Privett Montessori Nursery

A willow hut for stories, raised beds for growing food and Montessori materials for learning by touch give Privett Montessori Nursery its character. Based at Privett Village Hall between Alton and Petersfield, it combines an open-plan indoor space with a garden that gives children things to grow, investigate and climb. Practical independence runs through the offer: pouring, preparing food and putting materials away are part of learning, rather than jobs reserved for adults.

The nursery has capacity for 24 children aged one to five. At its 18 November 2022 inspection, Ofsted rated it Good overall, with effective safeguarding and successful support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). That judgement belongs to the inspection date.

Morning, afternoon and full-day sessions serve different family routines, with both a term-time calendar and a longer annual attendance calendar. The appeal is the combination of practical learning and outdoor exploration; the funding conditions need equal attention.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) provides the framework for learning through play, including language, physical development and learning about the world. Montessori adds the nursery's particular methods and materials: children handle objects, practise everyday tasks and learn to organise their work. The approach is made tangible in the curriculum, rather than resting on the Montessori name alone.

Activities of everyday living include transferring beans with a spoon, pouring, peeling vegetables and washing up. These are small tasks with a clear purpose. A child can practise careful hand movements while doing something useful, then return the equipment for someone else. Dressing frames provide another practical resource, linking the learning materials with skills children use outside nursery.

Educating the Senses uses materials that draw attention to differences such as weight, texture and shape. Cylinders and the Colour and Sound boxes give children things to compare and arrange; some materials allow them to spot and correct mistakes themselves. That makes persistence part of the activity, with room to try again.

Early number work includes Sand Paper Numerals, which connect written symbols with touch, and Cards and counters, which connect numerals with quantities. For literacy, children trace letter shapes and hear their sounds, while the Moveable Alphabet lets them build words before writing them with a pencil. The progression is concrete: objects and movement give meaning to symbols.

Spanish is taught using stories, rhymes and songs. Cooking, pottery and creative arts also sit within the Montessori Enhanced Curriculum, the nursery's name for additions embedded in daily provision rather than separate optional components. Staff hold additional Montessori qualifications, supporting the practical use of the approach and its resources.

Recent activities show how children's interests can shape the day. In spring 2026, spotting a robin in the garden led children to make feeding stations for birds, observe them through binoculars and compare their sizes and colours. Children also investigated ice, painted icy surfaces and worked out how to release frozen toy penguins. These examples connect observation, conversation and experimentation around something children can see and handle.

Outdoor and Community Life

The garden extends the indoor learning. A mud kitchen, water trays and sandpits support exploratory play, while bikes and climbing frames offer physical challenges. Story sessions can take place in the circular willow hut. Raised beds give children a place to tend plants and follow how food grows, connecting the garden with preparation and cooking indoors.

Fawley Farm's neighbouring woodland and farmland provide opportunities for nature walks, animal observation and den-building. The important distinction is opportunity, rather than a fixed weekly trip schedule: the outdoor learning can include the farm and woods alongside the nursery garden.

In autumn 2025, families joined pumpkin picking at Durleigh Marsh Farm, where children chose pumpkins and explored the fields with their parents. Back at nursery, apple mash and hedgehog-shaped bread linked seasonal topics with cooking. The shared outing gave families a way to take part in the learning, while the food activities brought those experiences back into the nursery day.

Relationships and Communication

Each child is allocated a key person before starting, with a back-up practitioner for times when that person is away. The nominated key person can change if a child develops a stronger bond with someone else. That flexibility gives the relationship a practical purpose: the familiar adult should be someone the child actually trusts.

Free introductory sessions last approximately one to two hours and can extend across one or two weeks, according to individual needs. Parents may remain with their child while settling progresses, and staff can agree a plan where separation takes longer. Outings wait until a child is fully settled. This gives families a gradual introduction to the nursery's routines rather than requiring an immediate, fixed separation.

Learning journals use Tapestry, an electronic record of children's activities that can include photographs with parental consent. The registration process also gathers information about diet, additional support and professionals already involved in a child's care. These details give staff something specific to work with before the child starts.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

The SENCO and key person work with parents through an assess, plan, do and review process: identify needs, agree support and outcomes, put the plan into practice, then evaluate it together. Specialist advice can be sought with parental agreement. The mechanism matters more than a broad promise of inclusion because it gives families a role in deciding what support should achieve.

