The Montessori School

A Victorian house on Chestnut Grove gives The Montessori School its Balham identity, while Montessori teaching gives it its educational character. This is a nursery for children from two years of age, with capacity for 51 children in total. Its named classes include Camellia, Marguerite and Nest: a useful starting point for understanding how a child's day is organised.

Ofsted rated the nursery Outstanding at its 2022 inspection, dated 10 June to 17 October. The concrete examples behind that judgement are more revealing than the grade alone: children investigated machinery, made things from plant ingredients and chose activities independently. Those are dated observations, rather than a description of today's timetable.

Morning, afternoon and full-day attendance sit alongside extended sessions, with term-time attendance and optional Holiday School serving different family routines.

Rooms and Ages

The Balham class names include Camellia Class and Marguerite Class, alongside Snowdrop, Violet, Rose and Nest. Each has Montessori teaching attached to it. The Victorian house is the physical setting for these classes, giving this branch a different identity from the group's Wimbledon location.

For parents, the important distinction is between the nursery's overall capacity and the group their child actually joins. The 51-place total describes the whole setting. It should not be read as a class size or as a measure of how many children attend together on a particular day.

Learning and Activities

EYFS (Early Years Foundation Stage) provides the framework for children's learning, development and care: the daily programme combines opportunities to play, communicate and develop practical skills. Montessori teaching forms part of the private offer alongside that framework, rather than replacing it. The additional package includes individual Montessori teaching, vocational lessons and social-skills sessions tailored to children's needs.

In June 2022, children chose activities for themselves, including experimenting with spray bottles and watching water leave marks on a mirror. Adults helped them use the equipment, but the children's own exploration supplied the interest. This is a useful illustration of independence at this age: selecting something to investigate, trying it and noticing what happens.

Another June 2022 activity began with fruit, vegetables and harvesting. When children became interested in combine harvesters, staff changed direction and helped them construct a vehicle, explaining its components. The educational value lay in following a specific question far enough to make it tangible, rather than keeping everyone on the original task.

The same period supplied unusually concrete examples of practical investigation. Children extracted gel from aloe vera and combined ingredients to make hand gel; others used syringe pumps to operate a digger arm. Plants and mechanical movement became things to explore directly. These examples help parents understand what Montessori combined with play looked like at that inspection date, without turning individual activities into a promised recurring programme.

Holiday School adds a separate attendance option outside the normal terms. It is optional and requires advance booking and payment. Visiting-teacher classes pause during these periods, so holiday attendance and term-time attendance should not be treated as identical programmes.

In June 2022, settling arrangements were adapted to individual children, including those returning after a lengthy break. Staff used picture cards to help children become familiar with the adults caring for them. That is a practical response to separation: making unfamiliar people recognisable before expecting a child to feel comfortable with them.

Moving between age groups also received individual attention during that period. Settling was therefore treated as something that could matter again after the first days at nursery. For a family considering a change of class, this is a useful historical example of support extending beyond the initial start.

At its 2022 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and judged support for children with SEND highly positively, including adapted activities and access to a smaller room with dedicated adults for social and communication work. This finding brings a physical detail into the account of inclusion: support could take place in a separate, smaller space as well as through changes to ordinary routines.

Current Balham leadership roles include a deputy SENCO, deputy safeguarding lead and curriculum lead. These are identifiable responsibilities within the branch, rather than a general promise of support. The paid additional-services package also includes specialised social-skills groups according to individual need, which makes its relationship with a child's support arrangements an important part of understanding the offer.

Family involvement had a concrete form in June 2022. Parents were encouraged to share their backgrounds and experiences with children, helping them learn about communities beyond their own families. Communication here was not solely about receiving updates: families could contribute to what children learnt.

A chef prepares meals for Balham and Wimbledon. Lunch can be added to attendance, while tea is included in the extended afternoon and full-day options ending at 6.30pm; snacks and non-food consumables are separately charged within the additional-services package.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is 102 Chestnut Grove, Balham, London SW12 8JJ. Enquiries can be made by telephone on 02086738037. Opening hours run from 8am to 6.30pm, Monday to Friday, but that overall window is separate from the sessions a family books.

The attendance menu is detailed. Breakfast runs from 8am to 8.30am. Morning attendance has a flexible start between 8.30am and 9am, with collection between 11.45am and noon; adding lunch moves collection to between 12.45pm and 1pm. Afternoon sessions begin between 12.45pm and 1.15pm and finish between 3.50pm and 4.15pm, or continue to 6.30pm with tea.

An afternoon including lunch begins at 11.45am. Full-day attendance starts between 8.30am and 9am and ends between 3.50pm and 4.15pm, with an extension to 6.30pm including tea. The Balham charge schedule also identifies morning sessions from 8.30am to 12.15pm and afternoon sessions from 12.45pm to 4.15pm. These are useful distinctions to settle in the family's written booking, rather than treating every morning or afternoon as interchangeable.

Sessions can be combined, and the nursery recommends three half-days as a minimum rather than presenting that recommendation as a compulsory booking rule. Additional sessions, lunch and early starts can be booked ad hoc, subject to availability. After-school care for children attending local primary schools runs from 3.15pm to 6.30pm and includes tea; it is separate from the nursery-age offer.

Three terms cover 38 weeks, with nine further weeks of optional Holiday School. The closure pattern is two weeks in August, two at Christmas and one at Easter. That makes the holiday option useful for families extending beyond term time, while still leaving closures to plan around.

Funding and Paid Extras

Private childcare and funded childcare are both offered. The entitlements described are universal 15-hour funding and 30-hour funding, subject to eligibility. Funded-only attendance is stretched across 47 weeks and is subject to availability; the 15-hour funded-only session runs from 8am to 10.40am each day. The 30-hour funded-only option is also subject to availability.

The distinction between funded-only attendance and the private package matters. The additional package combines longer attendance, vocational lessons, snacks, school trips, individual Montessori teaching and specialised social-skills groups according to need. Those services are itemised but supplied together as a package, rather than described as independently selectable extras.

Snacks and non-food consumables are separately charged in that package. For funded-only attendance, breakfast and a snack before 10.40am attract voluntary additional charges if required. Lunch is an additional booking, while the extended sessions ending at 6.30pm include tea. Families receive a tailored proforma invoice after discussing their session requirements; current prices come in the nursery's written quotation. The funding and additional-services page explains the structure.

• Funded-only or extended attendance. The funded-only morning ends at 10.40am, while participation in the extended programme requires attendance beyond that time. Compare the actual hours and the combined additional-services package with the care your family needs.
• The booked collection time. Flexible morning and afternoon collection windows sit alongside fixed Balham times in the charge schedule. Agree which timing belongs to your chosen session when discussing the booking.
• The youngest child's group. The whole-setting capacity is 51, and Balham has several named classes. On a visit, ask how the youngest child's group is organised and how a move between classes is managed.
• Holiday coverage. Optional Holiday School extends attendance beyond the 38-week terms, but advance booking and payment are required, visiting-teacher classes pause, and seasonal closures remain. Match this pattern against the weeks you need care.

The Montessori School suits families looking for Montessori teaching with a choice of morning, afternoon or full-day attendance, rather than a single fixed daily pattern. Term-time attendance and optional Holiday School broaden that choice, while the Balham classes give parents a concrete structure to discuss.

Its strongest quality evidence is dated: the 2022 judgement and the practical examples of children investigating plants, machinery and their own questions. The financial decision is equally concrete. Funded-only mornings and attendance with the additional private package are different offers, and the combined charges deserve the same attention as the session times.