Montessori Children's House

I have 4 children who've attended this Montessori school. I did NNEB training at college and always loved the Montessori way of teaching. Hence, this was the early schooling I wanted for my children. I viewed a couple of nursery's, but I loved the size and warmness of Montessori Children’s House in Sutton. All of my children were so happy here. They thrived and it gave them the best start for school and life. If I had another child, I wouldn't hesitate to send them here. All the staff are so caring.

My 3 year old son was at this school five months only. Communication between teachers especially Head Teacher is very poor. If you email her you will not receive an answer. This is not AMI Montessori and they use their own methods of teaching. e.g "thinking chair" if child misbehaving he has to sit on the chair and count or look at sand watch for 2-3min. I was told by Head Teacher to punish my son at home e.g. by not giving him his favourite toy or food, do not go to the library or do not allow to watch cartoons if he misbehaved at school. The method of fear was used by Head Teacher for my son that resulted in injury (first aid not provided) and no explanation was given to me to this day. Furniture was not secured properly and large shelving unit display fell on the floor when my son pushed it. I asked to observe my son in the class and was refused without reasoning. None of those methods relates to Maria Montessori philosophy, therefore, my son stopped attending this school.

My daughter has been at this nursery for nearly 2 years now and we couldn't be happier. She loves going and has built a strong relationship with all teachers and solid friendships with the children. The setting is peaceful, bright and spacious and has an enclosed garden at the back. They have plenty of learning materials all neatly organised on lower shelves, and divided by activity - which gives the children the chance to independently choose what they wish to do, play and then tidy up after. Independence is a key skill that they children get to develop at this nursery. The teachers are all very caring and well prepared in the Montessori curriculum, and they always go the extra mile to support the children. There is a yoga class weekly (beautifully designed with poses and other sensory experiences - touch, test etc) and weekly baking. It's a mixed-age nursery which gives younger children the possibility to look up at older children and learning from them, as well as for the older children to be role models for the younger ones. A wide range of activities is always available for the children to choose from and teachers support the children based on their choices. Being in her second year, my daughter is now more interested in reading, writing and maths and this is all wonderfully supported by the teachers, leading to some very good results.The nursery loves to involve families in the children' journeys and there are lots of activities organised in this sense: sports days, stay and play sessions, parents coming in to demonstrate on specific topics, Christmas and summer get-together etc. It's been very common in these 2 years hearing my daughter discussing with a wealth of details volcanoes, planets, life cycles of frogs, chickens etc. - all topics discussed at group time where the teachers don't only explain things but are able to encourage children curiosity. When the children leave the nursery (after a beautiful farewell ceremony), they are very well prepared to start the primary school journey.