At the November 2022 inspection, Ofsted found that staff adapted activities for individual needs and worked effectively with parents and professionals on SEND, but asked for more consistent reinforcement of personal hygiene routines. In November 2022, children practised pouring drinks and washing dishes, and adults sometimes moved snack time earlier when children were hungry. Those examples show the inspection-era balance between independence and responding to immediate needs.

Current behaviour arrangements use stories, activities and conversations to help children understand feelings and resolve disagreements. Staff distinguish an unacceptable action from the child themselves and involve parents when behaviour needs a shared response. The safeguarding policy assigns a designated lead role, with a designated person on duty throughout opening hours.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Privett Village Hall, Hemplands Lane, Privett, Alton, GU34 3NU. Opening hours run from 8.30am to 5pm, Monday to Friday. The extended closing time began in September 2025, making the afternoon offer substantially longer than the earlier nursery day.

Morning sessions run from 9am to 12.30pm, and Full Day sessions from 9am to 5pm. The Dates & Fees timetable gives Afternoon as noon to 5pm; the separate extended-hours timetable gives a 12.30pm start. Early Bird care runs from 8.30am to 9am and is privately paid. The afternoon timing needs settling before a family builds its routine around it.

Attendance can follow a 45-week calendar or a 38-week term-time calendar. The longer calendar still includes holiday breaks, so it should not be treated as uninterrupted year-round childcare. The admissions policy allows attendance patterns to accommodate individual families where continuity for children is maintained, and arranges the waiting list by birth order, with home proximity and attending siblings also potentially considered.

Registration involves completing and returning a form, and parents sign a contract before attendance begins. The nursery can be contacted by telephone on 01730 828 405.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered through 15-hour and 30-hour arrangements, subject to eligibility. Funding can be delivered over 38 weeks or stretched across 45 weeks; the latter spreads the annual allocation over a longer attendance calendar. The nursery requires two Full Day sessions each week to access funding and allows six funded hours per day, so a funded allocation and a booked day are different things.

A voluntary Montessori Sustainability Supplement is invoiced monthly for funded hours and supports the enhanced provision, including daily snacks and care items such as wipes and a toothbrush. For funded attendance, daily snacks, wipes and a toothbrush are supported by that separately invoiced voluntary supplement. Parents supply spare nappies or pull-ups. Cooking forms part of learning, with children regularly preparing fruit and snacks under supervision.

The enhanced curriculum remains embedded in daily provision rather than being sold as optional individual activities. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation, with the booking combination determining the monthly fee. The fees page explains the attendance choices and funding structure.

Moving on can include support around school routines. In summer 2024, children had visits from their future teachers, attended school settling sessions and shared books about Froxfield School. These were transition activities, with no admissions advantage implied.

• Afternoon collection and start times. The Dates & Fees timetable starts Afternoon at noon, while the extended-hours timetable starts it at 12.30pm; both finish at 5pm. Confirm the timing for the age band and booking you are considering.
• Funding and the booked week. Access to funding requires two Full Day sessions weekly, with six funded hours per day and privately paid Early Bird care. Ask for a written breakdown that separates funded hours, additional attendance and the voluntary supplement.
• Settling and everyday care. Introductory sessions can extend over one or two weeks, and the November 2022 improvement point concerned consistent hygiene teaching. On a visit, discuss how staff handle separation, handwashing and your child's food or care needs, including lunch and allergies.

Privett Montessori suits families seeking morning or afternoon sessions as well as full-day attendance, with a choice between term-time and longer-calendar care. Its strongest attraction is the practical detail: tactile learning materials, food preparation, garden beds and access to Fawley Farm turn the Montessori approach into recognisable activities.

The settling arrangements give families room to proceed gradually, while the SENCO process provides a clear way to plan additional support. A decision should weigh those features alongside the funded-booking conditions and the afternoon timing. For parents who value hands-on independence and outdoor learning, there is plenty here to examine closely.