Apple Green Montessori Preschool

A large field, a nature garden and child-led Montessori learning give Apple Green Montessori Preschool its character. Based at Hockerill Sports & Social Club in Bishop's Stortford, this is a preschool where outdoor space and practical experiences sit alongside classroom learning. It welcomes children aged two to five and has 32 places in total.

Ofsted rated the preschool Good on 3 February 2023. The detail behind that judgement matters: children contributed ideas for activities, practised doing things independently and explored language through outdoor experiences. Those observations belong to February 2023; the current offer includes Montessori education, weekly yoga and an app for sharing development observations with families.

Attendance follows school terms, with morning, afternoon, school-day and full-day patterns. That gives families several ways to shape a preschool week, while keeping school-holiday childcare a separate practical consideration.

Learning and Activities

Montessori here means following children's interests and giving them opportunities to use real objects in a prepared learning space. It works alongside the EYFS, the framework for early learning and care, rather than replacing it. In everyday terms, learning includes practical exploration, communication and social and emotional development, as well as preparation for school.

The classroom approach gives children an active part in what they do. Real-life objects and experiences provide something concrete to work with, rather than making adult instruction the sole organising principle. For families drawn to child-led learning, that is the relevant feature of the Montessori approach here.

In February 2023, children used a scrapbook to contribute interests and activity ideas, which staff then used when planning learning. Children also experimented with making dough, choosing ingredients and exploring the resulting colours and textures. These examples show how choice could lead into purposeful exploration: an interest became something to investigate, rather than simply an activity to finish.

The same dated account identified an important limitation. Mathematical learning needed more support in both organised activities and freely chosen play, while staff coaching needed strengthening to make teaching more consistent. The balance is useful for parents: child-led activity was a strength of the day, but the adult contribution to extending it needed further attention.

Outdoor and Community Life

The large field provides space for riding, running, make-believe and treasure hunts. In the nature garden, children can build and mix using natural materials. These are different sorts of outdoor experience: room for movement in one space, hands-on investigation in the other.

In February 2023, daily nature walks also became opportunities for conversation, with staff helping children describe what they encountered. Outdoor activity therefore contributed to language as well as movement. The current outdoor spaces support a similar practical emphasis, although the daily-walk observation remains tied to that earlier date.

Mini Mantras provides weekly yoga classes, while Star AthElites brings football activities. The additions give children movement experiences alongside their Montessori learning. The yearly Nativity is a different sort of shared occasion: the December 2025 performance brought families together to watch children tell the Christmas story. It is an annual event with a religious theme, something families may weigh alongside the everyday learning approach.

In February 2023, routines gave children opportunities to practise looking after themselves and their surroundings. They cleared their plates, managed outdoor clothing and washed after eating. These small tasks matter for school preparation because they make independence part of an ordinary day, rather than a separate lesson.

Emotions were explored through stories in February 2023, with children considering characters' feelings and possible reasons for them. Staff also explained how behaviour affected other children. That combination gave children language for feelings and a concrete way to understand the consequences of their actions.

At its February 2023 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and children with special educational needs and/or disabilities well supported, including through family referral guidance and cooperation with other professionals. Those are dated findings, not a substitute for understanding how an individual child's care would work now.

My Montessori Child is the app used to share observations about development. It gives parents a way to follow their child's learning through development observations. In February 2023, electronic updates also included suggestions for extending learning at home, linking preschool experiences with family life.

Zebedees supplies lunches, and breakfast, snacks and a hot lunch are included in session fees. That brings food into the attendance package rather than leaving lunch arrangements entirely with families.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Hockerill Sports & Social Club, Beldams Lane, Bishop's Stortford, CM23 5LG. Opening hours are 8am to 4pm, Monday to Friday, during school terms; the preschool closes for school holidays.

The session structure offers four choices. Morning sessions run from 8am to 1pm, afternoons from 1pm to 4pm, and a full day from 8am to 4pm. The School Day runs from 9am to 3pm. The school-day option has a later start and earlier finish than the full day, while the morning and afternoon patterns allow shorter attendance.

Enquiries go through telephone or email, and visits can be booked. The term-time calendar is central to the decision: families needing childcare during school holidays will need to plan for those closures.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funding is accepted for two-, three- and four-year-olds, with attendance delivered during term time. Private paid sessions are also offered. Eligibility remains a condition of claiming funding; accepting funding does not itself establish a child's entitlement.

Fees contain a Montessori service charge supporting the curriculum, resources and additional provision. For eligible families, claimed funded hours are deducted from monthly fees. This structure makes the relationship between funding and the total attendance package an important part of the written quotation.

Breakfast, snacks and hot lunch are included in session fees. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation, and the fees page explains the session and funding structure.

• School-holiday cover. Attendance is term-time only, with closures during school holidays. The choice suits families whose childcare plans can accommodate that calendar.
• Mathematics and teaching consistency. In February 2023, mathematical development and staff coaching were identified for improvement. At a visit, ask how practitioners now extend mathematical thinking during child-led play.
• The funded attendance package. Session fees include food and a Montessori service charge, with eligible funded hours deducted from monthly fees. Ask for a written breakdown covering the service charge, funded-session food and non-food consumables before choosing a pattern.

Apple Green suits families seeking child-led Montessori preschool education with substantial outdoor space and a term-time calendar. Its morning and afternoon sessions serve shorter attendance, while the School Day and full-day options offer longer patterns.

The field, nature garden and weekly yoga give the offer practical substance. The February 2023 judgement provides a positive inspection baseline, balanced by clear improvement points around mathematics and teaching consistency. The strongest fit is with families who value practical independence and can organise childcare around school terms.