Derby Montessori School

Low shelves, child-sized equipment and courtyards give Derby Montessori School a clear character: children choose practical work, repeat it and gradually take more responsibility for themselves. Montessori here has concrete substance, from dressing frames to materials for exploring shape and number. Independence is part of the day, rather than just a promise about the future.

At its 2 October 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good and judged safeguarding effective. The setting is at Montessori House, Rowditch Place, Derby, DE22 3NJ, with capacity for 43 children and a current age range of 15 to 59 months. Its two programmes are the Toddler Community and Children’s House, with different attendance expectations and a shared emphasis on hands-on learning.

Full days and shorter attendance patterns sit alongside term-time attendance and stretched funding. The important choice is how the programme, booked hours and funding arrangement fit together, especially for families needing care beyond the teaching terms.

Rooms and Ages

Toddler Community covers a programme band of 12 to 36 months, with a maximum of 12 children per session; low shelves make pouring, sorting, self-care and sensory activities accessible. This is a room cap, separate from whole-nursery capacity.

Children’s House covers three to five years and occupies the largest room, combining practical independence, language, mathematics, sensory work and exploration of the world. Furniture creates smaller activity areas; open shelves support children’s own choices.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage sets the statutory basis for learning, development and care, including communication and physical development through daily activities. Alongside it, the Montessori Method uses individual activity introductions followed by children’s own practice and exploration. Choice comes with guidance.

Practical Life develops independence through everyday tasks: preparing fruit, setting tables and using small cleaning tools. Dressing frames support practice with fastenings. Daily songs, objects to name and tactile letters support language; Children’s House uses quantities, sensory materials, plants, maps and instruments for hands-on investigation.

In October 2024, children made a teddy’s meal and washed play kitchen equipment, sharing materials and discussing home life. Familiar routines provided opportunities for conversation and cooperation.

Outdoor and Community Life

A secure courtyard links indoor and outdoor activities. Its inner area emphasises communication, while the outer area supports larger movements. Canopies shelter parts of the space, which children use daily.

In October 2024, children balanced on stilts, caught balls and aimed at a basketball net. Gardening and climbing equipment also give outdoor learning practical substance.

Relationships and Communication

Each child has a key person as the first contact for concerns. A pre-entry questionnaire informs settling conversations. Free settling visits precede attendance, and parents of younger children may stay for much of the first visit. In October 2024, arrangements were flexible, allowing familiarity to develop before regular attendance.

Tapestry, an online learning journal, shares observations, photographs and progress. The key person updates it; parents can add observations and comments and receive email alerts. Verbal feedback, reviews and reports supplement the journal, connecting home and nursery learning.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the October 2024 inspection, Ofsted found that children with special educational needs and/or disabilities received personalised support developed with families and other professionals, while identifying three improvements: making group activities accessible to every child, using more precise language with younger children and ensuring parents could access useful information about learning. Those findings matter together. Individual support was a strength, but participation and communication were not equally successful for everyone.

In the Toddler Community, rest beds and quiet periods are provided for children staying through a full or extended day. Each child has their own bed linen, and sleep arrangements are discussed with parents; sleep and nappy changes are recorded. Families supply nappies, wipes and creams. This separates the nursery’s rest arrangements from the personal supplies parents need to bring.

School preparation includes everyday independence. In October 2024, younger children practised clearing snack dishes and washing their hands, while older children managed coats, drinks and personal care. When a child moves to another setting or school, a report can be generated from Tapestry, with an account transfer possible where the receiving setting uses the same system. That supports continuity of information.

Sessions and Attendance

Opening hours are 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday. Both programmes offer a full day from 8am to 6pm, with part-time arrangements using starts at 8am, 8.30am, 9am or 1pm and finishes at noon, 1pm, 3.30pm or 4pm; later collection before 6pm is agreed with a senior member of staff. These are bookable attendance choices within the opening day, rather than a single compulsory pattern.

The Toddler Community requires at least nine hours over two or more days each week, although the hours may be eased during the first term. Children’s House requires at least 15 hours weekly and operates principally around teaching terms, with additional hours or stretched funding possible beyond those terms. Holiday Care may be booked, subject to availability, for open weeks when the child is not receiving funded hours.

The tea session runs from 4pm to 6pm and excludes children attending for 15 funded hours or fewer. Breakfast is provided in the 8am to 8.30am session. These details matter when matching an attendance pattern to working hours: funded time, early attendance and the end of the day have different conditions.

Applications and enquiries go through the office at school.office@derbymontessori.co.uk or 01332 346333. Purely funded Children’s House places cannot be reserved ahead of time. Standard sessions cannot usually be exchanged for other sessions, so the agreed pattern needs to be workable over time.

Getting There

Access to the classrooms is through Rowditch Place, although the building fronts Uttoxeter New Road. On-site parking is mainly for staff, and families are directed to park on Rowditch Place and continue along the service road.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funding arrangements include working-parent places for one- and two-year-olds, Flying Start funding for eligible two-year-olds, the universal offer for three- and four-year-olds and their extended entitlement. Funding can be taken over 38 teaching weeks or stretched across 47.5 weeks, with eligibility checks and the agreed attendance pattern determining the arrangement. Additional private hours are charged separately, and families should obtain a current written quotation covering their chosen pattern.

Snacks, milk and water are included in sessions, while parents bring lunch for children staying between noon and 1pm; breakfast and cooked tea carry separate charges for purely funded attendance. Families may bring an alternative from home, but staff cannot warm or cook it. Staff take turns preparing tea on site, and the nursery publishes a nut-free policy, checks dietary requirements at meals and asks families to report changes.

Personal consumables, including nappies, wipes and creams, come from home. A non-refundable registration charge applies except to purely funded places, and the first month is paid before the child starts. Written notice is two full calendar months for leaving and one full calendar month for reducing hours. Those commitments deserve attention alongside the hourly pattern: a change in family circumstances does not immediately end the booked arrangement.

• Learning and parent communication. The October 2024 priorities concerned group participation, language modelling for younger children and access to learning information. During a visit, ask how group activities now include children with different needs and how families are helped to use Tapestry.
• The funded day has boundaries. Children attending for 15 funded hours or fewer cannot use the 4pm to 6pm tea session, and purely funded Children’s House places cannot be booked ahead. Discuss the exact attendance pattern before relying on it for work commitments.
• Planning the youngest child’s entry. The Toddler Community programme starts at 12 months, while the current overall age range begins at 15 months. Ask which starting point applies to your child and how the minimum nine-hour pattern will be introduced.
• Food and allergies. Lunch comes from home, and the nursery’s policy excludes nuts. Families managing allergies should confirm current meal arrangements and how their child’s dietary requirements will be handled across snacks, packed lunch and tea.

Derby Montessori School suits families seeking practical independence through toddler self-care and preschool language and number work. Full days and shorter part-time attendance serve different weekly routines; term-time attendance and stretched funding add further choices.

The October 2024 Good judgement sits alongside improvements required in group participation, language modelling and parent communication. Minimum attendance and funded-session restrictions also matter to the fit.