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Little Fingers Montessori Nursery

Ofsted: Good
(Jun 2025)
·
3.8(13 Google reviews)
·208 Barry Road, LONDON, SE22 0JS · Southwark
Number of places
47 places
Age range
0–5 yrs
Last inspected
Jun 2025
Local authority
Southwark

About this early years setting

Little Fingers Montessori Nursery, established in 2012, is located in a thoughtfully converted Edwardian house in East Dulwich, featuring a private garden. This intimate and nurturing environment is supported by a dedicated and experienced team of Montessori educators.

The nursery fosters a love for learning, encouraging children's growing independence in daily activities and their innate ability to learn through sensory exploration. The curriculum is further enriched by specialist-led extracurricular activities like French, Yoga, Drama, Music, and Movement.

The nursery offers a Baby Room for children aged 3 months to 2 years, noted as one of the few Montessori baby rooms in South London, alongside a Pre-School catering to 2 to 5-year-olds. Children regularly participate in local outings to places such as Dulwich Park, Dulwich Library, Dulwich Picture Gallery, Crystal Palace Farm, and the Horniman Museum.

The nursery utilises 'My Montessori Child,' an iCloud-based software, for observing and tracking individual child development, sharing this information with parents via personalised websites. Little Fingers Montessori Nursery operates Monday to Friday, from 8 am to 6:30 pm, year-round, closing only for Bank Holidays, four staff inset days, Easter, and a two-week period at Christmas.

The nursery received a 'Good' rating in its 2018 Ofsted inspection.

Our ethos

The nursery's philosophy is rooted in the Montessori approach, fostering a love for learning, independence, and sensory exploration. They offer a specialised Montessori baby room and emphasise tracking child development through observation and technology.

What it's like

Children are warmly greeted by their key person, ensuring a smooth and confident transition into the nursery. Leaders and staff foster a calm, welcoming environment with a broad curriculum, building strong relationships and supporting children's emotional and physical development. High expectations for behaviour encourage independence and emotional awareness, as children follow routines and express feelings using tools like a 'worry tree'.

Montessori ApproachBaby Room (3 months to 2 years)Pre-School (2 to 5 years)Extracurricular ActivitiesOnline Parent Portal

Pricing & funding

Pricing on request

This nursery doesn't publish its fees online. Contact them directly for an up-to-date price list and availability.

Key facts

Opening hours

Monday to Friday, 8am to 6.30pm, all year round except for Bank Holidays, 4 Staff Inset Days, Easter and two weeks at Christmas.

Age range

3 months to 5 years

Term time / All Year

All Year

Session types

Full day

Registered with Ofsted

2023

Ofsted Inspection

Ofsted rating for Little Fingers Montessori Nursery

Last inspected 23 June 2025

Safeguarding effective
Overall effectiveness
Good
Quality of education
Good
Behaviour and attitudes
Good
Personal development
Good
Leadership and management
Good

What it's like to attend

Children are warmly greeted by their key person, ensuring a smooth and confident transition into the nursery. Leaders and staff foster a calm, welcoming environment with a broad curriculum, building strong relationships and supporting children's emotional and physical development. High expectations for behaviour encourage independence and emotional awareness, as children follow routines and express feelings using tools like a 'worry tree'.

Inspector highlights

  • Leaders and staff regularly review the curriculum and children's progress, enabling them to identify and address any gaps in children's learning promptly, and providing targeted support.
  • Staff effectively support children to develop their physical skills through the use of equipment for babies and tools like scissors for older children to build core strength, coordination, and fine motor control.
  • Staff provide rich opportunities to enhance children's early understanding of healthy habits by engaging them in cutting fruit for snack time and encouraging teeth brushing.
  • Children benefit from sequentially building their skills through practical life activities that strengthen small muscles and prepare them for everyday tasks.
  • Staff thoughtfully weave mathematical learning into daily routines, encouraging children to count, explore shapes, and identify their properties, building a strong early understanding of mathematical concepts.

Areas to develop

  • 1provide guidance for staff to ensure that they consistently support children to fully understand acceptable and unacceptable behaviours.
Inspection #10394725 · Source: OfstedView full Ofsted report

What parents say

Verbatim quotes recorded in the Ofsted inspection

Parents express high levels of satisfaction with the progress their children make.

