Dulwich Oaks Montessori Nursery School

An open-plan Montessori classroom, free movement into the garden and weekly trips to Dulwich Woods give Dulwich Oaks its character. Children choose materials, practise everyday tasks and take their learning outdoors. This is a setting for families who value independence through doing: handling objects, caring for plants and exploring alongside children of different ages.

Dulwich Oaks Montessori Nursery School occupies St Margaret Clitherow Church Hall on Dulwich Wood Park, London SE19 1HL, with capacity for 75 children and a current age range of two to five. At its 8 November 2022 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good and found safeguarding effective, while identifying a need for more discussion about healthy eating and more consistent adult demonstrations of hygiene routines. Those improvement points concern how everyday care becomes learning, rather than simply whether children receive food or wash their hands.

The main classroom mixes ages rather than separating children into year groups. Attendance includes extended days and funded afternoon arrangements, so the practical choice is broader than a single working-day timetable.

Learning and Activities

EYFS (Early Years Foundation Stage) provides the framework for children's learning and development; here, children work on language, movement, early literacy and mathematics through practical activities and play. Montessori supplies the approach to delivering it: children select materials within a prepared environment, with practitioners helping them take their learning further. The distinction matters. Montessori shapes the day alongside the EYFS requirements.

Five areas organise the open-plan classroom. Literacy and Mathematics sit alongside Sensorial, Practical Life, and Knowledge and Understanding. Children can move between materials independently, while staff work within the areas to support them. For a parent considering mixed-age provision, this arrangement makes the learning environment more useful to understand than a conventional room list: children aged two to five share the space, with activities offering different levels of difficulty.

Practical Life uses familiar objects such as cups, jugs and tongs to develop coordination and concentration; fastening buttons and tying bows connect that work to dressing independently. Sensorial materials include sound boxes and colour tablets, giving children concrete objects to compare and investigate. Early literacy uses letter sounds, sandpaper letters and a movable alphabet. These are specific ways of making learning something children can handle, rather than only something an adult explains.

In November 2022, story-sharing introduced letter sounds, including the sounds in children's names, while tweezers and picture-making gave children practice in the small hand movements needed for writing. A water-tray activity used sea creatures as a starting point for naming, describing and expanding vocabulary. The examples show how conversation can extend an ordinary play activity into language learning.

The afternoon programme adds named activities with a clear weekly rhythm. ABC Sports Stars runs on Mondays at 1pm, using games to practise agility, coordination and balance; Little Rackets brings tennis on Tuesdays at 1pm, with racket-and-ball activities and hand-eye coordination games. Cooking takes place on Wednesdays at 2pm and explores food groups and healthier choices. On Fridays at 1pm, La Ola Spanish combines language learning with movement and imaginative adventures. The different days matter when selecting an attendance pattern: a child attending one afternoon will encounter a different organised activity from a child attending another.

Outdoor and Community Life

Free-flow garden access allows children to move between indoor activities and outdoor play. A water wall and music wall add opportunities to experiment, while planting, a mud kitchen, a climbing frame and logs offer different kinds of physical and imaginative work. The outdoor space supports more than a break from the classroom. It gives children places to investigate, build confidence in movement and negotiate play with others.

Forest School is hands-on outdoor learning using woodland, natural resources and tools, with children's interests helping shape the sessions. Weekly visits to Dulwich Woods sit alongside sessions in the nursery's own outdoor learning area. This gives families a concrete picture of what the approach adds: woodland experiences beyond the garden as well as outdoor learning on site.

In November 2022, children planted fruit and vegetables, climbed logs and used swings and slides. Imaginative play included making cakes in the mud kitchen and playing instruments together. Those dated examples complement the current emphasis on nature, reusable resources and caring for living things, without turning every past activity into a promise about today's timetable.

Relationships and Communication

Each child has an allocated key person with particular responsibility for them. Daily feedback during the first few weeks helps parents follow settling, while the nursery encourages two-way conversations about children's needs. For a child adapting to a shared, open-plan environment, that individual relationship provides a clear point of contact within the larger setting.

