Westwood Montessori Nursery

A working farm, an orchard and woodland learning give Westwood Montessori Nursery a day shaped by real tasks: growing food, tending animals and learning to manage things for oneself. At Spriggs Farm in Little Sampford, the Montessori approach connects children's choices indoors with practical experiences outside. Independence has a concrete meaning here.

At its 13 June 2022 inspection, Ofsted rated Westwood Outstanding and found its safeguarding arrangements effective. That judgement belongs to the nursery's practice at that date. The current offer accepts children from six months to compulsory school age, with capacity for 44 children in total.

For younger children, the Nido has a dedicated sleep room and its own garden with a ramp for crawlers. Older children choose Montessori materials and learn alongside children of different ages. School Day and Extended Day bookings serve different family routines, with all-year-round attendance and a term-time option for preschool children.

Rooms and Ages

Nido means nest: the nursery room supports early movement, language, emotional development and social interaction, with a separate sleep room and direct access to a garden whose ramp lets children who are not yet walking explore independently. Sleep and active play have separate spaces. That is a useful practical detail for parents choosing care for a baby, rather than simply a description of the room's atmosphere.

The Pre-school room combines freely chosen activities with specialist Montessori equipment for mathematics, literacy and science, while its mixed-age arrangement lets younger and older children work together. Room changes depend on readiness and the materials a child needs, rather than age alone. The practical implication is that a birthday does not automatically determine a move: observation of the individual child shapes the transition.

Learning and Activities

The EYFS provides the required learning and development framework, including language, physical development, relationships, mathematics and creative expression. Montessori adds the way Westwood organises materials and choice: children select accessible activities that interest them, with adult guidance, and work at their own pace. The Montessori method page explains this approach to the nursery day.

Practical Life gives that philosophy something tangible. Its classroom activities include pouring, fastening buttons, sweeping and carrying objects, connecting self-care with looking after shared spaces. These are tasks children can recognise from home. Handling a spoon or using tweezers also gives small hand movements a purpose, rather than making preparation for writing depend only on pencils and paper.

In June 2022, babies explored differences in size through wooden blocks and a shape sorter, while older children used counters and a number mat for addition and subtraction. Story boxes gave children props with which to invent narratives. Those examples show how materials could connect physical exploration with mathematical ideas and spoken language at that time.

Outdoor and Community Life

Outdoor access is woven through the day. Children can move between inside and outside unless conditions are unsafe, using sheltered areas as well as the garden. The mud kitchen, water play area, tunnels and slopes create different reasons to move, investigate and work together; the orchard and growing area connect outdoor activity with food.

Farm life adds responsibilities beyond play equipment. Children help care for pigs and chickens, gather eggs daily and grow seasonal produce for lunches. In June 2022, children were planting tomatoes in the greenhouse area and learning about harvesting their own produce, including raspberries, making a connection between growing something and eating it. These experiences give the nursery's emphasis on caring for living things a practical setting.

Forest School extends learning into West Wood behind the nursery, with opportunities during the week for children who wish to take part. Sessions involve hands-on woodland learning, including skills connected with caring for nature and meeting practical needs outdoors. Art Hunt uses found materials to make pictures or sculptures; Tree Trail involves collecting material and making bark rubbings for tree scrapbooks. Participation in Forest School is part of the paid package arrangements described below.

Relationships and Communication

Each child has a key person who helps both child and parent adjust to nursery routines. Individual planning takes place termly, and an online learning journey holds observations and pictures of activities that have caught the child's interest. This links the adult who knows the child with a record parents can follow, rather than leaving progress to a general account of the room's day.

Weekly activity updates and bulletins keep families connected with nursery life. Coffee mornings, mini concerts and fun days offer opportunities to share it in person. Access to online sharing is included in the Integrated Montessori Package, which combines additional services, supplies and enrichment; families taking funded hours without that package do not receive online observations, photographs or messages through the platform.

My Montessori Lending Bags offer another connection between home and nursery. Topics in the summer 2026 newsletter included toilet learning, emotional regulation, healthy eating, oral hygiene and the arrival of a sibling. These give families a specific subject to explore together, rather than a general instruction to continue learning at home; lending resources also sit within the nursery's additional-charge arrangements.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

The SENCO works with the key person and parents when a child needs additional support. A One Plan sets out the child's needs and intended outcomes from the family's perspective, is reviewed regularly and can bring in outside professionals such as speech and language therapists. The mechanism matters: concerns lead to observations, discussion and a plan, with parents involved in deciding what happens next.

