OakDin Montessori Kindergarten

Sandpaper letters, child-sized furniture and a baby garden reached through patio doors give OakDin Montessori Kindergarten its character. This Billericay setting combines hands-on learning with opportunities for children to choose activities and practise doing things for themselves. Its converted bungalow contains six classrooms, with a large garden extending the learning space outdoors.

At the 21 November 2025 inspection, Ofsted awarded Strong standard across achievement, behaviour and routines, welfare, curriculum and teaching, inclusion, and leadership, and confirmed that safeguarding standards were met. These are area judgements rather than an overall grade. The practical examples beneath them are useful: learning builds from sensory exploration towards more detailed understanding, while everyday tasks give children chances to develop independence.

OakDin has capacity for 26 children aged 1 month to 60 months. Full-day and sessional care sit alongside its Montessori approach.

Rooms and Ages

The Baby Room combines sensory exploration with an environment on one level: black-and-white visual elements, child-sized furniture for messy activities, cots and patio doors leading to a secluded garden. Babies can move between the room and their outdoor space by crawling or walking, so outdoor exploration belongs to their own environment rather than depending entirely on the main garden.

Across the bungalow, classrooms are organised around curriculum areas. The Mathematics room and Sensory room are named spaces, while a Quiet space offers a different setting from the activity areas. The arrangement gives the Montessori materials a physical context: children encounter different kinds of work in spaces designed around them.

Furniture and activities are within children's reach, allowing them to make choices during the work cycle. Teaching takes place individually or in small groups. That provides opportunities for a practitioner to work with a child on a particular activity while the broader approach leaves room for children to proceed at their own pace.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage supplies the framework for children's learning, development and care, connecting early communication, physical development and learning through everyday experiences. Montessori adds a concrete way of approaching that learning here: children handle materials, repeat activities and work towards greater independence. The curriculum description explains how those materials are used across different areas.

Language work includes sandpaper letters, which connect letter shapes with sounds, and metal insets, used to practise guiding a pencil around outlines. Mathematical ideas are explored through objects such as beads, rods and counters. Children can handle and compare quantities before working with more abstract concepts. The materials make the task tangible.

Practical Life exercises bring coordination, concentration and independence into daily activity. Sensorial materials also allow children to check their own work, reducing their dependence on an adult to tell them whether they have completed a task correctly. Creative work includes painting, movement, storytelling and music, providing other ways for children to express ideas alongside the structured materials.

In November 2025, autumn learning showed how activities changed with children's development: younger children explored leaves through their senses, while older children examined leaf structure. Sensory trays were positioned for standing children to practise balance, and recipes supplied opportunities to use quantities. These examples show how one topic can provide different challenges rather than expecting every child to complete the same task.

Optional French and computing are taught by visiting teachers twice a week. These add language and basic computer lessons to the Montessori activities, with participation optional rather than part of every child's programme.

Outdoor and Community Life

Outdoor play forms part of each session. The garden includes a Flower garden, Sensory garden area, Raised vegetable patch and Our mini-beast area. These give children several different outdoor settings to explore, beyond space for physical play, and connect the garden with sensory and cultural learning indoors.

Visits and trips take place through the year, alongside sports days and fundraising activities. In November 2025, children also visited local parks and gardens for physical challenges beyond the nursery. Family events at that time brought in Indian cooking, Italian songs and Diwali, connecting children's learning with experiences shared by parents.

Relationships and Communication

Each baby has a key worker and a daily diary covering food, milk, sleep and nappy changes, together with activities enjoyed and developmental milestones. That makes communication useful for managing the next part of the day at home, as well as following learning. Parents are encouraged to share preferences, habits and comforts so that care can reflect the individual baby.

Parents may stay during the first settling sessions and gradually step back as their baby becomes familiar with the setting. Free settling sessions are part of the offer. In November 2025, the youngest children's routines followed those used at home, and children turned to familiar adults when they needed comfort or reassurance.

Progress reports sit alongside the key worker system, with parents' evenings each term. Parents can also join activities such as cooking, creative work and stories. In November 2025, learning plans were shared ahead of activities, giving families opportunities to discuss topics at home before children encountered them at nursery.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At its November 2025 inspection, Ofsted found that personalised teaching and learning plans helped children with SEND overcome barriers, supported by early identification, regular reviews and cooperation between parents, staff and external professionals. For a family seeking additional support, the useful detail is that planning and communication worked together rather than support being confined to an isolated activity.

The next step in November 2025 was to sustain high standards and strengthen the impact of provision for disadvantaged children, children with SEND, those connected with children's social care and others facing barriers. This gives parents a specific area to explore when discussing how individual support is planned and reviewed.

Daily independence also extended to personal care in November 2025: children practised pouring water, cutting fruit and feeding themselves, alongside toothbrushing and handwashing. These were opportunities to rehearse useful skills within familiar routines. The current food offer includes four meals a day and snacks throughout the day.

Sessions and Attendance

OakDin is at 67 Perry Street, Billericay, CM12 0NA, and opens from 7am to 7pm, Monday to Friday. It offers both full-day care and sessional attendance. The opening window gives families a broad operating day; it should be distinguished from the particular session they book.

Care runs across the year, with Christmas Day and bank holidays excluded. Holiday clubs and out-of-term care also serve children aged 0 to 5, including children who do not otherwise attend OakDin. That creates another attendance option for families whose childcare needs change outside term time.

Enquiries can be made by telephone on 01277 633055 or by email to info@oakdinmontessori.co.uk. Enrolment uses a completed form, and admission follows a first-come, first-served rule. A place is confirmed after the completed form and non-refundable registration payment have been received and acknowledged.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered, including free funded hours for children aged 3 to 4 and participation in the Nursery Education Fund Scheme for children aged two, three and four. Private childcare is also offered. Families should obtain a current written quotation covering their chosen attendance arrangement.

French and computing are optional activities. The registration payment is non-refundable, so its terms matter before enrolment is completed.

• Choosing a session. Full-day and sessional care are both offered within the 7am to 7pm opening day. At a visit, ask which session pattern fits your intended days and how its funded hours, meals and consumables are treated in the written quotation.
• Baby Room routines. The daily diary covers milk, food, sleep and nappies, and parents can stay during early settling sessions. Discuss how your baby's familiar routine would fit the room's indoor and garden activities.
• Individual support. The November 2025 next step emphasised stronger impact for children facing barriers to learning. Ask how personalised plans are reviewed and how families contribute to the next goals.

OakDin suits families seeking either sessional attendance or full-day care who value hands-on Montessori learning and opportunities for children to become more independent. Sandpaper letters, self-checking materials and child-sized resources give that approach substance; the Baby Room's own garden gives younger children a separate outdoor setting.

The November 2025 area judgements provide a positive inspection position. The choice turns on how Montessori learning, baby care and the attendance pattern fit the family's routine.