Maple Montessori Pre-School

Independent choice is central here: Montessori means children select purposeful materials while adults extend their learning. Energetic outdoor play and unusually flexible term-time sessions define Maple Montessori Pre-School's offer for children aged two to five. The setting operates from Scout Hall on Wilson Street in Winchmore Hill and has 40 registered places. Its two named spaces are the Montessori Toddler Room and Montessori Classroom.

Ofsted rated the pre-school Outstanding in July 2022. That dated assessment records a setting where children chose activities independently, explained their thinking confidently and collaborated well. The practical offer is current: families can select morning, extended-morning, afternoon or full-day patterns from Monday to Friday.

Rooms and Ages

The two published spaces are the Montessori Toddler Room and Montessori Classroom, although the nursery presents its two-to-five age range across the setting rather than assigning published age bands to each room. Free access to Montessori materials gives children scope to select purposeful work for themselves. Staff combine Maria Montessori's approach with the Early Years Foundation Stage, the statutory framework that sets what young children should learn through seven areas. In practice, it means play and routines build communication, physical, social, literacy, mathematical, world-knowledge and expressive skills rather than following a school-style timetable.

Learning and Named Experiences

In July 2022, learning had both ambition and playfulness. Children found continents and England on a globe, discussed Earth and the solar system, and linked a year to the planet's orbit. Construction play became an opportunity to name shapes such as prisms. Number work was similarly practical: children traced numerals in sand, counted actions and showed snack quantities on their fingers.

Practitioners allowed time for investigation before extending children's thinking. This matters in a Montessori setting: independent choice was not treated as adults standing back, but as the starting point for carefully judged teaching. Movement, dance, Spanish-speaking and singing activities broadened the main curriculum in July 2022.

Outdoor and Physical Play

Outdoor activity was a genuine strength in July 2022. Children climbed tree branches and rope ladders, crossed beams, rode balance bikes and scooters, played ball games. That combination develops balance, coordination and managed confidence rather than limiting physical work to a single planned exercise.

Relationships and Wellbeing

A key-person system is intended to help children settle and build security. In July 2022, children separated quickly from parents, changed into nursery footwear and used colours and The Colour Monster to identify their feelings. Adults modelled kindness and respect, while children behaved extremely well in a happy and inclusive setting.

Parent communication continues through daily exchanges, each child's Learning Journal and the nursery newsletter. These give families both immediate updates and a record of development over time.

Inclusion and Safeguarding

The 2022 inspection found safeguarding arrangements effective. Staff understood signs of risk and reporting routes, suitability checks were thorough, and risk assessment kept the environment safe and secure.

At the same date, an experienced special educational needs coordinator reviewed individual plans with parents and secured additional support promptly. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities made very strong progress. This is dated evidence rather than a promise about every future placement, but it shows the practical mechanisms working at the time.

Younger children served their own healthy snacks in July 2022, building independence within an everyday routine. The current fee structure includes healthy snacks and drinks, plus essentials such as wipes and tissues.

Sessions and Attendance

Four term-time session patterns are published. Morning only runs from 08:45 to 12:00; extended morning from 08:45 to 13:00; afternoon only from 12:15 to 15:15; and a full day from 08:45 to 15:15. Families select preferred Monday-to-Friday sessions on the registration form, while the fee structure covers attendance from two to five days each week. Published school terms include half-term closures.

Funding and Paid Extras

The nursery's fees and funding page separates arrangements for two-year-olds from those for three- and four-year-olds. It lists Terrific Two or Working Families Funding for eligible two-year-olds, Universal Funding for three- and four-year-olds, and Working Families Funding. Eligibility and a preferred pattern are not guaranteed.

Private and funded categories are set out separately. The nursery also lists waiting-list and settling-in charges, a refundable deposit, and sibling or attendance-based discounts subject to its conditions. Families should request a current written quotation for their own pattern. Healthy snacks, drinks, wipes, tissues and extracurricular activities are included in the published fee structure.

The address is Scout Hall, Wilson Street, London N21 1BP.

• Room organisation. The Montessori Toddler Room and Montessori Classroom are named, but their age bands and group-size caps are an important visit question for families deciding which environment their child would use.
• Term-time coverage. Sessions follow published school terms and half-term closures. Families needing care through school holidays will need a separate arrangement.
• Food and personal care. Healthy snacks, drinks, wipes and tissues are included. Families should discuss allergies and what they need to supply for their child's day before accepting a place.

Maple Montessori Pre-School best suits families seeking a term-time, Montessori-led setting where independent choice is combined with alert adult teaching and ambitious outdoor physical play. The Outstanding judgement from 2022 provides strong, if dated, evidence of the quality behind the approach. Its choice of morning, extended-morning, afternoon and full-day sessions should work especially well for families who want more than a single fixed day pattern.