At the June 2022 inspection, Ofsted found that children with SEND were identified promptly and made excellent progress with detailed care planning and support from other professionals. Current arrangements also address moving on to primary school: once a school place is confirmed, receiving staff can visit, families and practitioners share the One Plan, and additional school visits may be arranged where needed.

Staff have enhanced DBS checks and regularly updated safeguarding and paediatric first-aid training. These are practical arrangements rather than a substitute for the dated safeguarding judgement. For the youngest children, the sleep room offers somewhere separate to rest when needed, while room transitions take account of developmental readiness.

Sessions and Attendance

Westwood's address is Spriggs Farm, Thaxted Road, Little Sampford, Saffron Walden, CB10 2SA. School Day runs from 9am to 4pm; Extended Day runs from 8am to 5.30pm, Monday to Friday. Children must attend at least twice each week. These are two different booking lengths, so families can match attendance to their routine without treating the whole opening window as the only option.

All-year-round provision operates for 51 weeks, while term-time attendance covers 38 weeks and is offered in the preschool room. Public holidays, the Christmas break and staff-training closures interrupt the calendar. For the 2026/27 cycle, Christmas Eve closes at noon, and 4 January 2027 is a training closure, details that matter when arranging cover around the holidays.

Nursery enquiries go to westwood@mymontessori.org.uk or 01371 832870. Applications are processed after the application form and Transition Charge have been received. The waiting-list process takes account of matching sessions and start dates, with priority considerations for existing children, staff children and siblings; other offers prioritise full-time, all-year-round requests. This is a booking rule, not a statement about spare places.

Funding and Paid Extras

Westwood accepts 15- and 30-hours funding and Tax-Free Childcare. Funding can be used term-time or stretched across all-year-round attendance. Private hours are charged separately from a daily Integrated Montessori Package: this package is compulsory for unfunded attendance but optional for children attending funded hours only. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation; the fees and funding page explains the structure.

Breakfast, hot lunch and light tea are included in private fees through the package; for funded hours they carry an optional separate charge, while opting out means supplying meals from home, and parents also contribute healthy snacks for sharing. The nursery's food policy excludes items containing nuts, and staff check a dietary and allergy list before snack sessions, using original packaging to check ingredients.

Nappies, wipes and suncream are included through the package; on funded hours they are optional paid extras, and parents supply them when opting out. Families can choose individual extras or smaller packages. The funded-only opt-out retains EYFS provision but excludes Forest School and online sharing, requires parents to supply specialist clothing, and restricts attendance to funded term-time hours. Access to specialist activities and farm visits can also be limited.

The Transition Charge covers up to two settling sessions and two uniform items; it does not apply where a child already eligible for Early Learning for 2-Year-Olds takes settling sessions within that entitlement, and uniform is then excluded. Reducing sessions or leaving early requires two months' written notice before the next term, with fees payable during notice.

• Package choices change the day. Funded-only families can opt out of the Integrated Montessori Package, but Forest School, online sharing and supplied meals are among the exclusions. Discuss the precise arrangements during a visit, including any individual extras you would choose.
• Outdoor learning starts young. Nido has its own garden ramp, and outdoor areas are accessible unless conditions are unsafe. During a visit with your child, ask how practitioners balance free movement, rest and animal-care experiences for their stage of development.
• The calendar needs advance planning. Term-time attendance is a preschool option, children attend at least twice weekly, and session reductions require notice before the next term. These rules matter for families whose work pattern may change.
• Shared snacks need allergy planning. Parents contribute food for communal snacks, alongside ingredient checks and a policy excluding nuts. Families managing allergies should confirm current handling arrangements before their child starts.

Westwood suits families who want Montessori choices connected with everyday responsibility, animal care and woodland learning. The garden ramp and dedicated sleep room give baby care concrete provision; Practical Life and West Wood give older children's independence something to work on.

School Day and Extended Day bookings suit different routines, with all-year-round attendance and a preschool term-time option. The important financial decision is how funded hours and the Integrated Montessori Package fit together, because opting out changes supplies, communication and activities. The Outstanding judgement from June 2022 is a strong dated endorsement; the present practical offer merits attention on its own terms.