The Pavilion Montessori School

Child-chosen activities, weekly French and an Art Room give The Pavilion Montessori School its Montessori character. Here, Montessori means practical learning, independence and opportunities for children to follow their interests at their own pace. The setting occupies the Pavilion in Broom Road Recreation Ground, Teddington, putting its classrooms within a park that leads down to the river.

At its December 2025 inspection, Ofsted judged every assessed area to be Strong standard and safeguarding standards to be met. That is a report-card assessment, rather than a single overall grade. The strongest practical thread is independence: children choose work, practise personal skills and learn alongside children at different stages of development.

There are 42 places in total. Children can begin in the term following their second birthday, and attendance follows a five-morning, term-time pattern. This is a preschool with a clear rhythm, rather than a menu of interchangeable booking options.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the framework for learning and care, covering children's communication, physical development, relationships and early understanding of the world. Montessori sits alongside it: children handle equipment, choose activities and spend time practising skills rather than moving continually between adult-directed tasks.

Each morning starts with circle time, giving children opportunities to listen and speak within a group. Music, drama, movement, French or a Montessori demonstration may follow. Later, children select work across the classrooms, Art Room and outdoor area, sometimes working alone and sometimes alongside others. The work cycle protects time for exploration and practice. For a child absorbed in an activity, that uninterrupted stretch matters.

Montessori Practical Life exercises connect learning with useful actions. Pouring, using tweezers, caring for plants and tidying give children reasons to coordinate their movements and take responsibility. Montessori Insets for Design support the hand control needed for writing. Letter sounds lead towards building words and reading when the child is ready, so preparation precedes the more formal skills.

Mathematics also begins with objects and actions. Matching quantities with symbols, sorting and pairing make number ideas tangible; calendars and number rhymes bring them into everyday routines. Sensorial materials introduce properties such as texture, weight and shape. The emphasis is on understanding what a number or comparison means before relying on written symbols.

French takes place weekly, with singing and counting for the children and small-group lessons for older children. Older children also have weekly Cookery lessons, connecting simple technology with healthy eating. Weekly Gymnastic lessons add structured physical activity, while specialist Music sessions run weekly and lead to a summer-term concert for parents. These additions have a clear place in the week; they are not simply names attached to the curriculum.

Outdoor and Community Life

The outdoor area forms part of children's activity choices, alongside the indoor spaces. Obstacle courses, balancing and movement games provide physical challenges, while planting and work on seasons and life cycles connect learning with the natural world. Broom Road Recreation Ground is the setting's immediate surroundings, but the daily outdoor offer is its own activity area.

In December 2025, children used bilingual books and explored subjects including volcanoes. Younger children worked with modelling dough and crayon rubbings, while older children practised pencil control suited to their development. These examples show different ways of approaching language and hand skills, rather than a single task expected of every age group.

Relationships and Communication

My Montessori Child is the parent portal for observations, photographs and updates on learning. It also offers ideas for related activities at home. Parents therefore have a way to connect a child's chosen work at preschool with conversations and practical learning beyond the morning session.

In December 2025, children had base rooms arranged by age and developmental stage, helping younger children settle in their base rooms before exploring wider facilities. Staff reassured recent starters, and older children helped younger peers. The settling picture was one of gradual familiarity with people, routines and spaces, rather than an expectation of immediate independence.

Everyday care also becomes part of learning. Children practise washing their hands, taking turns and looking after their surroundings. Those routines give independence a practical meaning: it is about managing small tasks and participating in a shared space, as well as choosing an activity.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the December 2025 inspection, Ofsted found that children with SEND received highly effective support through detailed assessment, work with external agencies and carefully directed funding, while support for children learning English included home languages and bilingual resources. For families needing additional help, the important detail is the combination of identifying a need and coordinating a response, rather than relying solely on support within an activity.

In December 2025, key persons and other staff knew children's families, and family members contributed stories and traditions. That gave cultural identity a place within children's learning and relationships. The next step was to sustain high standards while developing the experiences and outcomes of the youngest children further. That age group deserves particular attention when judging fit.

Fresh fruit is offered during sessions, with water or organic milk to drink. This suits the morning timetable, with refreshments forming part of the session rather than a described lunch arrangement.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is The Pavilion, Trowlock Way, Teddington, TW11 9QY, within Broom Road Recreation Ground. Attendance is Monday to Friday, with five mornings each week running from 9.10am to 12.20pm. The setting opens for 34 weeks across three academic terms, so its routine follows term time rather than year-round childcare.

Children start in the term after turning two, with entry points in September, January and April. The regular five-morning pattern offers continuity across the week; families need to judge it against their wider working and childcare arrangements. It is a specific attendance commitment, not a flexible-hours booking model.

Admission uses a waiting list, with siblings receiving priority. Parents submit a registration form by email to join it. General enquiries can be made by email, telephone or contact form. A waiting-list entry does not guarantee an offer of a place.

Funding and Paid Extras

Universal and Extended Early Education Entitlement can apply from the term following a child's third birthday, while eligible working parents of two-year-olds can access Early Education Entitlement. Fully funded arrangements may be made on request, subject to availability. Participation in funding should therefore be considered separately from entitlement and the setting's usual attendance pattern.

Childcare vouchers and tax-free childcare are accepted. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation, and the admissions and fees page explains the payment arrangements. Fees are reviewed annually and payable at the start of each term.

A non-refundable registration charge accompanies the application form. A deposit is payable when a place is confirmed and is credited against the final term's fees. Those are separate stages in joining: putting a child on the waiting list and accepting an offered place.

• Five mornings across term time. Attendance runs from 9.10am to 12.20pm on weekdays for 34 weeks a year. Consider how that fixed pattern fits your working week and childcare outside the terms.
• The youngest children's experience. December 2025's next step concerned further development of provision for the youngest children. During a visit, ask how the base-room arrangements and settling support work for a child entering after their second birthday.
• Funding and the complete quotation. Fully funded arrangements are subject to availability and made on request. Ask for a written breakdown covering funded attendance, refreshments and non-food consumables, alongside the registration and deposit terms.

The Pavilion suits families seeking a consistent five-morning preschool routine and a Montessori approach built around practical work, child choice and sustained activity. Weekly French, Cookery, Gymnastic and Music sessions give that routine variety, while My Montessori Child connects parents with children's learning.

Its December 2025 assessment provides a strong basis for considering the setting, with the youngest children's experience the main developmental point to explore. The fit depends as much on the fixed term-time timetable as on the learning approach. Families who value regular mornings and can accommodate the academic-term calendar have a clear proposition here.