The Grove
School Location
Westbourne Grove Church, Westbourne Grove,
OFSTED Report
London, W11 2RW
T: 020 7223 0123School Hours
Mornings:
Parent Information
8am – 1pm
Afternoons:
1pm – 6pmNursery Manager
Jessica Dilhe
Designated Safeguarding Lead
Jessica Dilhe
About Our Teachers
About us
Paint Pots The Grove is our year round Montessori Nursery in the heart of Notting Hill.
Located within Westbourne Grove Church, in the heart of Notting Hill. The nursery can be accessed through the main reception of this community building and is located in the west wing of the first floor. The Grove has been fully renovated internally into a modern space with period features.
From September 2021 children can join us from 2 years old until 5 years old. Our 2-5 year old classroom is divided into two areas. The larger area offers all areas of the curriculum including activities for both gross and fine motor skills. A windowed partition creates a smaller classroom that is designed for our older children to work with more advanced materials.
From September 2022 we will open our second classroom and offer a limited number of places to children from 12 months old. Our 1-2 year old classroom is a home from home. A calm room of sensorial experiences to interest your child’s natural curiosity as they grow and develop. Natural materials, aromatherapy and gentle music set the tone for this space. With changing facilities, sleeping coracles and supported seating this younger classroom contains everything your child needs.
Our environment is carefully designed so that all activities are displayed at the children’s level, encouraging freedom of movement and choice. The space allows the children to share a wide range of Montessori materials and enables them to discover, explore, learn and enhance their skills at their own pace. Every area of the EYFS (Early Years Foundation Stage) is seamlessly blended with our Montessori curriculum and materials.
The teachers observe the children at work which enables them to have a strong understanding of each individual child so that they can plan to follow their interests and extend their learning. Presentations and materials are prepared to challenge children to increase their knowledge and abilities.
We continually assess and refresh our activities to ensure the environment is always fresh, enticing and relevant for our children. The children work and play independently, with their friends or with a teacher. Alongside the free choice of activities that the children have access to, we offer structured group activities such as rest your mind time, cooking, music and show & tell.
At Paint Pots we like to bring the outdoors indoors. Nature tables display a wide range of natural seasonal treasures found by our children, families and staff. The children arrange the fresh cut flowers for our tables. Our classroom goldfish are a firm favourite and each year we usually have caterpillars growing into butterflies and frogspawn to further explore life cycles.
We encourage the children to grow seeds or plants of their own and care for them. Sometimes our cress or salad seeds grow into our lunch. Linking nature to what we eat as a learning experience.
Our planters create a natural green environment. Plants have been chosen specifically for air quality and to provide a rich visual representation of growth and natural diversity. We favour natural materials throughout our environment and our classrooms are designed to represent a calm, peaceful and natural environment.
London is renowned for its green spaces. As true Londoners we take advantage of local parks and gardens as our playground. Our school minibus delivers the children directly to local gardens, playgrounds and city parks that provide a varied outdoor experience. From manicured gardens with colourful flowers to wild grassland filled with grasshoppers, we explore everything London has to offer.
Outdoors is a valued part of our classroom and our curriculum and we will use it for a wide variety of activities. This could be observing nature on a mindfulness walk, going on a scavenger hunt, art in the park, learning about plants, trees and flowers and of course lots of play and exercise!
We use our trips outdoors to extend the learning we do in the classroom. Extending mathematics through counting leaves or measuring sticks; expanding language through naming trees, animals and weather; or practicing skills that relate to our knowledge and understanding of our local environment such as following a familiar route and practicing our left and right. We believe that learning can be practiced in any environment, whether at home, at nursery or outdoors.
We believe in serving food that is fresh, varied and healthy. Our meals are freshly prepared by trained chefs who are passionate about the ingredients they work with. Our varied seasonal menus include a range of options to make healthy eating easier for everyone. Our menus are nutritionally well balanced to ensure we meet all children’s dietary and cultural needs, as well as exploring different tastes at mealtimes.
Good nutrition is essential during childhood, as it is a time of rapid growth, development and activity. This is also a vital time for healthy tooth development and prevention of decay. General eating habits and patterns are formed in the first few years of life. A nutritious diet, together with good hydration, provides your child with good eating habits for life, healthy skin, a healthy weight, secure emotional well-being, and improved behaviour. The nursery staff have a key role in introducing young children to a wide variety of foods and establishing a pattern of regular meals and healthy snacks.
Eating is about more than food, it is a social event too, and nursery staff join your child’s mealtimes. Mealtimes are a relaxed and social part of the day where we all sit down and eat together. Staff encourage interaction between the children, good table manners and the development of social skills.
From 2 years old, children participate in setting tables and clearing away at the end of a meal. This enhances the development of social skills by helping to increase children’s confidence, self-esteem, independence, and decision-making skills, and is the next step for school readiness.
A seasonal and fresh variety of snacks will be available throughout the morning and afternoon sessions. A snack table is available for the older children throughout the day with water, fruit, vegetables and some healthy snacks created by our chef. The older children can choose and prepare their own healthy snack and our teachers are on hand to assist if needed. We frequently discuss what foods are healthy and how they help our body.
Contact us
For more information about Paint Pots The Grove contact Jessica our Office Manager on 0207 223 0123.
Latest news
Keep up to date what is going on at Paint Pots.
Georgina Hood, Founder & Principal of Paint Pots Montessori Schools, Awarded OBE in King’s Birthday Honours
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