The nursery is located in the beautiful Itchen Abbas Village Hall with direct access into the garden. Our hall has its own toilet facilities and kitchen. We also have access to the large hall and use this for activities during the week such as Dance and Rugby. The garden is secure with a lovely climbing frame and our own area to grow plants. We have an active outside classroom offering the children a full range of learning experiences from sand and water play to role play and football.
The inside classroom is equipped with a full selection of Montessori equipment. The Montessori approach allows children to learn in a structured but child-led environment where they develop into independent thinkers. We also have dedicated teachers who run courses in cooking, rugby, music, Forest school and dance.
In the course of each session the children are offered a healthy nutritious snack and drinking water is available at all times. The children are encouraged to help select and prepare this. At lunch time children bring their lunch boxes from home and we all sit down together for lunch.
Itchen Valley Montessori has a team of dedicated longstanding teachers. They are qualified and DBS checked. They also undertake a full programme of professional development to keep up to date with current practice. In the past this has included forest school, Reggio Emilia, Safeguarding and annual first aid. Most importantly the team have a passion for education and excellence.
Each child has their own key worker, although we work very much as a team helping build strong supporting relationships. We have an open door policy as we believe the key to success is communication and sharing. We strive to forge mutually trusting and respectful relationships with all parents. We are always happy to discuss children and are available for individual, confidential appointments each day. We have a system that allows us to email parents photographs and observations on key moments of your child’s time with us. We also encourage parents to contribute to the children’s records on a regular basis. We also have events such as key worker mornings, open days, sports day, parent’s evenings and concerts during the year.
The Montessori Method of education is based on the research and work of Maria Montessori (1870-1952). She dedicated her life to studying child development and education. She believed that a teacher’s role is merely to aid and support the child’s exploration and creativity, while the child learns from their environment and other children at their own pace. The Montessori Method helps foster independence, confidence, a sense of pride in achievements and positive self-esteem from an early age.
The Montessori curriculum is made up of seven core areas which link with the national early year’s foundation sage.
Practical life – personal, social and emotional development.
Children carry out exercises such as polishing transferring, pouring and threading. Through these simple tasks children learn to concentrate, self-motivate, be confident and become independent.
Sensorial – physical development and maths
Tasks that introduce children to textures, smells, weight, sounds, comparisons and sequencing. These help children develop awareness, sensitivity and observation and prepare them for the theories of maths.
Maths
Practical life and sensorial introduce the basics of maths into the child’s learning and here they are learning to count, combine, share, compare and really understand mathematical concepts.
Language and Literacy – Communication, language and literacy
Introduction of phonetic sounds of the alphabet to lead the child toward writing, reading, developing their vocabulary and self-expression. Also, an introduction of a wide range of books and supporting equipment like puppets and story sacks.
Cultural – understanding of the world
Books and role play are used to support the children’s learning about new and different cultures. This area also covers history, geography, biology, science, cookery and global festivals.
Creative – Expressive arts and Design
Children are encouraged to participate in creative activities such as arts and crafts, role-play, music and dance.
Physical
Children are encouraged to play in our secure garden with a selection of toys including a climbing frame, scooters, bikes and balls. We also have many physical activities such as dance and rugby in our large hall.
Large, enclosed garden. The garden is a full equipped all weather outside classroom. The children have the opportunity to grow plants and look after our herb garden. A current highlight is our sensorial kitchen with lots of different textures to mix and experiment with.
The hall is a modern well maintained light hall. We have a kitchen, bathroom, changing area, storage and access to the large hall at planed times. We also have a large car park and a bus stop outside the hall.
