Leeds Montessori School & Day Nursery

Woodland beside the nursery, a water stream in the garden and Montessori materials indoors give Leeds Montessori School & Day Nursery a recognisable character. Its Grade II listed Victorian building on Wetherby Road in Roundhay sits next to Roundhay Park, where children explore natural materials and make dens. The attraction is practical: learning can move between hands-on work inside and outdoor exploration.

The nursery accepts children from nine months to five years and has 101 places in total. At its March 2025 inspection, Ofsted judged it Good overall and found safeguarding effective, while identifying further staff development and more precise evaluation of practice as priorities. That gives parents a positive inspection position with specific work still to do.

Attendance is built around full days, with an early-start option. Montessori learning, outdoor space and opportunities to practise independence are the main reasons to consider it.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the framework for children's learning, development and care: play and everyday experiences support communication, physical skills and early learning. Montessori sits alongside it, adding practical materials and opportunities for children to work at their own pace.

Clothes pegs provide practice for small hand movements; bead threading combines handling skills with attention to colour. Sandpaper letters connect touch, sight and spoken sounds, while shaped cylinders introduce differences in size and volume. Counters link written numbers to quantities.

Mixed-age interaction is part of the nursery's family-based approach. Children can learn from one another as well as from adults, while observation and evaluation help staff follow each child's development. The practical emphasis extends beyond learning materials: serving lunch is another opportunity to practise doing things independently.

In March 2025, children practised managing their coats and footwear and helping themselves to food. Staff also encouraged them to work through disagreements with increasing independence. Those are useful foundations for the next stage of education, connecting nursery learning with the ordinary tasks children need to manage themselves.

During that month, babies persisted with shape-sorting tasks, while older children built with magnetic pieces and used cutters with play dough. Pencils and clipboards were accessible for spontaneous mark-making, and The Enormous Turnip gave children a story whose characters and sequence they could recall. The activities put concentration, early writing and conversation into play.

Outdoor and Community Life

Forest School means hands-on exploration in a natural setting, including supported risk-taking. Roundhay Park supplies the woodland for den-making and creative work with natural resources. The nursery also runs Forest Play for children over two, with regular use of the park's forest. Regular is the useful expectation here, rather than a fixed weekly timetable.

Within the nursery grounds, younger children have a dedicated under-twos area. A climbing area, outdoor classroom, construction and scrapyard space, planting area and water stream give older children different ways to move, build and investigate. Covered sections and tree cover extend the garden's usefulness, while raised beds give children plants to sow and tend. Summer tea can take place outdoors too.

In March 2025, babies used rockers and practised walking outside; older children spent time in a sheltered outdoor classroom and grew seeds. These were everyday opportunities during the inspection, linking physical activity with practical experiences of how plants grow.

Community activity includes preschool visits to older people's homes and fundraising for Candle-lighters and St Martin's Children's Hospice. These add contact with people and causes beyond nursery life. Summer Sports Day and Christmas Show also bring families together, giving parents shared occasions alongside individual conversations about their child.

Relationships and Communication

In March 2025, new children received prompt comfort from staff and were developing relationships with their key persons. The emphasis was on familiar adults and emotional reassurance during the move into nursery care.

Day-to-day feedback allows parents to hear how their child has been and pass on relevant information from home. A secure online learning journal contains observations and nursery news, so families can follow learning outside face-to-face conversations. Periodic parents' evenings provide another opportunity to discuss development and observations from home.

Parent briefings explain Montessori practice, and a parent forum gathers ideas and feedback. In March 2025, staff also shared the skill being practised that week with families. This gives home and nursery a concrete point of connection: parents can build on a particular activity rather than receive only a general account of the day.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the March 2025 inspection, Ofsted found that staff adapted learning plans for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), using observations to identify the skills each child needed next. The current approach also includes specialist trained staff for additional learning needs, with support for speech among the examples given. The useful detail is the mechanism: individual learning needs shape planning.

In March 2025, staff used signs to support communication and introduced vocabulary during play. Ingredients presented at mealtimes prompted conversations about food. These practices gave children more than one route into understanding and expressing themselves.

A chef prepares meals on site, with breakfast, lunch, tea, fruit and snacks, and menus changing across weeks and the year. The nursery's dietary arrangements cover allergies, intolerances and religious requirements through work with parents, including halal, dairy-free and wheat-free options.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Wetherby Road, Leeds, LS8 2LE. Opening hours are 7.30am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, with attendance across the year. The standard Full Day runs from 8am to 6pm; an earlier 7.30am start carries a supplement. This separates the opening window from the day normally purchased.

Children must attend at least two full days. Ad hoc-only bookings and term-time-only places are not offered, so the model needs to fit a regular year-round routine. Monthly charges are calculated over 51 weeks, with five working days of Christmas closure excluded from charges; the nursery also closes on bank holidays.

Joining starts with a showround, followed by an enrolment form and registration. Families can make contact by telephone or through the contact form, and a showround booking form collects preferred days and the intended start date.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded places are offered for eligible two-, three- and four-year-old children. Private childcare is also offered. For private fees, Montessori teaching, nappies, meals and other consumables are included; for funded places for children over three, Montessori teaching, additional activities, meals and consumables are charged separately. The distinction matters when comparing a funded arrangement with privately paid attendance.

Fees are paid monthly in advance and reviewed annually, usually in April. Families should obtain current prices in the nursery's written quotation, using the admissions and fees page to understand the attendance rules and charge structure. A full-time discount applies to five-day attendance, while the sibling discount applies to the older child's fees.

• Montessori delivery. In March 2025, some practitioners were still developing their Montessori skills and confidence in planning, and leaders were refining how they evaluated practice. At a showround, ask how subsequent training has changed the activities and support in your child's age group.
• A regular year-round commitment. The minimum is two full days, with no term-time-only or ad hoc-only arrangement. Families whose needs follow school holidays should weigh that attendance rule before enrolling.
• Funded-place extras. For funded children over three, teaching, additional activities, meals and consumables sit outside the funded provision as separate charges. A written quotation should make that whole arrangement clear alongside any privately paid hours.
• Dietary arrangements. The nursery works with parents on allergies, intolerances and religious diets. Families managing an allergy should confirm current preparation and serving arrangements for their child's needs.

Leeds Montessori suits families seeking regular year-round Full Day attendance or an early-start extended day, with practical Montessori materials and substantial outdoor opportunities. Roundhay Park, raised beds and the garden's construction space give its learning offer concrete substance. Everyday independence is another clear thread.

The March 2025 Good judgement provides the inspection context, while staff training and evaluation remain relevant considerations. For families comfortable with the two-full-day minimum and the separate extras for funded children over three, this is a nursery worth considering for its combination of hands-on learning, parent communication and access to nature.