Kings Castle Montessori Nursery School

Separate sleep spaces for younger children, Montessori classrooms for preschoolers and nature sessions at Kings Lodge give Kings Castle a clear character. This Tuckton nursery combines practical tasks with outdoor exploration: children encounter materials for counting and sorting, places to plant and dig, and activities that build independence through doing.

At its September 2023 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good, judged safeguarding effective and found that targeted support helped children with special educational needs and disabilities make good progress. The main improvement concerned adult involvement in toddlers’ and preschool children’s activities. That distinction matters: the curriculum had substance, but some children needed more help to participate.

Kings Castle has capacity for 68 children, accepting ages from 3 months to 5 years. Highcliffe, Christchurch and Lulworth provide different environments as children grow, with moves based on individual readiness rather than birthdays alone. Attendance can combine half-days and full days, although mornings-only and term-time-only bookings are excluded.

Rooms and Ages

Highcliffe Baby Unit, for approximately 3 months to 2 years, combines a carpeted main room and wet area with a separate Montessori room and sleep room, allowing messy activities, early practical tasks and rest to happen in different spaces.

Christchurch Toddler Room, for approximately 2 to 3 years, adds book, cookery and art areas to its classrooms, with a separate sleep room and covered outdoor space that extends activity beyond the indoor rooms.

Lulworth Montessori pre-school, for approximately 3 to 5 years, divides learning between the Practical Life room, Green Room and upstairs classrooms, giving everyday tasks, mathematical and sensory materials, and school preparation their own settings.

Room moves are gradual. Children can spend some sessions in their existing area and others in the next one before transferring, so an older environment becomes familiar before it becomes their everyday base. Some activities also bring ages together, including older children reading to younger ones. The age bands are guides, with individual assessment determining when a child moves.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) provides the shared framework for communication, physical development, relationships and later learning in areas such as literacy and mathematics. Here, those areas are explored through stories, play, conversation and hands-on tasks, alongside Montessori: an approach using purposeful materials and everyday activities to develop independence and concentration.

Babies and toddlers encounter a mixture of traditional toys and Montessori materials; Lulworth follows the full Montessori curriculum. Practical tasks include vegetable preparation and dishwashing, while sensory equipment helps children distinguish qualities such as texture, colour and weight. Mathematical materials make quantities something children can handle and compare. This gives the approach concrete meaning beyond its name.

Grace and Courtesy lessons introduce manners and ways to express feelings. Feel Good Friday is a weekly wellbeing day, with activities that can include movement, relaxation, yoga and healthy eating. The combination makes social habits and physical wellbeing part of the learning week, rather than treating preparation for school solely as letters and numbers.

In September 2023, preschool children prepared snacks and washed up, handling breakable jugs and crockery carefully. Language activities included naming whale species and parts of flowers. These examples show the breadth of the work at that time: practical responsibility sat alongside precise vocabulary.

School preparation becomes more explicit in the two or three terms before children leave. The Upstairs Classroom hosts activities such as managing fastenings, changing clothes and trying PE lessons. Reading and writing activities follow a child’s interest rather than being pushed as an early achievement. The curriculum page explains how these experiences fit together.

Outdoor and Community Life

The enclosed garden contains a covered outside classroom, digging pit, planting area and bug hotel. A wooden playhouse supports storytelling, conversation, reading and writing, while a mini climbing wall and balance equipment offer physical challenges. Shelter extends the usefulness of the outdoor space through the seasons; planting and digging give children something to investigate as well as somewhere to run.

Kings Lodge operates as an extension of Kings Castle at the Iford Scout Hut. Nearly all toddlers aged 2.5 and above and preschool children attend for one or two sessions each week. Its open-plan hall and outdoor spaces add a different setting for nature-based learning, with a mud kitchen, herb garden and vegetable patch.

Walks form part of the Kings Lodge day, with one or two outings depending on weather, children’s ages and interests. Iford playing fields, Iford meadows and the River Stour provide places for exploration. Attendance there is included within normal Kings Castle fees, while funded-hours terms include Lodge activities within the non-mandatory consumables charge.

Relationships and Communication

Each child has a key person who works with the family on an Individual Learning Plan. That relationship can change if the child develops a stronger bond with another practitioner. The arrangement recognises that a useful point of contact needs to be someone the child trusts, as well as someone who knows their learning.

New babies normally receive two free settling sessions, each lasting about an hour, during the weeks before starting. The first usually involves a parent staying; the next introduces a short separation where appropriate. Christchurch and Lulworth also normally offer two free sessions, beginning with an hour together and progressing to approximately an hour and a half. These are for children whose places are already booked, rather than trial sessions.

