Fountain Montessori Preschool Edgware

Inclusion: Strong standard

Inclusion is woven through every aspect of the provision, including teaching, care routines, transitions and outdoor learning. Leaders identify children's emerging and changing needs quickly and accurately. Home visits, starting-point information, half-termly reviews and regular assessments help staff recognise barriers across learning, development, health and wellbeing. All senior leaders are trained in special educational needs coordinator responsibilities and identify the precise support children need and regularly review how well the agreed adaptations are working.

Leaders work purposefully with speech and language therapists, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, health professionals and advisory teachers in the area and neighbouring authorities. This coordinated expertise enables children with complex medical, mobility, hearing and communication needs to make demonstrable gains in communication, movement, independence and participation.

Staff go beyond routine expectations by researching children's specific conditions and requesting relevant specialist training. They share professional guidance across the team and translate it within precise daily practice. Staff skilfully adjust language, sensory demands, routines and equipment. Visual supports, sign-supported communication, quiet spaces and tailored feeding arrangements remove barriers without lowering expectations.

Leaders use early years pupil premium and disability access funding for focused training and resources, monitoring the impact on children's engagement, regulation and learning. Leaders have clear systems for early help and multi-agency support should needs emerge. Their embedded practice improves experiences for disadvantaged children, children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and others facing barriers.

Curriculum and teaching: Strong standard

Leaders provide an inclusive, ambitious curriculum of consistently high quality. It sets out what children should know and be able to do across all areas of learning and sequences this from babies' prime-area foundations to older children's increasing independence and readiness for school. Staff use home visits, observations and parents' knowledge to identify what children know, then plan teaching that builds securely on these starting points.

Highly effective interactions are embedded throughout the day. Staff treat every exchange as an opportunity for teaching and adapt skilfully in the moment. With babies, staff use duck pictures and counting songs to connect quantities from 1 to 5 with words and images. They link books about bubbles to practical exploration with soapy water and bubble wands. Through modelling and narration, children learn the meaning of 'pop', 'big', 'small' and 'blow' while exploring cause and effect.

In sand play, older children use brushes, letter pebbles and word cards to develop purposeful marks, recognise letter sounds and explore simple words. Staff provide a smaller sand area for older children who find the main sandpit overwhelming, maintaining the same learning ambition. During dough play, staff teach shape names and properties, including edges, lines and corners. Staff balance purposeful teaching with play, repetition and practice. They respond to children's curiosity, check understanding and build skilfully on what children already know, enabling them to excel from their starting points.

Achievement: Strong standard

Children secure breadth and depth in knowledge and skills across all 7 areas of learning. Babies strengthen balance and coordination as they climb into and out of the sandpit. Action songs help them recall movements and respond confidently. Toddlers learn directional language while pedalling bicycles and improve coordination as they fill, carry and empty containers along the water track.

Older children confidently retell familiar stories to their friends. They hold books carefully, turn pages in sequence and use pictures to recall events and describe characters' feelings. Other children listen attentively, contribute ideas and wait for their turn. This develops narrative skills, comprehension, confidence and enjoyment of books.

Children make substantial progress from their starting points, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those learning English alongside home languages. They communicate confidently. Their curiosity, attention, resilience and independence prepare them very well for transitions between rooms and on to school.

Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines: Strong standard

Leaders have embedded a harmonious and respectful culture. Staff teach high expectations through consistent modelling, clear language and familiar routines. Babies recognise photograph-labelled cups and collect their own drinks. Toddlers pass cups to friends and help clear tables. Older children pour drinks and help prepare activities. These embedded routines teach independence, cooperation and responsibility from the outset.

Relationships are warm and trusting. Staff use stories, emotion boards and self-regulation spaces to help children recognise feelings, seek support and return to play. Visual turn-taking cards, short phrases and additional processing time make expectations accessible. Staff maintain high expectations while adapting support to children's developmental, communication and sensory needs. Children increasingly wait, share, cooperate and treat others with kindness.

Children display consistently highly positive attitudes to learning. During weekly show-and-tell, older children discuss family photographs, recall experiences, listen to friends and wait to contribute. Staff give quieter children time and value every response, developing their confidence, attention and ability to take part in conversations.

Leaders promote punctuality and regular attendance. Staff check unexplained absences promptly, monitor patterns and work constructively with families to remove barriers. They consider health, transport and family circumstances and involve the local authority when appropriate. This decisive approach helps children establish positive routines and benefit fully from learning.

Children's welfare and wellbeing: Strong standard

Leaders consistently prioritise children's welfare and wellbeing. They review care procedures and use information from parents, carers and professionals to ensure staff understand children's medical, dietary, feeding, sleep and personal care needs. Staff adapt care so children with allergies, disabilities or feeding needs participate safely alongside their peers.

Embedded routines build lasting habits from the baby room to pre-school. Babies finger-feed, practise using spoons, wipe their faces and use a mobile handwashing station independently. Toddlers use open cups, manage cutlery and help clear away. Pre-school children pour drinks, clean spills and complete hygiene routines with minimal support. Staff model and repeat each sequence, reducing help as children's competence increases. Children become highly independent and confident in self-care.

Staff sit facing children during meals and monitor mouthful size, chewing and swallowing. They prepare food in suitable sizes and textures and teach how nutritious choices support energy, growth and healthy bodies. Visiting dental professionals reinforce oral-health teaching. Babies and children recognise thirst, select water and make healthy choices.

Safer sleeping practice is rigorous. Staff keep cots clear, position babies safely and remain present throughout sleep. Camera monitoring provides additional oversight. Staff monitor breathing, temperature and comfort and adapt sleep routines with families. These responsive practices promote secure attachments and emotional wellbeing, enabling children to feel safe and ready to learn.

Leadership and governance: Strong standard

Leaders use detailed and perceptive analysis to understand the provision and respond adaptively to changing needs. Senior leaders provide highly effective support and challenge. Rigorous 6 week internal reviews of teaching, room observations, progress reviews and parental feedback help leaders evaluate the impact of the curriculum and care. This maintains a consistent focus on securing high-quality education and care for all children.

Leaders have embedded high expectations and professionalism. Structured induction, probation observations, supervision, peer review, coaching and learning walks ensure practice remains highly effective. Targeted professional learning makes staff's interactions purposeful and responsive, enabling children to communicate confidently, participate fully and develop secure habits. The established staff team independently research approaches, request relevant courses and share expertise across rooms. This culture of continuous improvement makes a significant difference to children's education and care.

Leaders consider staff workload and wellbeing. Their open-door approach provides timely guidance, while purposeful feedback helps staff refine their practice. Staff feel valued and confident to discuss concerns. Robust recruitment and safeguarding induction ensure suitable adults care for children.

Leaders establish highly effective partnerships with parents and carers. Families exchange information regularly and receive practical guidance through meetings, workshops and coffee mornings. This supports continuity in children's learning and care. Parents describe very close and trusting relationships with staff. They value the highly responsive communication and report substantial improvements in their children's confidence, communication and independence.

Leaders coordinate specialist support and work with local schools to prepare children confidently for their next stage. Community visits, cooking, nature walks and charitable events connect learning to everyday life and deepen children's understanding of the wider community.