Holly Tree Montessori

My daughter has attended Holly Tree since April 2015 and I would whole-heartedly recommend it. The nursery feels calm, homely and friendly and the small class sizes help to create a lovely environment which never feels overwhelming. The staff are fantastic- they are clearly motivated and passionate about what they do and always take the time to make sure the children are settled and happy during the handover. We've also been impressed by how the staff are supported in their personal development. Although we didn't know that much about the Montessori ethos before our daughter started the more we learn the more impressed we are and the benefits are clear. Each room has lovely resources for the children to enjoy and to encourage their learning and development and the Forrest room and outside space is also fantastic spaces. The food is also healthy and nutritious and I credit nursery with helping my difficult to wean daughter to develop a healthy and happy appetite!

is well deserved. The nursery is very well equipped with carefully selected, stimulating resources and the curriculum is diverse and follows the children's interests. I have been so pleased to see that my child has been engaged, on a daily basis, in activities which encourage his creativity - exploring natural materials and textures, music making and experimenting with messy play. There is a warm, welcoming atmosphere in the nursery thanks to a group of staff who are just fantastic and clearly love their job! The 'settling in period', which can be as difficult for parents as for children, was so smooth for us. Our son loves everyone at Holly Tree! Staff take the time to really get to know each family and there are effective systems of communication with parents (through facebook updates, email and home-school diaries!). We cannot recommend this nursery highly enough! A beautiful, OUTSTANDING nursery!

We were keen to find somewhere with Montessori techniques, and whilst some places offer this we found Holly Tree to be best able to explain the benefits and demonstrate how integral it is to nursery life. We've seen our daughter grow in confidence over the last few months, and she always enters the nursery with a huge smile as she's happy to see the staff and other children. She eats well, with healthy fresh food prepared at every meal and enjoys the mix of learning and play. The nursery give us daily updates on her progress, and share pictures of her enjoying the day. We'd recommend Holly Tree in a heartbeat.

The staff and management team are very helpful answering all our questions. The learning journey app Tapestry is fantastic and as a parent makes you feel part of the nursery activities and allows us to continue on this journey at home. The outside is a little small, but extremely well laid out. We are really happy with our nursery choice, even though we were unable to get the day we required.

The staff are excellent and give parents plenty of information in lots of ways: Daily sheets, handover chats, newsletters and a great Learning Journey App called Tapestry where photos and videos are uploaded. The menus are great, they try way more things at nursery than at home! The pre-school class is excellent preparation for school. The nursery welcomes parents' views and ideas so you really feel you are a part of the nursery.

I feel thought planning and imagination is put into the activities that the children participate in and is often centered around a theme such as occupations, Olympics etc, every day the children seem to be doing something new which is educational, engaging and fun for them all. He gets dropped off in a morning, with a smile on his face when going into the nursery and picked up with a smile on his face after enjoying another great day there. I think that the staff really understand my son, his personality and encourage his learning, play and independence. Another element of the nursery that I have been particularly pleased about is the fact that they seem to invest money back into it with the forestry school, the kitchen and other smaller things all for the benefit of the children. The staff are caring and genuinely love working with children. All in all a truly fantastic nursery.

Staff genuinely love and care for the children, create a calm, happy atmosphere, and present endless opportunities to learn and develop. Play equipment is excellent and encourages appropriate progression. Children learn independence and support and respect their peers and gain a wide-ranging awareness and knowledge.

There is a challenging, interesting outdoor area and lots of messy creative play and the home-made food is lovely. Communication with parents/carers is excellent, with comprehensive daily feedback and IT based 'Tapestry' where parents and staff input information to build a detailed picture of the child's development.

There is continuity of care, with consistent staffing and excellent progression support as children move through the nursery. A truly outstanding nursery.

