Leeds Montessori School & Day Nursery

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is inadequate

Leaders do not always work effectively with the local safeguarding partnership. This has an impact on vulnerable children's safety.

The new management team does not yet have adequate oversight of the nursery. It has not yet embedded processes for improving practice. This means that curriculum delivery is variable across the nursery.

For example, the quality of staff's interaction with children varies widely. That said, the new staff team is beginning to work effectively together. Staff are getting to know most of the children and families who they support.

Children arrive happy and enjoy their time at th...e nursery. They benefit from warm and trusting relationships with staff as they get to know each other. Children behave well.

They show that they feel happy and safe with staff. For example, staff acknowledge that babies prefer familiar adults to change their nappies or provide comfort. This means that the youngest children are usually very settled and quickly comforted if they become upset or unwell.

Children confidently explore the well-resourced environment. They quickly find something that interests them and are busy throughout the day.Staff help children to play safely.

Children learn to follow daily routines that help to keep them safe. For example, toddlers wait patiently for a member of staff to hold their hand to help them up the steps to the outdoor area. They become used to listening to staff and following what they say.

What does the early years setting do well and what does it need to do better?

There have been considerable changes in the nursery at all levels. The new leadership team is beginning to identify the improvements that need to be made. However, these are not yet having a full impact on the quality of the provision.

For example, staff know how to identify children who could be at risk of harm. They know how to contact safeguarding authorities if they are concerned about children's welfare. However, leaders have failed to follow the local safeguarding partnership's reporting procedures in the case of allegations being made against adults who work with children.

As a result, children are not fully safeguarded.Leaders have made sure that there is a qualified member of staff in each room. They have maintained useful daily routines.

This provides children with a sense of stability and continuity. Children are settled because they know what is going to happen next. Parents confirm the recent disruption to the smooth running of the nursery.

However, they report that they are beginning to see positive changes and a more stable staff team.Leaders have helped staff to create and follow an appropriate curriculum. There is considerable variation in staff's qualifications and experience.

However, children learn the basic skills they need to move on to the next stage in their learning. For example, babies use their spoons well. They have practised these physical skills with paintbrushes earlier in the day.

Older children begin to make firm links in their learning. For example, they discuss the size of their fruit with each other, referring to it as being 'just right'. They go on to relate this to the book 'Goldilocks and the Three Bears', and chat about what happened in the story.

Older children are ready for their move to school.Staff get to know children and their families so that they can meet children's basic needs. However, they have not yet used all available tools, such as the progress check at age two, to understand children's needs on a deeper level.

This means that it is not always clear when additional support could be useful for children.Older children access a well-resourced outdoor area regularly throughout the day. For example, they develop their strength and balance as they create stepping stones with the crates.

They pedal the bicycles and have races with their friends. Sometimes, children enjoy a story as they rest under the trees. However, the youngest children do not access the garden as often.

This does not fully meet their health and well-being.Staff help children to enjoy songs, stories and rhymes. They regularly practise five core songs and read five core books.

This is successfully implemented by all staff, who know which songs children are learning. This aids children's understanding and pronunciation of the vocabulary they are learning. Older children join in enthusiastically with well-known parts of a familiar book.

Children enjoy the healthy and home-cooked meals that meet their dietary requirements and preferences. They learn to prepare their fruit for snack and develop pleasant table manners.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are not effective.

There is not an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts children's interests first.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To meet the requirements of the early years foundation stage, the provider must: Due date ensure that lead practitioners liaise appropriately with the local safeguarding partnership and Ofsted in relation to allegations of harm being made against adults who work with children 24/11/2024 provide support, coaching, supervision and training for staff to promote children's individual learning needs.21/02/2025 To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: develop a deeper understanding of children's learning needs nimprove the youngest children's health and well-being further, for example, by increasing their access to outdoor play.

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