Things have been going to plan for Oaklea Montessori Nursery in Harwich, Essex. It is the UK's first Montessori Sure Start nursery. Since opening in July with provision for birth to threes, it has now extended its places to four- and five-year-olds.
'Essex County Council identified a need for childcare in the area and we bid to become a link provider for the children's centre,' says manager Caroline Allen. 'We heard that we had been chosen last September, but because of legal delays over the lease, we finally opened in July.
'We found that although we advertised for all ages, the most interest came from parents with children aged up to three years old. So initially we opened the rooms for this age group first.'
It has been 'a slow start', she admits - 'but the numbers are creeping up'. The nursery has had to work hard to inform the community about what Montessori actually is.
'There is no Montessori presence in this area, so people don't know about it. So we have been running information evenings about Montessori.'
She has been pleased by the response and has found that both the community and the early years practitioners have been very open and receptive. Recruiting staff has been easy, according to Mrs Allen.
Some of the new staff are already qualified in the Montessori method and practice, while the others will be trained up by Mrs Allen, who is a qualified Montessori tutor and also runs Oaklea Montessori Nursery in Colchester.
'They will be able to do the workshops and the theory during the first year,' she says.
She thinks the EYFS framework for under-fives is also ideally suited to the Montessori method. 'So much of it dovetails with the Montessori approach.'
The nursery has been set up as a Community Interest Company, a type of company designed for social enterprises that want to use their profits and assets for the benefit of the community.
As a social enterprise, Montessori Sure Start Nursery can secure funds from grants and donations, and loans from high street banks and other institutions.
'We were guided down this route by business advisors and Essex County Council,' explains Mrs Allen. 'However, it hasn't been as easy to secure funding as we had hoped -although I am convinced that the political will is there to make sure this a success, and I am sure the funding will be released.'
The nursery received set-up funding from Sure Start and has already managed to access funds 'from a variety of sources'.
Mrs Allen hopes that the Montessori Sure Start Nursery will be the first of many. She says, 'I would love that to be the case, as it is a very natural progression for the Montessori movement. We are already in the primary state school sector and there is a lot of growth there, and I see the same potential in the nursery state sector.'