Barnes Montessori Nursery

Barnes Montessori Nursery
Unique reference number (URN): 511421
Address: c/o Barnes Sports Club, 261 Lonsdale Road, LONDON, SW13 9QL
Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises
Registered with Ofsted: 25/02/1993
Registers: EYR, CCR, VCR
Registered person: True, Anne-Marie Elena Kathleen Blanco
Inspection report: 6 February 2026
Exceptional
Strong standard
Expected standard
Needs attention
Urgent improvement
Safeguarding standards met
The safeguarding standards are met. This means that leaders and/or those responsible for
governance and oversight fulfil their specific responsibilities and have established an open
culture in which safeguarding is everyone's responsibility and concerns are actively
identified, acted upon and managed. As a result, children are made safer and feel safe.
How we evaluate safeguarding
When we inspect settings for safeguarding, they can have the following outcomes:
Met: The setting has an open and positive culture of safeguarding.
Not met: The setting has not created an open and positive culture of safeguarding. Not all
legal requirements are met.

Strong standard
Achievement Strong standard
Children articulate incredibly well with their friends, staff and visitors to the setting. They
excitedly talk about what they are learning with others. Staff fully understand the importance
of smooth transitions and provide children with regular opportunities to visit different
classrooms and work with other teachers. This supports them with developing their
confidence and independence and prepares them well for their next stages in learning.
Children are fully prepared as they transition to school, in particular within the main areas of
communication and language and confidence. They demonstrate they can organise their
belongings, dress themselves and show high levels of small-muscle control as they dig in
the outdoor mud kitchen, trace letters in sand and manipulate play dough with cutters.
The extremely effective assessment procedures in place and rigorous monitoring of
children's progress ensures that all children, including children from disadvantaged
backgrounds and children with special educational needs and or/disabilities, make
noticeable progress from their starting points.
Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard
Children demonstrate high levels of concentration as they self-select the resources they
want to engage with. They fully understand the routines and transition easily, changing their
shoes as they move from outdoor to indoor activities. They demonstrate they understand the
importance of sharing and turn-taking and know they can use their trusted adults to support
them with any difficulties they may encounter. Staff understand children's individual needs
and use purposeful group interventions to support children's social skills. The warmth and
nurture shown to children by staff allows for the calm atmosphere that radiates across the
setting.
Staff support children's individual needs and strive to ensure that they always feel valued
and gain increasing confidence and understanding in socially acceptable ways to behave.
For example, they use visuals to ensure that children are clear on what is happening 'now'
and 'next' and pictures and words to support children in communicating their different wants
and needs succinctly. Children enjoy the clear structures in place and demonstrate they feel
valued and have a sense of belonging.
Leaders work closely with families and are fully flexible to accommodate changing needs.
The structure of their offering ensures that children attend regularly, and they work with
families to ensure that they fully understand the importance of punctuality to support
children's wellbeing.
Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard
Staff model breathing techniques through yoga and talking calmly to children and offer them
regular movement breaks to support them with regulating their emotions. Children with

special educational needs and/or disabilities respond incredibly well to the consistency in
the way the staff respond to their changing needs. Children understand the importance of
keeping themselves safe. They have regular fire evacuation practices and know to hold on
to the rope and stay together when on trips out.
Children understand the importance of a healthy diet, and parents comment on their wealth
of knowledge of the importance of the different food groups as part of a healthy lifestyle.
Children have opportunities to tend to their outdoor garden, understanding where food
comes from and enjoying the independence of peeling and chopping fruits for snack time.
Staff work closely with families to ensure that all allergens are identified to ensure safety
while eating at the setting. Staff actively engage children in physical activities and have calm
quiet sessions to allow them time to rest. The strong attachments between children and staff
are clearly evidenced as children excitedly enter the nursery in the morning and in the high
levels of enjoyment they show as they receive staff's constant praise.
Curriculum and teaching Strong standard
Staff show passion for continuous improvement in their curriculum offering. Their
observations allow them to build a curriculum that encompasses all areas of the early years
foundation stage curriculum and builds upon children's chosen interests. For example, staff
teach children about different countries of the world and about shapes, patterns and lines.
Children practise the skills of colour mixing and study different artists, such as Mondrian,
Kandinsky and Kusama. They skilfully adapt their teaching styles with individual children in
mind so that all children, including children with special educational needs and/or
disabilities, can always fully access the curriculum offering.
Staff design a curriculum that helps children learn about the concept of time as they enjoy
celebrating their 'Birthday Walks' and reflecting on their time on earth from when they were
babies to the current day. Staff celebrate their achievements through photos, and children
reflect on their family experiences to date.
Children enjoy discussing what they are learning with their friends and staff as they problem-
solve. Staff are on hand to offer support as needed as children collaboratively solve jigsaw
puzzles and carefully pour water into funnels and small china cups to secure their
understanding of capacity. Staff support them with their careful questioning, allowing
children opportunities to verbalise their thinking.
Children develop their large-muscle skills through the many opportunities they have to
practise stretching, jumping, running and balancing during their dance and yoga sessions
and in the vast outdoor offering.
Inclusion Strong standard
Children are at the heart of the planning that takes place at the setting. The curriculum is
carefully designed to meet the needs of all children regardless of background or additional
needs. Staff plan in the moment and around children's chosen play and ensure that children
are getting the most from the curriculum offering. Their thorough assessment and reporting
procedures allow them to set personalised targets for children. Staff meet regularly to

