their role and responsibilities. Highly effective policies and procedures are implemented consistently and rigorously to ensure sessions run smoothly. Significant emphasis is given to maintaining the safety and security of the premises and helping children to understand how to stay safe. All the required documentation is in place and well-organised, which means staff have all the information they need to help them meet children's individual needs.

Enthusiastic leadership inspires a strong commitment towards meeting the high standards the setting sets itself. Thorough and varied self-evaluation processes engage the views of staff, parents and children. Areas for further development are highlighted and an action plan for improvement implemented. All the recommendations raised at the last inspection have been fully met. Overall the setting is organised well to provide an exciting, vibrant and stimulating environment. Excellent displays of children's work decorate the walls and ceilings to provide an inviting environment that values their efforts. Children are divided into two groups and the daily timetable is arranged so that they rotate between the two playrooms and the outdoor area throughout the day. An additional quiet room is available, however, it is under used particularly when the garden is not in use and the numbers of children are high. Children's awareness of equality and diversity is effectively and actively promoted. Staff are highly effective in ensuring that all children are well integrated and they have an exceptional knowledge of each child's backgrounds and needs.

Exemplary partnerships are developed with parents and are reflected in children's confidence in the setting. Parents are extremely well-informed about all aspects of their child's care and learning through an extensive range of written and verbal communications with staff. Parents comment on how extremely happy they are and how much their children like attending. They appreciate the feedback they receive and the exceptionally positive relationships with staff. Partnerships with other agencies are well-established. They make a strong contribution to supporting children's achievement and individual needs so that children can participate fully in the life of the setting.

The quality and standards of the early years provision and outcomes for children

Children are well-motivated and independent learners who flourish in an environment where they are positively encouraged and excellent relationships develop. Interesting themes broaden their learning and are reflected in excellent displays. Practical experiences help them to learn about the world around them and begin to understand how things work. They find out about lifecycles when growing plants and observing caterpillars as they mature and turn into butterflies. They explore natural materials on the interest table and experiment with soil and sand in the garden. They build with wooden blocks and create elaborate constructions which require concentration and precision to balance different shapes and sizes together. Children carefully select a tray and learn how to carefully transfer rice from one container to another and other children brush up leaves in the garden. Hand-eye coordination and physical skills develop extremely well as children gain increasing control over their bodies and manage tasks for themselves.

Children have excellent opportunities to gain confidence and independence as they decide what they want to do and help themselves to equipment from the shelves in the playroom. At circle time staff show children photos of the different toys available and they take turns to choose what they would like set out when they change rooms. Some choose the dressing-up clothes and excitedly try on different outfits while other choose the dolls house figures. Children demonstrate an extremely strong sense of security and of feeling safe within the setting. They show an excellent understanding of standards of behaviour and benefit from the frequent praise and encouragement they receive. Children are extremely confident and competent in communicating their thoughts and show a mature response to taking responsibility about their own and other's safety. For example, they explain what they have to do if there is an emergency and that they have to make sure nothing is in front of the fire exits so they can go outside.

Children experience a broad range of activities which helps them to make good progress in all areas of their learning. Planning is extremely effective because it focuses on children's interests, as well as, thorough and accurate observations of their achievements. Each child has their own learning journal which provides a colourful record of their time at the setting with photos and examples of their work. Staff know the children extremely well and have high expectations for them which is clearly reflected in their interactions. Children's language, understanding and numeracy skills are routinely and effectively promoted through relaxed conversations, as well as planned activities. They create pictures when matching complex shapes and colour, sing the days of the week in French and talk about a recent Autumn walk. Many recognise familiar words, such as their names, and attempt to write them. Staff skilfully support activities as they guide and extend learning. Children benefit from staff involvement in their play.

A healthy lifestyle is promoted extremely well through very effective support from staff. Children demonstrate an excellent understanding of the importance of healthy eating, good personal hygiene habits and regular exercise. They enthusiastically join in with warm-up exercises before physical activity. They talk about their heart beating faster and feeling warm. They smile and laugh as they jump up and down pretending to be monkeys jumping on the bed. The garden is used daily and the area is being developed well. However, additional resources are not always routinely set out to inspire imaginations or extend children's ideas, for example, in the role-play area. Children enthusiastically engage in games with balls and hoops where they match and sort colours before attempting to throw accurately into the net. Children benefit from staff involvement in their play and are extremely happy and settled.

The Children's House Nursery Group
Office: 26 Briggs House, 26 Commercial Road, Parkstone, Poole, Dorset, BH14 0JR - Tel: 01202 716457