kidsUniverse Montessori & Day Nursery (Harrow)

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children are happy to attend this well-maintained nursery, where they have access to a wide range of resources and toys to support their learning. Managers carefully consider the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on children and families. They recognise that some children had spent large amounts of time with only close relatives during lockdowns.

They use this knowledge to implement effective settling-in arrangements for children. This means children who are new to the nursery, settle quickly and feel secure. They receive comfort and reassurance from friendly staff, who know their key children well, and who have high expectations... for what they want children to learn while in their care.

Children identify themselves and their families in photos that staff mount on the nursery walls. They are encouraged to bring in toys and objects from home to 'show and tell' with their friends. This helps children to develop a positive sense of self as they talk proudly to their peers about their lives outside of nursery.

Children's behaviour is good. Staff have embedded routines and rules that keep children safe and prepare them for their next stage of learning, including school.

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

Staff communicate regularly with parents about their children's interests, and use this information to provide activities that children are excited to engage in.

For example, children excitedly tell their peers about animals they have seen on a recent trip to a farm, while playing with farmyard toys. Staff skilfully extend this activity by introducing mathematical concepts about the size of the animals compared to others. However, during some larger group activities, children who are quieter than their more confident peers do not always receive the full benefit of the planned activities.

Staff plan exciting activities for children to engage in. This leads to children being excited to learn and develop their skills in all areas of their development. For example, children enthusiastically cut and squeeze oranges and lemons using different kitchen utensils to make juice, and then use new vocabulary to describe the taste.

However, some staff are unclear about the intended learning outcomes from activities. This means that some gaps in children's learning may be overlooked.Children are learning how to keep themselves safe while taking age-appropriate risks.

Pre-school children are supported to build an assault course and then are supervised by staff while they negotiate it by carefully walking across raised planks over shallow water and jumping between boxes. This also supports children's good physical development by allowing them to develop and practise their gross-motor skills.Meal and snack times are social occasions, where children also benefit from a menu of healthy and nutritious food to support their good health.

Older children are supported to develop their independence skills as they help to serve food to their peers and pour their own drinks, while attentive staff use opportunities to model new language and engage in conversation with the children. Babies are supported to have a go at feeding themselves with age-appropriate cutlery.Managers and leaders have a clear oversight of the quality of care being provided to children.

Staff receive regular supervision and have detailed arrangements in place to ensure that they are equipped with the necessary skills to fulfil their role. Staff talk positively about their recent training to support childrenwho speak English as an additional language and the positive impact it has had on their practice. As a result, children whose first language is not English are developing good communication skills and have opportunities to share their home language with staff and peers.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.Staff know how to keep children safe at the nursery. The manager ensures that staff are deployed effectively, so that children are supervised in their play.

Staff conduct risk assessments regularly to identify and minimise risks to children in the nursery environment. In addition, staff know the signs to look out for if a child is experiencing abuse or neglect, as well as the procedures to follow should they become concerned about a child's welfare.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: strengthen the organisation of activities to further support children who are quieter or less confident to get the most from planned activities nimprove systems for coaching staff to further improve their knowledge and understanding of how to plan and implement challenging activities based on children's next steps in learning.