Fairfield Montessori School

A pirate ship, an aeroplane and a shaded baby garden give Fairfield Montessori School a clear outdoor character. This Glastonbury nursery combines four classrooms with a garden built for movement, exploration and imaginative play. For families weighing indoor space against opportunities to get outside, the garden deserves real attention.

Children can attend from three months to five years, and the nursery has capacity for 54 children. At its April 2023 inspection, Ofsted judged Fairfield Good overall and found safeguarding effective. That is a dated assessment: its strongest practical messages sit alongside improvements needed in children's independence and the suitability of some activities.

Attendance is booked by the hour, with a minimum of two sessions each week. This gives families a different choice from fixed morning, afternoon or full-day packages.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) provides the framework for children's learning and development, with play and activities helping them build skills. Fairfield links observations to that framework through FAMLY, its app for tracking development and communicating with families. Parents complete an EYFS starter form about what their child can already do, giving the key person a starting point rather than beginning with a blank assessment.

In April 2023, language learning grew out of children's discoveries. Looking at a snail became an opportunity to learn about antennae, with staff connecting the word to a butterfly seen earlier. The useful detail is the connection: a new word was revisited through another creature, rather than introduced once and left behind.

Books also travelled between home and nursery in April 2023. Children brought their own books to share, while adults read aloud to them. That creates a straightforward bridge between familiar stories at home and shared reading with friends.

There was an important qualification in April 2023. Some tasks demanded more than the children taking part could manage, and their attention dropped as they struggled. Matching an activity to a child's stage matters as much as providing an interesting subject; this was one of the two improvement priorities.

Outdoor and Community Life

The garden offers a climbing frame, balance beams and ride-on toys alongside the pirate ship and aeroplane. These give children different ways to move and play: balancing calls for physical control, while the larger play structures offer settings for imaginary journeys. Babies have a shaded, self-contained garden of their own, a practical distinction from the space used by older children.

A forest school area adds space for outdoor exploration. In April 2023, children searched for insects using magnifying glasses, with adults building activities around their interests. The mud kitchen supported pretend play at that time, while climbing equipment gave children opportunities to practise movement and judge manageable risks.

Community outings include the Abbey Ruins and local residential homes, alongside involvement in local events. These extend children's experiences beyond the nursery's classrooms and garden. Outdoor clothing is part of the practical routine: changes of clothes and wellies are needed because the garden is used frequently.

Relationships and Communication

A key person uses the information families supply at the start to establish what a child can do. FAMLY then brings developmental observations and updates into the same communication channel, with parents able to message their child's room or the management team. This makes everyday contact and discussion about learning part of one system.

Staff usually remain with a room throughout the academic year. That arrangement supports continuity for children and gives parents a familiar team to communicate with, rather than making every conversation a fresh introduction.

In April 2023, staff shared ideas with parents for supporting learning at home, and parents felt included in their children's education. Relationships also helped children separate from their carers and join activities. Those observations describe the nursery at that date, rather than a promise about how quickly any individual child will settle.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

The team includes a special educational needs coordinator, and there are two designated safeguarding leads; all staff have first-aid training. At the April 2023 inspection, Ofsted found that the coordinator worked with families, colleagues and outside agencies to monitor development and arrange targeted support for children needing extra help. For parents, the useful mechanism is the link between home, nursery and specialist advice.

In April 2023, staff had training in safe sleep for babies and used procedures for managing dietary needs and allergies. Walkie-talkies helped colleagues communicate across the setting and organise supervision. These are concrete examples of how care was managed at that time.

Independence needed more attention in April 2023. Adults sometimes handled coats and lunch boxes for children during changes between activities, reducing opportunities to practise doing these things themselves. School preparation includes those small daily tasks, as well as language, friendships and learning activities.

Sessions and Attendance

Fairfield operates at 74–76 Benedict Street, Glastonbury, BA6 9EY. Its booking model is hourly, with bookings accommodated on the hour or half-hour and a minimum of two sessions per week. Families are billed monthly for the hours they book, so the attendance pattern and the booked hours belong together when planning childcare costs.

The nursery opens for 50 weeks annually. It closes for two weeks at Christmas and on bank holidays, making holiday cover a practical part of choosing it. Visits can be arranged by email or telephone.

Funding and Paid Extras

Fairfield accepts 2 year funding, universal 15 hour funding and 30 hour extended funding. Each is delivered term-time only. The nursery's year-round opening therefore needs to be considered separately from the funded attendance calendar; accepting funding does not make every booked hour a funded hour.

Private childcare is charged hourly. Families should use the nursery's current written quotation when budgeting for their chosen bookings.

• Closing time. Fairfield gives both 5pm and 6pm as its weekday closing time. Confirm the agreed collection deadline before arranging work around an hourly booking.
• Independence and activity choice. The April 2023 improvement priorities concerned children doing more everyday tasks themselves and activities matching their developmental stage. On a visit, ask how coat handling, lunch routines and activity planning now address those points.
• Flexible hours and closures. Hourly bookings still require two sessions each week, and the nursery closes at Christmas and on bank holidays. This suits a regular pattern better than occasional one-off care; funded hours also follow a term-time calendar.

Fairfield suits families who want hourly attendance, whether their bookings are shorter or longer, and value a substantial outdoor setting alongside app-based communication. The baby garden, imaginative play structures and Abbey Ruins outings give that choice concrete substance.

The April 2023 Good judgement provides a useful quality benchmark, with clear reservations about independence and activity matching. For parents, the decision rests on how the flexible booking model fits family life and how today's daily routines give children appropriate challenge and chances to do things for themselves.