Parents can contribute practical skills, help with community tasks and become involved in children's activities. This gives family participation a concrete form beyond receiving updates. The settling guidance also encourages parents to raise questions promptly and keep staff informed about how their child is feeling, allowing home and nursery to work from the same understanding.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the November 2022 inspection, Ofsted found that close relationships supported children's security and that individual learning plans, assessment and work with external agencies supported progress for children with SEND and those learning English as an additional language. This is a dated finding about the support then in place, rather than a blanket promise about every child's experience.

In November 2022, children used The Colour Monster, a story supporting discussion of feelings, during a group activity. They talked about how emotions affected their own behaviour and other people's, sharing ideas in turn. Preparation for school also emphasised communication, confidence and independence. These are useful practical foundations for moving on, rather than an admissions advantage.

The nursery has achieved Millie's Mark, an award recognising staff first-aid training; paediatric first-aid training also extends to bank staff, volunteers and kitchen staff. This describes training coverage separately from the dated safeguarding judgement. Meals and snacks are offered, and the approach to reluctant eating includes discussing a packed lunch with parents where familiar food might help.

Sessions and Attendance

Opening hours are Monday to Friday, 7.45am to 6pm. The extended day runs from 9am to 6pm, with a minimum booking of two days for unfunded attendance and three days for children eligible for Working Parents Funding. Earlier starts are offered through the breakfast club, 7.45am to 9am, or early morning club, 8.30am to 9am. These additions make a difference for families whose working day starts before the main session.

Year-round attendance covers 51 weeks. Closures include a week at Christmas, bank holidays and one September inset day. For eligible disadvantaged two-year-olds, the funded alternatives are afternoon-based: five sessions from 3pm to 6pm, Monday to Friday during term time, or an all-year stretched pattern combining one 1pm-to-6pm session with two 3pm-to-6pm sessions. These are specific funded arrangements, subject to places being available, rather than interchangeable options for every booking.

Funding and Paid Extras

Accepted funding includes working-parents funding for nine months to five years, universal funding for three- and four-year-olds, and disadvantaged funding for two-year-olds. The entitlement's age wording does not change this setting's current two-to-five age range. The disadvantaged offer includes term-time and stretched delivery, allowing families to weigh the school-term rhythm against attendance across the year.

Activities are included for children paying full fees or using fee-paying funded packages; children on fully funded free places can book activities separately for an additional charge. Those activity bookings require a month's notice to cancel, and missed sessions are not refunded. The distinction between a funded package and a fully funded free place therefore matters when comparing the total commitment. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation.

A deposit and registration charge accompany registration. To end a year-round place or reduce sessions, notice is two full months, counted from the first day of the month after notice is given; term-time places require a full term's notice, given before that term begins. These terms deserve attention if work arrangements may change.

Getting There

The address is St Margaret Clitherow Church Hall, 22 Dulwich Wood Park, London SE19 1HL. The main drop-off point is on Kingswood Drive, with a path from the church gate to the nursery. Enquiries can be made by telephone, email or the contact form, and bookings are processed with written confirmation.

• Mixed-age, open-plan learning. Children aged two to five share the classroom and move between learning areas. At a visit, ask how practitioners help a younger child choose activities and manage the shared space.
• Attendance and funding pattern. The extended-day minimum differs between unfunded bookings and Working Parents Funding, while disadvantaged funded afternoons have their own timetable. Discuss which pattern matches your child's entitlement and your weekly routine during the appointment.
• Everyday independence. The November 2022 improvement points concerned explaining healthy eating and demonstrating hygiene more consistently. Ask how those routines now help children understand and manage their own care.
• The full cost of the day. Activity inclusion depends on the funding package, and notice terms differ for year-round and term-time places.

Dulwich Oaks suits families seeking mixed-age Montessori learning, regular woodland experiences and a classroom that connects directly with outdoor play. Its concrete attractions are the materials children use, the weekly Dulwich Woods visits and the named activity timetable. The dated Good judgement provides useful context, with everyday health education and hygiene modelling remaining sensible visit questions.

It serves both families booking extended days with earlier-start additions and eligible families choosing funded afternoon patterns, including term-time or stretched attendance. The best fit depends on how the shared classroom, specific session commitments and funding-related extras align with the child's needs and the family's week.