Streatham Montessori Day Nursery

Inclusion: Strong standard

Leaders have established a highly inclusive culture where every child is recognised as an individual. Practitioners identify children's emerging needs promptly. They work collaboratively with parents and carers and external agencies to ensure that children receive timely and appropriate support. Practitioners adapt their teaching successfully so that children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and those who face barriers to learning can fully participate in the curriculum.

Children make excellent progress from their individual starting points through carefully planned strategies that are consistently implemented by knowledgeable staff. Through the implementation of different approaches, such as 'bucket time', Makaton, visual communication and speech and language programmes, children have significantly improved their communication, engagement and independence.

Well-planned transitions between the nursery rooms and into the school are highly effective. Leaders, practitioners and parents work well with external professionals to ensure children's individual needs are clearly understood. As a result, children with SEND move confidently and securely to their next stage of education.

Leaders support staff appropriately with training and work effectively with professionals to secure positive outcomes for children. Therefore, children with SEND are well prepared for their next stage of learning because support is implemented consistently and reviewed regularly. Families have confidence in leaders and practitioners. They recognise the positive difference the nursery makes to children's development and wellbeing.

Curriculum and teaching: Expected standard

Children benefit from a broad and well-balanced curriculum that supports their learning across all areas of the early years foundation stage. From the baby room onwards, they access a wide range of experiences that promote communication, physical development, early mathematics and creativity. Younger children explore sensory resources confidently while practitioners introduce language, count objects and use Makaton alongside spoken communication. Older children independently access mathematical resources and enjoy interactive story sessions throughout the day. They develop their understanding of the world throughout their learning and through the opportunities provided to them, such as the opportunity to grow vegetables.

Children are engaged in their learning and make progress from their individual starting points. Practitioners know children well and use regular discussions to identify their next steps and plan learning that reflects children's developmental needs. Positive interactions support children's curiosity and encourage them to explore, think and develop increasing independence, including during mealtimes and chosen play.

Teaching is generally effective in extending children's learning. However, the quality of interactions is not consistent across the nursery. On occasions, opportunities to build on children's interests and deepen their learning are not consistent. For instance, practitioners do not fully respond to children seeking interactions or extend their knowledge and ideas.

Achievement: Expected standard

Children typically make steady progress across all areas of learning and development. They learn through a range of play experiences and gain the knowledge and skills expected for their age. Children generally develop appropriate self-help and independence skills for their next stage in learning. For example, they use knives and forks at mealtimes, pour their own drinks and scrape their plates after finishing eating.

Most children make typical progress in their communication and language development. They benefit from a curriculum that supports the development of speaking and listening skills through everyday interaction, stories and planned activities. Effective communication programmes help practitioners identify children's language needs at an early stage, enabling targeted support so that most children make appropriate progress from their starting points. For example, children confidently engage in imaginative play, negotiating roles with their peers and using an increasingly wide range of vocabulary as they prepare and serve food in the role-play kitchen.

Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those facing barriers to learning generally receive tailored support through individual plans which are evaluated regularly, to help ensure they achieve well from their starting points.

Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines: Expected standard

Leaders have well-established routines and have created a positive environment. Children are generally happy, behave well and demonstrate positive attitudes towards learning. They typically display consideration for others. During yoga sessions, story time and outdoor play, children listen well, follow instructions and participate enthusiastically, showing good levels of engagement.

Children confidently interact with practitioners. When engaging in conversations, children recognise their emotions. For example, they describe their feeling of happiness when talking about their experiences in the nursery. Children wear capes, use dressing-up clothes and take part in imaginative play activities. They pretend to prepare food and cakes for their friends in the home corner and the outdoor area, negotiating roles and sharing resources as they play together.

Children form secure bonds with their key persons and other practitioners. Younger children explore the environment and return to trusted adults for reassurance when needed, developing increasing independence. Practitioners provide warm and consistent support that promotes children's emotional security and confidence. Children typically develop self-help skills which are transferred into the home environment. As a result, most children develop the confidence, resilience and social skills needed to engage successfully in learning and prepare them for their next stage in education.

Leaders have clear expectations for children's attendance and punctuality. They encourage parents and carers to communicate consistently and promptly when children are not able to attend or are going away on holidays.

Children's welfare and wellbeing: Expected standard

Children feel safe and secure in the nursery. Practitioners know children well and respond sensitively to their emotional and physical needs. Parents and carers consistently praise the quality of communication, particularly regarding their children's health, accidents and wellbeing.

Practitioners promote healthy lifestyles through nutritious meals, physical activity and encouraging independence and hygiene routines during mealtimes. Key persons support children, particularly those who require more support and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities. At arrival times, key staff greet and support children's separation from their parents by reading stories in a cosy area. In the baby room, key persons provide comfort to children that are not feeling well. Older children make choices about their food and follow hygiene routines, such as washing their hands before and after eating. At lunchtimes, children express their enjoyment of healthy foods by stating how much they love salad.

Children take part in activities that support their understanding of how to look after their teeth. For example, they clean black-painted plastic teeth using brushes. However, leaders acknowledge that oral health promotion is less consistently embedded. They have already identified this as an area for further development to support children's self-care skills further.

Leadership and governance: Expected standard

Leaders have established appropriate systems to support the effective running of the nursery. Practitioners receive supervision sessions, professional development and safeguarding training. They understand and implement policies and procedures consistently. Leaders accurately identify areas requiring further development, including strengthening the consistency of teaching interactions with children and embedding aspects of the healthy lifestyles and oral health curriculum. This demonstrates an appropriate capacity for continuous improvement.

Regular meetings take place to ensure practitioners have up-to-date knowledge and to evaluate children's developmental needs. Practitioners feel supported, and there is a culture of respect and teamwork where all practitioners feel confident to raise matters with leaders. Leaders acknowledge the need to make practitioners' interactions with children more consistent across the nursery, as some practitioners lack the subject knowledge to extend and support children's interests.

Leaders communicate well with families. They have created links with external professionals, such as speech and language therapists and local authority advisers. This ensures seamless transitions for children to other settings or schools.