It's always bittersweet leaving a little child at nursery, but over the time my son has been here, he's settled in really well. The nursery is well organised and good records are kept to help the children progress. They spend time outside when possible, and there is a generally calm atmosphere which is very reassuring. The staff are excellent and have a good connection with the children. They have a caring and attentive manner that helps the children get over any wobbles on arrival. On a few occasions, I've walked into the room to collect my son and he hasn't even noticed because he was having too much fun playing, which is also reassuring. Like many nurseries I expect, things get quite busy at peak collection times, but the staff handle this well. Having never gone myself as a child, I had misgivings about my son attending nursery, but I am pleased to say that the experience we have had here has made me feel much better.

I would recommend without hesitation.

I don't want to sound too over the top but I never realised until we moved house and I have had to research a new day care, just how much of a diamond we found.

Having not initially intended to use a nursery we went to view Holly Tree due to it sounding so good on their website and were not at all disappointed. It is a lovely warm friendly place that really welcomes family involvement. The staff went out of their way to make our daughters settling in as easy as possible and we never felt rushed to leave before we were ready. As well as our daughter enjoying her time there, we as parents have enjoyed the regular updates on her progress and excellent communication, as well as events such as a Father's Day bbq and first aid course. I would highly recommend Holly Tree to other parents.

This is a fantastic nursery. The staff bend over backwards to support little ones to settle in. They obviously care about and enjoy working with children. It really feels like a family environment and although my son has only been attending for a short period of time we love it!! My son may have inherited dietary intolerances and the staff (including the chef) have been very proactive in identifying what would be suitable - not easy when a baby is weaning. All in all, I would highly recommend this nursery and can already see why it has achieved such a high Ofsted rating. I work in children's services in a senior management capacity and have also been highly impressed with the safeguarding arrangements.

When my little boy was 9 months old we began looking for a nursery for him to attend 3 days a week. As soon as we stepped inside Holly Tree we knew that it was the right place for us. Our little boy has benefitted hugely from the welcoming, calming and homely atmosphere that is afforded by the small group sizes and fantastic staff. Their love and genuine interest in developing the children into well rounded and caring individual little people, is very special and unique.

My little boy loves coming home and telling us news about his days at nursery. He especially loves outdoor play and trips to the forest school! Activities planned are fun, stimulating, varied and most importantly child focussed.

The success of this nursery is down to the high calibre of staff, the high expectations of the management and the team ethos that is strong. I know that my daughter is in the best hands.

The nicest thing has been seeing how my son has developed since attending. The activities are varied and they often have themes days/weeks such as 'occupation week' or 'Olympics'. Though the classes do activities together there is still a personalised approach to each child's needs, recognising how each child learns and develops individually.

The staff are well tuned to recognise when extra time is needed to learn something new or if a cuddle or quiet moment is needed away from the group, taking time to address these signs which could easily go unnoticed. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this nursery.

My son started at Holly Tree a few weeks ago aged 2 and a half. We had recently moved to the area and do moved him from one nursery to another, which could have been a difficult transition for him. However, the team at Holly Tree have been, without exception, fantastic. The were a good number of settling in sessions which allowed him to get used to the team and the other children, and the calm atmosphere within the nursery also definitely helped.

I really like the Tapestry system which updates parents as to the observations the nursery workers have noted for children. It's great to get this extra level of insight.

Before selecting Holly Tree I had viewed half a dozen other settings, all felt far too loud and chaotic. At Holly Tree the children are still having lots of fun, playing outside and enjoying 'messy play' activities, however, it instantly seemed much more calm and more like the activities had a direct benefit to the children's development.

I cannot recommend Holly Tree Montessori highly enough.

You would travel for this nursery .. What they've taught my child from a young age is incredible and the staff are so supportive for parents they also have classes for parents such as first aid or behaviour classes etc

The food is freshly prepared on site and is absolutely delicious.

They recently provided their "favourite recipes" handout book which we have as a family and even when friends are over for dinner I always will check the booklet.

I highly recommend that if you are looking for a nursery look at Holly Tree Montessori the staff are incredible and the benefit for your child to be in such a presence is not only very rewarding (and saves lots of morning time i.e putting on coat and shoes) but a proud moment as to what your child is achieving daily.

I'll be sad when my daughter leaves to go to school.

Well done to the owner and her incredible team.