At Farnham Montessori Nursery School, we have always prided ourselves on our honesty and open transparent practices. This is particularly relevant to our fees and funding arrangements.

Whilst we value the contribution the government funding makes towards the costs of childcare, it is set at a level that does not cover the true cost of delivery.

This can compromise the delivery of quality that is available and the sustainability of good quality childcare in the future. This is reflected in the number of settings closing or deciding to remove themselves from the funding altogether.

We do not believe this to be fair to parents who should be able to choose the offer they want for their child(ren) and benefit from the funding arrangements. To this end we charge any additional costs to the parent within a period that is not funded in any way e.g the first half hour of each session. We do not charge parents for any of their funded hours.

A summary of some of the added value we offer your child/ren

Under the current guidance from the government, we are required to outline the additional costs to parents which form part of our fees. Some of what we offer is difficult to quantify.

We aim to offer your child/ren a high quality of care and education to do this...

• we follow the Montessori curriculum which informs the learning and development program and philosophy we use within the school. The prepared environment and Montessori curriculum includes an extensive range of Montessori activities and equipment including books, creative activities and much more.                                                                           
• we have a dedicated and fully qualified team of experienced practitioners with a thorough knowledge of child development. We have experienced, Montessori teachers with a fully qualified Early Years Teacher (EYT) leading the team.                                                                  
• we believe that children need higher adult to child ratios than are outlined in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) statutory requirements. We aim to offer a ratio of 1 adult to 5 children within the nursery.                                                                                                       
• we offer consumables that are environmentally friendly, and which we consider are essential to your child’s wellbeing – e.g. Organic milk, sun cream and wipes that are hyper allergenic and recycled paper for craft activities.                                                                                                     
• The Farnham Montessori Nursery school opened in 1992, we have many years of experience running a successful nursery.                           
• we support the view and research that suggests… ‘Early years education lasts a lifetime’

All of the above compliment and add to the essentials we supply to ensure that your child is offered the very best experience in order for them to thrive and flourish and experience the best start in life.

Montessori advocated for a method that allowed the individuality of the child to shine, guided by an adult who truly understood the natural development of the child, (Montessori, Education and Peace, 2007:72).

We strongly believe that early years education should be rich, engaging and full of real-world experiences. We offer an enriching environment and go beyond the basics to provide the quality of care and learning we are proud of, which costs more to deliver than the government funding.