Welcome to Little Cakes Montessori School
Previously called the Chorleywood Montessori School, Alpa took over the ownership in 2011 and renamed it Little Cakes Montessori.
Little Cakes is located in the beautiful backdrop of Chorleywood House Estate. This spans 170 acres of farmland, orchards, woodland plus it is home to a variety of wildlife. We are very lucky to have complete access to these amazing grounds.
The nursery itself comprises a Preschool room (children aged 2.5 to 5 years) and a Baby room (children aged 12 months to 2.5 years). Both the preschool room and baby room were completely refurbished in August 2019. And as well as access to the grounds of Chorleywood House Estate, there is a dedicated, secure enclosed outdoor area for all of the children.
The nursery is open from 8 am to 6 pm for 50 weeks of the year. There is the option to attend morning sessions, afternoon sessions, and full-day sessions.
Currently, the capacity of the preschool room is 50 children and the baby room is 12 children at any one session.
The staff ratio is 1:8 for 3-year-olds, 1:4 for 2-year-olds, and 1:3 for 12 months - 2 years.
Our outdoor area (as part of the nursery) was created in 2016. We were fortunate to have access to an unused parking area in front of the nursery. This was converted into a playground for all of the children. Our wonderful Oak tree provides shade in the summer and shelter during the rainy months.
The baby room has been zoned. There is a dedicated sleeping area, nappy changing area, play area and eating area.
The preschool room is organised into the following areas; Practical Life, Language & Literacy, Science, Sensorial, Snack area and free play area which includes our climbing wall.
All the children take part in traditional Montessori lead activities which include: Pink Tower (a set of 10 wooden cubes that increase in size and they stack on top of one another), Long rods (a set of 10 Red Wooden Rods all the same thickness but varying in length from one decimeter to one meter), and Number rods. Plus practical life skills such as pouring, cutting, threading, using tongs, washing up and sweeping etc. We also use sandpaper letters and numbers.
As well as all the Montessori lead activities, we follow the Early Years Foundation Stages (EYFS) - the standards that school and childcare providers must meet for the learning, development and care of children from birth to 5 years of age.
We also have arts and craft activities, water play, sensory play, weekly baking, forest school twice a week, Spanish, Tennis, yoga, music and movement available for all of the children.
We provide lunch and tea for all of the children.
The catering company we use is https://www.yumyumfoodcompany.co.uk
The meals are all predominately vegetarian apart from having a fish-based meal on occasion, such as fish fingers for tea for the preschool children. Please let us know if your child has any food allergies or intolerances.
All mid-morning/mid-afternoon snacks are provided (which include low-sugar cereals, vegetables, fruit, and toast).
Preschool children sometimes prep their own desserts (low sugar bakes such as cookies and fruit-based desserts).
Tennis is an option for children aged 3+. This activity takes place on Mondays (it is an extracurricular activity with additional cost) and is taught by the Chorleywood Lawn Tennis Club https://www.chorleywoodtennis.com/
And we also have the option to take Spanish lessons. This is taught by https://www.minilingos.com/ on Wednesdays. This is available to all of the children (it is an extracurricular activity with additional cost).