Headstart Montessorians Day Nursery

In March 2024, independence had a practical shape: children chose their play, managed personal care and learnt to resolve small disagreements. Headstart Montessorians Day Nursery brings Montessori education to Green Lane in Goodmayes, Ilford, with movement activities including dance, yoga and baby gym alongside it. The overall judgement on 27 March 2024 was Outstanding.

Children can attend from three months to five years, and the nursery has 65 places in total. That whole-setting capacity should be kept separate from the size of any group a child joins. The strongest reasons to consider Headstart are its emphasis on independence, the communication practices observed in March 2024 and an activity offer included within childcare fees.

Learning and Activities

Montessori is the educational approach here, emphasising children's independence and their choices in learning. Alongside it, the early years foundation stage provides the statutory framework for learning, development and care. In March 2024, this meant learning to express needs with gestures and signs, handle personal-care tasks and negotiate sharing.

In March 2024, children selected where to play and handled personal-care tasks themselves, with staff nearby to help when needed. They also began assessing risks. The practical value is the opportunity to attempt something independently while retaining access to adult support.

Communication took several forms in March 2024. Babies used gestures to express a need, including showing a wet sleeve after water play. Younger children used Makaton, a signing system used here to communicate requests at mealtimes, to indicate that they wanted more or had finished. These examples make the language work tangible: children could express an immediate need before relying entirely on spoken sentences.

Sports sessions, baby gym, dance and yoga are included in the fee. They add different opportunities for movement alongside Montessori education, rather than requiring families to arrange each activity separately. Trips are also included in fees.

Outdoor and Community Life

The garden featured in children's play in March 2024, including running games. Small acts of consideration were visible there: children retrieved hats that others had dropped. Indoors and outdoors, everyday interactions gave children opportunities to practise looking after one another.

During that same month, staff helped children work through minor disagreements themselves. Children explained that they had been using a seat or resource first and offered to share once finished. The emphasis was on giving children language they could use in the next disagreement, as well as dealing with the immediate problem.

Relationships and Communication

In March 2024, staff used their knowledge of individual children to decide what they should learn next. They responded both to gaps in learning and to children ready for a greater challenge. This matters for a family choosing an approach centred on independence: adult involvement remained responsive to the child, rather than simply leaving children to choose activities unaided.

Parents' feedback in March 2024 described clear communication and staff who worked actively with them over individual needs. That offers a useful picture of the relationship at that point: conversations about development connected home and nursery, rather than being confined to a general account of the day's activities.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the March 2024 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and judged support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities to be excellent, with staff, parents and outside agencies working together to help children progress from their individual starting points. The important detail is that cooperation around each child, rather than a broad promise that one approach suits everyone.

Health routines also formed part of daily life in March 2024. Children discussed food choices while waiting to eat and made fruit salads and cheese straws in cooking activities. Handling, smelling and tasting ingredients gave them direct experience of different foods. Toothbrushing after lunch was encouraged daily, and staff discussed regular dental visits with parents.

All meals are included in childcare fees. This places food within the nursery's ordinary fee package alongside trips and movement activities.

Sessions and Attendance

Headstart opens from 8am until 6pm, Monday to Friday. It operates across the year, closing for Christmas week and bank holidays. For families organising work around nursery hours, the Christmas closure is a specific part of the annual childcare plan.

The nursery operates a waiting list for its rooms, with entry through its enquiry form. Enquiries can also be made by telephone on 020 8599 5884 or by email to hsm634@live.co.uk. These are direct contact routes for the Goodmayes branch.

Getting There

The address is 634 Green Lane, Goodmayes, Ilford, IG3 9RZ. Green Lane is a five minute walk to Goodmayes station (Great Eastern line), making the station a relevant landmark for families planning their route.

Funding and Paid Extras

Headstart offers 15 hours and 30 hours funding, and accepts childcare vouchers and tax-free childcare payments. Funded childcare and privately paid care therefore both form part of its offer; the entitlement should be considered separately from the hours a family wishes to buy.

Meals, trips and the named movement activities are included in fees. Families should obtain current prices in the nursery's written quotation, so the cost considered is the package they intend to use.

• Funding and the fee package. Meals and activities are included in childcare fees, and both 15 hours and 30 hours funding are offered. When discussing a funded booking, ask how meal charges and non-food consumables are handled within that arrangement.
• Independence for the youngest children. Children can start at three months, while the March 2024 examples include gestures and mealtime signs. Use a tour to discuss how your baby's routines and communication would be supported during settling.
• The annual childcare plan. Opening hours are 8am to 6pm on weekdays, with Christmas week and bank holidays excluded. Those closures need to fit the family's work and alternative-care arrangements; the enquiry form is also the route onto the room waiting list.

Headstart suits families seeking Montessori education, an emphasis on everyday independence and childcare across the year. Its included sports, yoga, dance and baby gym give movement a clear place in the offer, while the March 2024 examples show how communication and consideration for others worked in ordinary situations.

The decision rests on that combination of educational approach and practical package. For a family comfortable with the weekday opening window and annual closures, this is a nursery with concrete reasons to consider it beyond its inspection grade.