Famly carries learning updates, newsletters and communication with parents. Access to the full learning and photograph journal sits within the consumables charge. In September 2023, families also had Montessori evenings explaining the learning approach and a lending library supporting reading at home. Those were useful links between nursery activities and family life at that date.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

Before offering a place, the nursery may request a family meeting and relevant reports to assess a child’s needs; possible adjustments are considered where appropriate. Kings Castle is a mainstream nursery, without specialist medical facilities or unlimited one-to-one support; a placement depends on whether the required care can be provided consistently. External professionals and additional funding can contribute to planning, but neither automatically settles whether a placement is suitable.

Health arrangements include written information about allergies and medication, with healthcare plans or risk assessments where necessary. Families provide nappies, comforters and specialist personal-care products; standard wipes, nappy cream, bedding and nursery-applied sun cream are included in paid fees or the funded-hours consumables charge. Formula or expressed milk comes from home.

In September 2023, baby care followed familiar routines, and staff working with babies and toddlers had received sleep training. Preschool children used a peace table and peace rose to discuss disagreements and feelings. These were practical arrangements for rest and emotional support at the time, rather than a promise about every child’s experience today.

Sessions and Attendance

The nursery is at 31 Saxonbury Road, Tuckton, Bournemouth, BH6 5NB. Opening hours are 8am to 6pm Monday to Thursday and 8am to 5pm Friday. It operates year-round, closing for bank holidays and a Christmas and New Year break.

Morning sessions run from 8am to noon, afternoon sessions from 1pm to 5pm. A noon-to-1pm lunch hour can extend either session, while tea-time care runs from 5pm to 6pm Monday to Thursday. Full-day options cover 8am to 5pm, with an extended day to 6pm Monday to Thursday. The minimum session lasts four hours; morning and afternoon bookings can be combined with full days.

The minimum weekly booking needs attention because the terms differ between two sets of information. The fees terms require four sessions for new children; general information gives a normal minimum of two. Neither version permits mornings-only or term-time-only attendance.

Enquiries begin by telephone or email, followed by a nursery visit and registration for agreed sessions. Fully funded children pay a refundable deposit, credited after at least three months’ attendance if no fees remain outstanding; children paying for some or all sessions instead pay a non-refundable administration charge. Reducing hours, cancelling a booking or withdrawing requires eight weeks’ written notice.

Funding and Paid Extras

Universal funding for three- and four-year-olds, extended funding for eligible working families and eligible working-family funding from nine months are offered on a stretched basis across 51 weeks. Depending on entitlement, this provides up to approximately 11 or 22 funded hours weekly. Under the fees terms, funded bookings must include at least two afternoon sessions or a Friday afternoon. Additional private hours are charged separately.

Honest Meals supplies optional hot lunches, charged separately under standard arrangements but included in all-inclusive packages; families can instead provide a packed lunch under the nursery’s nut-free packed-lunch policy. Snacks are included in paid fees and covered by the non-mandatory charge on funded hours, with vegetarian and main-allergy catering offered for hot lunches.

The funded-hours consumables charge also covers non-food sundries and activities including cookery, gardening and yoga; it does not apply to paid hours, and exemptions may apply to families receiving specified means-tested benefits. Parents still supply nappies and baby milk. Opting out requires four weeks’ written notice and applies to the combined provision rather than selected categories. Hot-lunch cancellation also requires four weeks’ written notice.

All-inclusive packages combine paid hours, lunches, consumables and paid outings, with two holiday weeks free of those charges when booked eight weeks ahead. Current prices come in the nursery’s written quotation; the fees and terms set out the different booking structures.

Before children leave for primary school, their key person normally arranges a handover covering learning, interests and support needs. This gives the receiving school practical information about the child.

• Minimum booking conflict. Fees terms require four weekly sessions for new children, while general information gives a normal minimum of two. Establish the contractual minimum for your intended pattern before signing.
• Participation in activities. In September 2023, some toddlers and preschool children needed more adult help to join learning. At a visit, ask how practitioners recognise and support children who hang back.
• Funded attendance and extras. Funding is stretched across the year, with afternoon attendance conditions and a non-mandatory combined consumables charge. Discuss the opt-out arrangements alongside the exact sessions you intend to book.
• Dietary or specialist care needs. Packed lunches must meet the nut-free policy, and SEND placements depend on the support the nursery can provide. Confirm current allergy arrangements and the proposed care plan before accepting a place.

Kings Castle suits families seeking Montessori learning through practical tasks, with distinct environments for babies, toddlers and preschool children and additional nature experiences at Kings Lodge. Its attendance model serves combinations of morning and afternoon sessions, full days and extended days across the year.

The September 2023 Good judgement sits alongside a specific concern about adult help during activities. That is the useful balance for parents: substantial learning spaces and a clear approach, with participation support worth examining. The booking-minimum conflict and funded-hours conditions also deserve attention before committing to a weekly routine.