The news that Discovery Montessori Free School, near Crawley in West Sussex, failed its recent Ofsted inspection in June is incredibly disappointing for the British Montessori movement, particularly as the majority of Montessori nurseries have done so well, with 88 per cent reaching good and outstanding outcomes in their recent Ofsted visits. While we recognise that the inspection criteria applied to free schools are different to those used in nurseries operating within the Early Years Foundation Stage framework, there is no reason why any Montessori school should not meet the teaching and learning criteria. It is one of the principles of the Montessori approach to focus and monitor individual progress of pupils in an environment where activities are designed to scaffold children’s learning in small, manageable, yet challenging steps.
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