Walton Montessori Nursery

Children choosing their own practical activities give Walton Montessori Nursery its character. At The Courthouse in Walton-on-Thames, the Montessori approach combines hands-on materials, independent choices and collaborative play. For parents, the attraction is a day in which children can follow an interest while practitioners guide what comes next.

At its February 2022 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good, found safeguarding effective and praised the targeted help for children with additional needs, while requiring more consistent safety guidance and better curriculum knowledge among new staff. That is a dated judgement. The strengths and improvement points both matter when weighing the setting today.

The nursery caters for children aged 4–48 months. Morning, afternoon and full-day attendance give families different ways to use its care, rather than a single daily pattern.

Rooms and Ages

Elm Class is the baby room, Willow Class the toddler room and Oak Class the preschool room. Each has a room leader role. These named stages give parents a clear starting point for understanding where their child will spend the day and how care changes as children grow.

In February 2022, babies had space to practise crawling, standing and early walking. The setting also had a garden and a forest school area alongside its indoor rooms. Those physical opportunities mattered: movement and exploration were part of the learning, rather than activities confined to a table.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) provides the required framework for learning, development and care: children build communication, physical and social skills through play and practical experiences. Montessori adds a particular way of organising that learning, with children selecting activities and using materials themselves, supported by practitioners working with individuals and groups.

For younger children, the emphasis includes language, coordination and managing everyday tasks with increasing independence. Older children work with sensory materials and resources for early literacy and mathematics, alongside imaginative activity and learning to persist with a task. The curriculum approach makes independence a practical part of the day, with choice supported by age-appropriate guidance.

Resources are matched to children's interests, and the key person uses individual work to plan subsequent learning. This gives the Montessori approach a concrete mechanism: what a child chooses and how they use a material can inform the next activity. It is more useful to parents than a philosophy expressed only in broad terms.

In February 2022, children experimented with tools by driving golf tees into a melon. During forest school activities, an outdoor approach to learning through practical exploration, they also struck flowers to transfer their colours onto fabric. These examples joined physical coordination with investigation: children could see the effects of their actions and explore how colours changed.

Language accompanied the practical work. In February 2022, staff introduced words during play, and French was used in the preschool room to support children hearing a home language. An outdoor dragon dance for Chinese New Year combined movement with instruments. These were examples from that period, rather than a promise of a recurring language lesson or event timetable.

Outdoor and Community Life

Garden play forms part of the morning, afternoon and full-day routines, alongside indoor free play and work with practitioners. Outdoor time therefore belongs within each attendance option. A child attending only one part of the day still has a routine that includes the garden.

The balance between choosing freely and working with an adult is worth understanding. Children have individual or small-group activity as well as open play, so the day makes room for both personal interests and guided learning. For families attracted to Montessori, that combination is the central consideration.

Relationships and Communication

A key person is assigned when a child starts. During the early weeks, this adult stays close to help the child understand routines and boundaries, becomes a familiar contact when something is upsetting and gives parents feedback about settling. Children also get to know other practitioners in their room, so relationships extend beyond one adult.

Weekly individual work gives the key person a way to understand interests, plan further learning and recognise where support might be needed. The role connects care with education: the adult helping a child feel comfortable also follows their development. Parents have a clear contact for discussing both.

Settling is adjusted to the child's needs. The induction includes meeting the room manager, sharing information about the child and completing an all about me form; subsequent visits help parent and child become familiar with the setting. Famly, the nursery app, lets parents view information about their child's time at nursery and exchange messages with the team.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

SEND support uses a graduated process of assessing needs, agreeing a plan, putting it into practice and reviewing its effect. The key person works with the SENCo and parents, with agreed outcomes and a review date. Where additional professional assessment is needed, contact with specialists is made with parental agreement. This describes how help is organised, rather than guaranteeing a particular outcome.

Parents are involved in planning support and reviewing progress. The SEND policy also includes liaison with professionals over transitions to other settings and schools, so support arrangements can form part of the move onwards. Assessment information is shared with families, giving them a role in deciding what further help is appropriate.

Physical access receives practical attention. A ground-floor office can be used for confidential meetings when a parent cannot manage stairs, and outings are planned with families to take account of a child's access or mobility needs. Information can be communicated verbally, in writing or in translation according to individual needs.

The staff structure includes designated safeguarding lead roles and practitioners with paediatric first aid training. A full-time chef is also part of the team. These are concrete arrangements; the dated inspection judgement remains the basis for assessing safeguarding effectiveness.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is The Courthouse, Elm Grove, Hersham Road, Walton-on-Thames, KT12 1LZ. Opening hours are 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday. Morning sessions run from 8am to 1pm, afternoons from 1pm to 6pm, and full days from 8am to 6pm.

Families can combine sessions across the week, subject to availability. Additional ad hoc sessions can be requested ahead of time and are allocated in request order. Term-time and full-year attendance are both offered, making the choice relevant to families whose care needs follow different calendars.

The Christmas closure runs from 23 December 2026 to 4 January 2027. Fees remain payable for a child's sickness or holiday, and missed days cannot be exchanged. Leaving requires four weeks' written notice, including when a child moves on to school. These terms affect the practical cost of changing plans.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare includes universal 15 hours from the term after a child's third birthday, 30 hours for eligible families, and 15 hours for eligible two-year-olds on specified sessions. Funding is delivered over 38 weeks, with the 30-hour offer restricted to full-day attendance. Paid hours and funded entitlement should therefore be considered separately when choosing a pattern.

Standard fees include meals, drinks and nappies; breakfast, lunch and tea are charged separately during funded hours. Morning attendance includes breakfast, a morning snack and lunch, while afternoons include an afternoon snack and tea.

A non-refundable registration charge applies, alongside an acceptance deposit. The deposit also applies to funded sessions and is returned after departure if the account is clear; an outstanding balance can be deducted from it. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation, with the charge structure explained on its fees page.

• Safety guidance and staff induction. In February 2022, children did not consistently receive reminders about safe movement or dealing with spilled sand, and new staff were not always clear about children's next learning steps. On an individual tour, ask how everyday safety guidance and curriculum induction now work in your child's room.
• Funding and attendance. The 30-hour funded offer is tied to full days, and funded breakfast, lunch and tea carry separate charges. Obtain a written quotation for the exact combination of sessions and paid hours you intend to use.
• Settling and room routines. Stay & Play sessions let parents and children explore Montessori materials and creative activities together. Use one to discuss the settling plan and ask how sleep and daily care will fit your child's routine.
• Christmas and changes of plan. The closure from 23 December 2026 to 4 January 2027 needs alternative care arrangements, while sickness and holidays do not bring fee refunds. Four weeks' written notice is required before leaving, so plan a school move or change of childcare ahead.

Walton Montessori suits families who want children to learn through practical choices, with a key person connecting their interests, care and next learning steps. It serves morning and afternoon attendance as well as full days, with term-time and full-year patterns adding further flexibility.

The appeal lies in the concrete arrangements: named rooms, garden play within each session and a SEND process that involves parents in planning and review. Balance those against the February 2022 improvement points, the conditions on funded attendance and the costs of missed sessions. The best fit is a family comfortable with child-directed learning and clear about the attendance pattern it needs.