Fountain Montessori Preschool Edgware

Fountain Montessori Preschool Edgware
Unique reference number (URN): 2857352
Address: Edgware House, 389 Burnt Oak Broadway, Edgware, HA8 5TX
Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises
Registered with Ofsted: 13/08/2025
Registers: EYR, CCR, VCR
Registered person: Fountain Montessori Pre-School Limited
Inspection report: 12 August 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 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.
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.

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.
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.
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
Children arrive eager to take part and quickly settle with adults, who know them in depth.
Babies seek reassurance readily, toddlers explore confidently and older children sustain
warm friendships. Children feel safe, valued and fully included. Families' languages, cultures
and experiences contribute to everyday learning, helping children develop a secure sense of
identity and belonging.
Children enjoy a rich range of purposeful experiences. Babies choose accessible resources
and take increasing responsibility for feeding and washing their hands. Toddlers investigate
coloured ice and water outdoors. They squeeze pipettes, observe ice melting and use new
words such as 'freezing' and 'melt'. When children turn the investigation into pretend soup-
making, staff introduce the names of vegetables and help them transfer the mixture with
spoons and ladles. Children remain deeply engaged, test ideas and persevere. When toy
cars become wedged in bowls, children manoeuvre them in different ways until they solve
the problem.
Children in the pre-school room become confident communicators and storytellers. They
select dressing-up clothes, create imaginative characters and retell familiar stories to their
friends. Children listen attentively, respond to questions about characters' feelings and take
pride in leading the group. This develops language, comprehension and self-confidence in
readiness for school.
Children who face barriers to learning or wellbeing participate alongside their peers. Tailored
visual communication, specialist guidance, sensitive relationships and carefully adapted
resources enable them to communicate, move, eat, regulate emotions and engage with
increasing independence. Children make substantial progress from their starting points.
Children learn to care for one another. They share space and resources, comfort friends and
increasingly communicate what they need. Predictable routines, attentive supervision and
positive relationships help children thrive. Leaders promote regular attendance with families
so that children benefit fully from the setting's ambitious curriculum and form habits that
prepare them very well for their next stage.
Next steps
Leaders 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.

Inspector:
Anahita Aderianwalla
About this setting
Unique reference number (URN): 2857352
Address:
Edgware House
389 Burnt Oak Broadway
Edgware
HA8 5TX
Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises
Registration date: 13/08/2025
Registered person: Fountain Montessori Pre-School Limited
Register(s): EYR, CCR, VCR
Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 08:00 - 18:00
Local authority: Harrow
Facts and figures used on inspection
This data was available to the inspector at the time of the inspection.
This data is from 12 August 2026
About this inspection
The inspector spoke with the nominated individual, area manager, deputy manager, room
leaders, staff, the special educational needs coordinators, children 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.

Children numbers
Age range of children at the time of inspection
1 to 4
Total number of places
88
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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