MMI Day Nursery Croydon

Low shelves, child-chosen activities and a garden reached directly from the toddler room give MMI Day Nursery Croydon a clear Montessori character: children can select work, spend time on it and practise doing things for themselves. The setting accepts children from 3 months to 5 years at 46 Leslie Grove, East Croydon, CR0 6TJ. Its baby accommodation is upstairs, while toddlers and preschool children use the ground floor.

At its May 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good, judged safeguarding effective and found that children with special educational needs and/or disabilities were well supported. That judgement comes with two useful cautions: children needed more explanation of how food affects their bodies, and preschool learning needed to be extended more consistently across the curriculum.

The practical offer includes several whole-day booking windows, with different start and finish times. Funded childcare is stretched across the year, and meals and snacks carry a separate charge. Those details matter as much as the educational approach when deciding whether the arrangement fits family life.

Rooms and Ages

Little Gems Room welcomes babies from 3 months, with treasure baskets, stories, music and messy play supporting exploration and early communication in the first-floor baby unit. Diamond Room and Jade Room are also named rooms. The baby unit uses three classrooms, giving the youngest children accommodation separate from the ground-floor toddler and preschool spaces.

For toddlers, the environment combines mark-making and picture books with everyday practice in eating, dressing and toileting; the toddler room opens directly onto the Astro-turf garden. That access connects indoor activity with physical play. An airy preschool room also occupies the ground floor, while the outdoor area gives children space beyond their rooms.

Learning and Activities

EYFS provides the framework for children's learning, development and care, bringing communication, physical development and other areas of learning into their day. Montessori sits alongside it here: children choose accessible activities and work at their own pace, with hands-on exercises leading towards more complex ideas. The approach has a visible physical expression. Resources sit on low shelves, and children can use tables or small floor mats for their work.

Practical Life and Sensorial Activities develop everyday skills and learning through concrete experiences. Preschool work also includes early number concepts, building words and preparing for writing. Children move on to new activities as they are ready, rather than following an identical pace. Mixed-age learning gives children opportunities to help one another, making social interaction part of the learning arrangement.

In May 2024, babies explored cooked lentils and pasta and made marks with chunky paint pens, while older children pressed tools into dough. These were practical ways to exercise hands and fingers before writing. Language work was equally concrete: staff talked alongside babies' play, toddlers identified objects hidden in a bag, and older children encountered new vocabulary while experimenting with colour mixing.

Books connected nursery and home during May 2024. Comfortable reading spaces were present throughout the rooms, stories were shared regularly, and families could borrow books through a monthly scheme. This gave parents something specific to continue at home, rather than leaving reading solely within nursery hours. Mathematical language also entered everyday activity: younger children explored subtraction through a familiar counting song, while preschool children used large numeral cards.

Outdoor and Community Life

The garden supports more than running and climbing. In May 2024, children grew lavender, mint, strawberries and onions, then explored produce at a local market. Planting and seeing food for sale connected learning about growth with experiences beyond the nursery. The market is a local outing rather than a named school partnership or an admissions route.

Outdoor independence was also part of the day in May 2024: older children put on their own raincoats before garden activity. That small task fits the wider emphasis on self-help. The important qualification is the healthy-eating improvement point: growing food and seeing vegetables did not consistently lead to discussion of what meals do for children's bodies.

Relationships and Communication

EYLOG is the nursery's app for sharing information between families and staff. Communication can run in both directions, giving parents a route to contribute to their child's learning as well as receive updates. Family participation also includes read me a story day, where parents join the reading experience, and Come and play with me, a shared-play event. Cooking with parents and graduation day add further opportunities to take part.

In May 2024, staff followed the development of their key children and used what they noticed to plan subsequent learning. Discussions, parent meetings and online communication kept families informed, while staff explained ways to continue learning at home. These mechanisms matter because a useful update should connect a child's experience with what adults do next, rather than simply describe an activity.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

Additional support had a concrete form in May 2024. Funding was used to employ staff for individual support and to purchase learning resources for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Visiting professionals also observed children and helped staff respond to identified needs. This is specific support through people, resources and professional collaboration.

Everyday care included opportunities to contribute. In May 2024, older children served themselves at meals, and younger children helped distribute food to others. Handwashing before eating and toothbrushing after lunch formed part of the routines. These examples show how personal care and independence were woven into ordinary parts of the day.

The same period's healthy-eating concern deserves attention alongside those routines. Children were learning to manage mealtimes, but adults needed to explain nutrition more fully. Practical independence and understanding why a habit matters are separate pieces of learning; the improvement point concerned the latter.

Sessions and Attendance

Opening hours are 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday. Whole-day bookings cover three, four and five days, giving families a choice of weekly attendance patterns.

Funding is spread over 48 weeks. Monthly invoices are annualised, so the charge follows the regular booking pattern and stays equal each month. Fees remain payable for sickness and holidays. Families whose working arrangements change should also account for the session-change rule: one month's notice is required, and changes take effect only at the beginning of a month.

Enquiries can be made through the MMI Croydon contact form or by telephone on 0208 686 2727. A non-refundable registration charge confirms a child's place, while the deposit becomes refundable after eight weeks of attendance. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation; the relevant decision is the total charge for the chosen attendance pattern, including additional hours and food.

Getting There

The address is 46 Leslie Grove, East Croydon, CR0 6TJ. East Croydon rail and tram station is a 5-minute walk from the nursery, bringing both rail and tram connections into the practical picture.

Parking is along the street. Families planning to drive should weigh that arrangement alongside the station connection when choosing their daily travel pattern.

Funding and Paid Extras

The offer includes Stretched 30-Hour Funding for babies and two-year-olds, and for three- and four-year-olds, with an 11-digit government code. Universal funding of 15 hours is also offered for three- and four-year-olds. Funded hours are distributed over 48 weeks, so the stretched arrangement is the basis for planning attendance rather than a term-time allocation used unchanged each week.

Additional hours are charged separately, as are meals and snacks, including on funded bookings. Government funding also excludes activity extras. These are separate parts of the charge structure: funded learning hours do not cover the full cost of every booking or service. A written quotation should make the chosen combination clear before a family commits to its regular pattern.

• Preschool challenge and food learning. The May 2024 improvement points concerned extending preschool learning across all areas and explaining healthy eating more fully. During a visit, ask how activities and mealtime conversations now address those two points.
• Upstairs baby accommodation. The baby unit uses three first-floor classrooms, while toddler garden access is on the ground floor. A visit is the useful opportunity to discuss how the youngest children's day moves between care, play and outdoor activity.
• A regular booking with notice conditions. Attendance is organised through three-, four- or five-day patterns, with several collection times. Equal monthly billing, charges during absences and the month's notice for session changes make this a commitment to assess against the family's usual week.
• Food charges. Meals and snacks are charged separately, including during funded attendance. Include these extras when comparing the cost of attendance.

MMI Day Nursery Croydon suits families seeking Montessori learning with practical independence, accessible materials and opportunities to contribute through EYLOG and shared activities. Its whole-day offer accommodates three-day attendance as well as four- and five-day patterns.

The May 2024 Good judgement provides a positive inspection position, while the two improvement points keep the assessment balanced. Child-chosen work and hands-on learning give the nursery a recognisable character. For parents, the deciding details are how preschool challenge is extended, how the upstairs baby day works and how stretched funding combines with separately charged food and additional hours.