
Education & Montessori
Learning & development
Our learning environments offer high quality activities and experiences which cover all areas of learning of the EYFS and Montessori pedagogy. Our intent is for children to learn by adults modelling, by observing each other, through guided learning and direct teaching. Children also learn through play driven by their own interests, so practitioners planning will be flexible to support their spontaneous play. We provide experiences of awe and wonder and a love of learning which inspires curiosity. We also support parents/carers with the opportunity to develop their child’s learning at home.
Children’s Learning Journey
Children who begin their education in a positive learning environment that is vibrant, purposeful, challenging, and supportive stand the best chance of developing into confident and successful learners. We use Famly which is an interactive online learning journal that helps us to record, track and celebrate your child’s progress in the nursery. You can also use Famly as a direct point of contact to the nursery manager or person caring for your child. Children will always be kept at the centre of all that we do in our nursery settings.

Our relationships with the children
Our key workers form strong, warm, and supportive relationships with the children which enables them to understand their own feelings, those of others, make and maintain positive relationships. Positive early attachments are crucial for children to lead healthy, happy lives and supports them in developing to their full potential.
Our baby seedlings rooms
We are immensely proud of our baby seedlings and rose rooms. Where babies are loved and nurtured to grow in a stimulating home from home environment. Team members who are chosen to work in our baby rooms are fun, caring, kind and knowledgeable in good practice of working with babies.
Each baby has lots of attention supported at a one to three ratio with their key worker. Every baby is unique so during the introduction session before they start all information is shared regarding your babies routine and we follow this at nursery to help them settle. We encourage our new parents to phone and check up how things are going at any point in the day. Of course we share pictures and updates on our Famly app which makes the settling in process easier for parents as they are reassured that their baby is happy and being well cared for.

Keyworkers’ use their observational skills and child development knowledge to give a full picture of each child’s stage of learning, current interests, learning style, areas of strength or identify where extra support is needed. We scaffold children’s learning, we engage in their play as a co creator helping the children develop from “what they know” to “what else could they know”. During play social and emotional skills are developed and children’s confidence is built as they explore, relate to others, problem solve and lead their own play. Our environments are stimulating both inside and outside.
Vital role of parents
It is important to us that our relationships with our parents and/or carers are both strong and respectful which enables children to thrive. We empower our parents to support their learning at home which has a significant impact on their child’s learning. We listen to our parents and value their feedback, we involve our parents in our quality improvement plans and share policies and procedures. We take the time to get to know our families and can offer extra help to those children and families who need it, in partnership we can support children to achieve the very best in their early years.
We have stay and play sessions for parents and grandparents and ‘mystery readers’ to give parents the opportunity to engage in the nursery community. We have regular parents evenings which are a social opportunity for parents to also meet other parents. We are flexible and our communication methods differ to suit different preferences.

Call us on:
01444 616 617What is Montessori
What sets the Snowdrop House Group apart from other Early Years settings is that we follow Maria Montessori’s approach to support children’s learning and development. The Montessori approach is different and what makes it work so well, is that it is based on a deep understanding of the way children learn through choosing, trying, and doing activities for themselves. If a child can choose for themselves what he or she would like to do they will concentrate for longer and therefore learning is more likely to take place supported by the guidance of our Montessori teachers.
Children choose from low level open shelves with prepared high-quality resources and activities which offer challenging learning and development opportunities across all areas of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) (2021). On our practical life shelves, we offer activities to promote hand eye co-ordination, fine motor skills and using tools for a purpose such pouring, transferring, and dressing frames. On other shelves children can choose from a large selection of exciting maths, language, cultural and sensorial activities. A Montessori education encourages children to become able, confident, and independent learners and works in harmony with the EYFS.
If you are looking for new ideas or advice in how to support your child’s learning at home or further information about the Montessori activities provided, please enquire as our nursery practitioners and Montessori teachers will happily share these with you.
What is the Early Years Foundation Stage?
The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), is the standard set education, teaching, learning and care of 0 to 5 year olds. It is introduced as part of the Children’s Act and is followed by all ofsted registered nurseries. The curriculum we follow and the guidance is very important as it helps your child get ready for school as well as preparing them for their future learning and successes. From when your child is born up until the age of 5, their early years experiences should be happy, active, exciting, fun and secure; and support their development, care and learning needs.
How my child will be learning
The EYFS Framework explains how and what your child will be learning to support their development. Your child will be learning skills, acquiring new knowledge and demonstrating their understanding through 7 areas of learning and development. We implement this through quality teaching and stimulating environments indoors and outdoors. We have close links with the local schools which supports a smooth and settled transition into school.
The impact of our quality Montessori teaching is high levels of engagement and motivation from children, confident and capable children who feel happy and safe and enjoy coming to nursery. Children make strong progress from their starting points and are offered quality care and education which suits their individual needs.