Montrose Pre-School

A large playroom, additional halls and a garden give Montrose Pre-School room for an active day, while its charity committee gives local families a part in how the setting is run. This is a community preschool at The Methodist Church on Locket Road in Harrow, accepting children aged 2 to 4, with 18 places in total.

At its November 2023 inspection, Ofsted rated Montrose Good, found safeguarding effective and judged that children, including those with special educational needs or disabilities, were supported to progress. Practical learning was a clear thread: making pretend cakes became an opportunity for counting, while building obstacle courses brought movement and problem-solving together.

Morning, afternoon and full-day sessions sit alongside a breakfast club and an afternoon top-up. That gives families several ways to shape attendance rather than a single daily commitment.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage sets the framework for learning and care: children build language, physical skills, social understanding and early mathematical and literacy skills through play. Development matters guides Montrose's planning across these areas, with exploration, persistence and children's own ideas shaping activities. The practical value is a day in which learning happens through using resources and talking, rather than only through adult-led tasks.

Exercise begins each session. Bikes, yoga, movement to music and circle games give children different ways to practise coordination, followed by toothbrushing. Children then choose activities or resources for themselves. A book area, materials for making marks, a home corner and loose parts support different kinds of play, allowing children to move between stories, pretend situations and construction.

In November 2023, a substantial pretend kitchen supported imaginative play linked to everyday experiences. Children made play-dough cakes, counted them and explored subtraction by sharing them with friends. Adults also introduced vocabulary during painting and gave children time to answer questions. These examples show how conversation and early mathematics could grow out of something children already wanted to do.

Songs close each session. Instruments, rhythm sticks and props add ways to join in, while clapping the syllables in children's names connects rhythm with listening to speech. There is a recognisable sequence to the day, but choice sits within it.

Outdoor and Community Life

The large playroom and additional halls are complemented by a sizeable equipped garden. During free flow, children choose between indoor and outdoor activity, so movement need not be confined to a single exercise period.

Outside, the Mud kitchen, water play and a large sand pit support hands-on exploration. Scooters, bikes and materials for obstacle courses offer more energetic alternatives. In November 2023, children balanced and climbed on courses built with soft blocks, trying different ways to tackle them. The useful combination is physical challenge with opportunities to make decisions about how to move.

Each child has a key person who carries out observations and assessments, with findings brought together in termly reports for parents and carers. That gives families a regular account of development and a consistent practitioner connected to their child. Planning also involves parents and other professionals, making communication part of the learning process.

In November 2023, staff knew children well and used warm interactions to help them settle. Adults modelled considerate behaviour, and children responded to an upset friend with comfort. Staff meetings, supervision and observations of colleagues provided opportunities to review practice rather than leave it unchanged.

Snack time has a useful role beyond eating. Children choose fruit and drinks, select their own bowls and cups, and have opportunities to serve themselves or pour a drink. Conversation explores fruit's texture, smell and origins. Daily toothbrushing adds another routine in which children practise looking after themselves.

For children staying all day, lunch is served at noon. The afternoon then continues with activities, keeping a clear break between the two parts of the day.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is The Methodist Church, Locket Road, Harrow, HA3 7ND. The preschool offers a full-day session from 9am to 3pm, a morning session from 9am to noon and an afternoon session from 12.15pm to 3.15pm, Monday to Friday. The afternoon starts after the morning finishes, so these are separate booking patterns rather than interchangeable halves of one uninterrupted day.

Breakfast club runs from 8am to 9am on weekdays. An afternoon top-up runs until 4pm from Monday to Thursday. Opening hours are 9am to 4pm on those days and 9am to 3pm on Friday; the breakfast club provides the earlier start. The distinction between the core session and the extensions matters when matching attendance to working hours.

Funding and Paid Extras

Both funded and privately paid places are offered for children aged 2 to 4. Funding can be used flexibly to suit family needs. Families should obtain current prices in the nursery's written quotation.

Family Involvement

Montrose is a charity overseen by an elected volunteer committee, whose members can come from families or the wider community. It meets twice each term to discuss resources, staffing, budgets, fundraising and policies. This offers a practical route for families interested in contributing to decisions beyond their own child's daily care.

Enquiries can be made by telephone or email. The committee also works with the landlord, Wealdstone Methodist Church, linking the preschool's governance to the premises it uses.

• Independence in everyday routines. At the November 2023 inspection, children were not consistently encouraged to take the next step in doing routine tasks for themselves. During a visit, ask how snack serving, tidying and self-care now build independence, alongside the choices already built into the day.
• Friday attendance. The full-day session finishes at 3pm, while the afternoon session ends at 3.15pm; Friday opening hours also end at 3pm. These timings need reconciling for a Friday booking, especially if you need the afternoon session or a later finish.
• Funding and the full cost of attendance. Funded and private places sit alongside breakfast and afternoon extensions. What does the written quotation include for your chosen pattern, including food and non-food consumables?

Montrose suits families seeking morning or afternoon preschool sessions as well as those choosing a full day, with breakfast and afternoon extensions adding options around the core timetable. Its large indoor spaces, garden and child-selected activities give the day practical substance. Key-person assessments and termly reports provide a regular connection with home, while the volunteer committee offers another way to participate. The November 2023 improvement point makes independence in everyday routines a useful subject for a visit.