discuss children's progress and, in turn, assess the impact of their own teaching on
children's learning.
Staff work closely with children's families and external agencies to ensure that plans are in
place for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and children who speak
English as an additional language. The setting invests in their own speech and language
therapist and occupational therapist to further support children with language delay and
children who are struggling with their physical development. One-to-one interventions are in
place for individual children, and staff talk confidently about the hugely positive impact this is
having on children's learning and development. Staff place great emphasis on supporting
children to regulate their emotions and share strategies with families to ensure that there is
joined-up learning and continuity for children, so they navigate their changing emotions.
Leadership and governance Strong standard
Leaders continually reflect and evaluate their offering and demonstrate the importance of
'lifelong learning' to ensure continuous improvement. They highly value each and every
member of the team, and they are incredibly proud of their collaborative practice that places
children at the centre of everything they do. The wellbeing of staff is of high priority, and staff
receive regular opportunities to engage in team-building events to ensure that there is
always a high level of morale among staff. The decisions that leaders make in their staffing
arrangements and how they allocate any additional funding ensures that all staff are
supported well to achieve manageable workloads. Staff have a regular opportunity to
engage in professional training to obtain early years accreditations, and the in-house weekly
staff meetings provide staff with opportunities to feed back from courses and share their
skills and experience.
Leaders are fully aware of their strengths and areas of improvement and use a range of
professionals to support them in their process of evaluating their offering. Children with
special educational needs and/or disabilities have high-quality support from external
professionals alongside the carefully designed interventions delivered by staff. Leaders are
fully involved in every child's learning and show passion for high standards and in supporting
children to achieve the best possible outcomes.

Compulsory Childcare Register requirements
This setting has met the requirements of the compulsory part of the Childcare Register.
How we check if a provider meets the requirements of the Compulsory Childcare
Register
When we check if settings meet the Compulsory Childcare Register requirements, they can
have the following outcomes:
Met
Not met
Voluntary Childcare Register requirements
This setting has met the requirements of the voluntary part of Childcare Register.
How we check if a provider meets the requirements of the Voluntary Childcare
Register
When we check if settings meet the Voluntary Childcare Register requirements, they can
have the following outcomes:
Met
Not met
What it's like to be a child at this setting
The highly experienced staff team plans an exciting and stimulating curriculum that instils
confidence and independence in children. The gradual settling-in process, which begins with
a home visit, allows staff to form strong positive relationships with children and their families
from the moment they start at the setting. All staff know children well and understand each
child's individual needs. They offer them high levels of nurture, enabling them to feel safe
and secure in their care.

Inspector:
Penny Harman
About this setting
Unique reference number (URN): 511421
Children understand the clear routines that are in place and the high expectations that staff
have for their behaviour. As a result, children play harmoniously alongside their friends,
showing high levels of respect for each other. Staff clearly explain the importance of being
patient and waiting for their turn when a focused activity may be too busy for them to join.
Children respond well to their teachers' requests and return when there is space available
for them to join. This demonstrates children's understanding of these key social skills.
Children enjoy all the opportunities they have for developing their communication and
language skills. They use complex sentences and engage in two-way conversations with
staff as they excitedly share their 'family books'. Children show high levels of focus and
engagement as they join in with repeated refrains and select props and respond to
questions as staff enthusiastically share the familiar story of 'Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What
Do You See?' Staff expertly build on children's own spoken words to further extend and build
on their vocabulary.
Next steps
Leaders and those responsible for governance should sustain their work to ensure
continued improvement and high standards. They should focus on creating a
transformational impact on the outcomes and experiences of disadvantaged children,
those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, those who are known (or
previously known) to children's social care, and those who may face other barriers to their
learning and/or wellbeing.
About this inspection
The inspector spoke with the children, staff and parents during the inspection.
We carried out this inspection under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 on the
quality and standards of provision that is registered on the Early Years Register. The
registered person must ensure that this provision complies with the statutory framework for
children's learning, development and care, known as the early years foundation stage.

Address:
c/o Barnes Sports Club
261 Lonsdale Road
LONDON
SW13 9QL
Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises
Registration date: 25/02/1993
Registered person: True, Anne-Marie Elena Kathleen Blanco
Register(s): EYR, CCR, VCR
Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 09:00 - 15:00
Local authority: Richmond Upon Thames
Facts and figures used on inspection
This data was available to the inspector at the time of the inspection.
This data is from 6 February 2026
Children numbers
Age range of children at the time of inspection
2 to 4
Total number of places
50
Our grades explained
Exceptional
Practice is exceptional: of the highest standard nationally. Other settings can learn from it.
Strong standard

The setting reaches a strong standard. Leaders are working above the standard expected of
them.
Expected standard
The setting is fulfilling the expected standard of education and/or care. This means they are
following the standard set out in statutory and non ‑ statutory legislation and the professional
standards expected of them.
Needs attention
The expected standards are not met but leaders are likely able to make the necessary
improvements.
Urgent improvement
The setting needs to make urgent improvements to provide the expected standard of
education and/or care.
The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) inspects
services providing education and skills for children and learners of all ages, and inspects
and regulates services that care for children and young people.
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