Inclusion & environment

How they support every child

SEND provision

Leaders and staff regularly review the curriculum and children's progress, enabling them to identify and address any gaps in children's learning promptly. Staff ensure that all children receive targeted support to reach their full potential and help them to become confident and well-rounded individuals.

Outdoor space

Babies beam with pride when staff praise them for climbing steps and sliding down, encouraging them to develop their physical skills and confidence. Older children use tools such as scissors to cut herbs in the garden. This helps to build their fine motor control and hand–eye coordination.

Google Reviews of Little Fingers Montessori Nursery

3.8
(13 Google reviews)
Pauline Houpillart
11 months ago

I highly recommend Little Fingers! My 2-year-old son is thriving there and learning so much every day. His schedule is filled with enriching activities including mathematics, literature, baking, drama, music, dance, yoga and even French classes—plus plenty of indoor and outdoor playtime. What I especially love is how they promote independence. He prepares his own morning and afternoon snacks at nursery, and I truly believe this has encouraged him to help out more at home—he now enjoys helping set the table and assist with breakfast! The carers and teachers are absolutely lovely—so caring, patient, and genuinely dedicated. They’re doing an outstanding job, and I couldn’t be happier with our experience.

Read on Google
Parvin Musayeva
2 years ago

I cannot recommend Little Fingers Montessori Nursery enough! Since my daughter started attending, she has truly thrived in ways that have exceeded all our expectations. She began speaking more clearly and confidently, and it's evident she's progressing well above the average for her age—a common theme among the children here. The staff at Little Fingers are nothing short of phenomenal. Their dedication, kindness, and hard work create a nurturing environment where children not only grow but flourish. They are incredibly gentle and attentive, ensuring every child feels valued and supported. I've noticed some have mentioned communication issues, but I firmly believe this does not reflect the true spirit and effort of the nursery. These hardworking educators go above and beyond every day to foster skills and politeness in our kids, preparing them to be well-rounded individuals. If you're considering a place where your child can develop in a caring, skill-enhancing setting, look no further than Little Fingers Montessori. It's a decision your family will cherish deeply!

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Lise Backman
2 years ago

Little Fingers has been an excellent choice for my two children. The nursery is warm, welcoming, and inclusive, and the children are happy and well cared for. I have been surprised at how much the children learn at Little Fingers. The breadth of art, play, physical activity, early logic / maths, and language / writing skills that they undertake with the children at the appropriate stage for each child is impressive. They let the children take the lead in their learning which helps them generate genuine curiosity and sets them up really nicely to enter Reception.

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Ania Podeszwa-Borin
2 years ago

This is a wonderful nursery that I cannot recommend enough. The staff are absolutely lovely, professional and most of all very devoted to the children and their wellbeing. My toddler goes to Little Fingers with a smile on her face each day and is ready for pick up in a great mood. This place is definitely quality over quantity. I know that some people have complained about their poor admin in the past, but honestly, that’s mainly about actually getting in and once you’re there, you get all the key info at pick up/drop off plus great pictures from the day on the app. From what I’ve heard about all the other nurseries in the area, admin is consistently the weakest part of their offering and at least at Little Fingers, my daughter is thriving, picking up new skills each week and having a lovely time, allowing me to go to work not worrying about her.

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Simon Brasse
a year ago

We moved our three year old here and can’t say how happy we have been. Sure they have to deal with staff turn over like every other nursery in the sector. But our 3 year old has learned more in 3 months here than in 2 years at their old place. It’s a structured environment none of this free play / chaos so if that’s something you’d be interested in this is the place for you. Structure helps our kid so it was an easy choice and we can’t recommend it enough

Read on Google

Reviews from Google for Little Fingers Montessori Nursery. See all on Google Maps

Inspection history

Most recent inspection

23 June 2025

Good

Only one graded inspection on record — a trend chart will appear here once a second graded report is published.

View full Ofsted report

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This listing has been compiled from official Ofsted records, the nursery's own website, details provided directly by the nursery where available, and other trusted public sources. We regularly review and update listings to keep the information as accurate as possible. Learn more