A HARLOW pre-school has been highly praised by Ofsted.

The inspectors visited Smiles Montessori Pre-School in Bush Fair in December 2024.

The report states:

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children show that they are happy at the setting. They arrive ready and eager to
start their day. Older children meet the familiar staff at the door and go to join their
friends for breakfast or to play. Babies come into their room with their parents, who
help to settle them. Relationships between staff and children are warm and caring.
Throughout the day, babies and children seek support and actively involve staff in
their play. Children smile, laugh and frequently have expressions of deep
concentration. Staff are highly skilled at promoting children’s personal
development.

Older children easily articulate their feelings and enjoyment of the activities that
staff provide. Children are confident, especially in the presence of the adults that
they know well. Staff provide children with very clear guidance about how to
behave. They are positive role models, and this helps to ensure that children
understand what is expected of them.

Children are active in the local community. They enjoy going to the library and the
park. The setting has connections with local organisations such as care homes and
the church. Children enjoy charity events, where they raise money for good causes
that help others.

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

Staff plan a wide range of experiences for all children. They focus on supporting
children to gain a firm foundation of knowledge and skills across each area of
learning. Babies have a curriculum based on their needs and interests. Staff
support babies to explore and discover things for themselves. As babies find toys
that interest them, staff are ready to talk, introducing language, describing and
listening to babies’ words and sounds.

Staff promote children’s good health to ensure that they are healthy and have
good coordination and body strength. The curriculum covers essential aspects of
children’s development that help them to be able to make friends and work with
others.

Children have exceptional support to help them to be ready for school.
They develop their concentration and learn to be sensible and responsible. The
mealtime sessions show how well children behave and their high level of
independence and skill as they prepare the tables and serve their food. Children
embrace the experience and thoroughly enjoy the relaxed mealtimes.

Staff help all children to develop their communication skills, including children
who speak English as an additional language. They start with signing to support
speech. Staff use stories, rhymes and action songs to encourage children to hear
and use the words they know and learn. Children have lots of time looking at
books with staff. Children enjoy stories and use books to support their play and
learning.

The setting uses familiar and traditional stories to help children build
their knowledge and recall of events. This helps children to tell stories before
they can read.

Staff plan well for children’s learning using children’s interests and seasonal and
cultural events. They offer opportunities for children to build on what they
already know and can do. This helps all children to make good progress.
Children extend their knowledge of numbers, simple scientific concepts and the
world around them.

Occasionally, experiences are not precisely matched to
individual children’s immediate learning needs.

Parents speak positively about their experience and those of their children at the
setting. They appreciate the frequent communication from staff and the high
level of support available that is willingly offered. Parents recognise staff as
advocates for the children.

Leaders have very good oversight of the setting. They monitor staff practice
effectively to ensure the safety of children and that they receive the educational
opportunities they need. The setting arranges training to help staff build their
knowledge and keep up to date with current practice. Staff are well supported,
and their welfare and well-being are a priority. The setting reviews and reflects
on its practice. It takes steps to address concerns and put matters right. All staff,
including midday assistants and kitchen staff, have safeguarding and first-aid
training to ensure they can support the safe care of children.

Safeguarding
The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
There is an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts children’s
interests first.

What does the setting need to do to improve?
To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider
should:
support staff to precisely match experiences to children’s individual learning
needs to ensure they are always meaningful.