Prospectus

The School   -  Kingston Vale Montessori is a private nursery school for 2 - 5 year olds, situated in St Johns Church hall. Our daily sessions are held in a bright, spacious hall with access to an outside play area. The aim of our school is to provide excellent Montessori education in a happy, relaxed and secure environment. The philosophy of Montessori education emphasises the potential of the individual in ways specific to each child. Our teachers are trained in the use of the special Montessori teaching materials. These provide each child with a variety of multi -sensory learning experiences and we structure the use of these within our broader curriculum to help each child discover their potential.

The Curriculum - The Montessori curriculum offers unique educational materials, which accommodate all levels of ability. Children learn and progress at their own pace, developing independence and understanding of the world around them. Our programme is especially designed to promote the desirable outcomes for all children in each of the six areas of learning.

Mathematics - The characteristic quality of Montessori education is shown with great clarity in the approach to mathematics. Children learn by moving from the known to the unknown and from the concrete to the abstract. This process is carefully structured through the use of materials that enable children to recognise that their perceptions of the world around them have a mathematical element, and to nurture this understanding in a carefully structured way.

Personal and Social Development - Our aim is prepare each child to cope with the challenges of tomorrows world. We provide a wide range of experiences and activities that will develop the child's concentration, self-discipline, social skills and love of learning. 

Language and Literacy - The Montessori language activities cover all aspects of language development and provide a solid foundation for literacy skills.

Knowledge and Understanding of the World - Children are enormously inquisitive about the environment, about people and about the world. We divide these broad themes into discrete topics to integrate different aspects of the curriculum including geography, biology, science, history, cookery and festivals and celebrations around the world. Our children observe, explore and talk about their experiences, while developing their knowledge and understanding.

Sensorial Exercises - Children are vibrantly alive through their senses. Our Montessori sensorial materials are designed to sharpen the senses of young children and enable them to make sense of the many they receive. Each of the sensorial materials isolates one impressions defining quality such as colour, size, shape, texture, weight, sound or smell. This helps children to develop and refine their perceptions by enabling them to focus their attention in turn upon each sense without the distraction of others.

Creative Development - Children explore sound, colour, texture, shape form and space through our Arts and Crafts, music and drama activities.

Physical Development - Children develop physical control, mobility, awareness of space and manipulative skills using a range of equipment.

Equal Opportunities - We are totally committed to ensuring equality of opportunity for all children in our school. We challenge attitudes and behaviours that conflict with this. We celebrate the diversity of children's backgrounds, culture, language and experience and make positive use of this in our teaching.

Partnership with parents - At Kingston Vale Montessori, we recognise and value our partnership with parents. We share our knowledge of your child informally each day before and after school, and we arrange formal parent consultation meetings so we can recognise your child's achievements and set targets for the future. Parents and teachers contribute with pictures, books and artefacts related to topics and we also work together on activities such as swimming, cooking, arts and crafts and story reading.