Denning Montessori School

Nature Nurture Network

“Mighty Oaks from Little Acorns Grow.”

Welcome to Denning Montessori School

Discover a nurturing, nature-focused, and community-oriented environment for your child at Denning Montessori School, nestled in the beautiful countryside of Fawley Village, just a 15 minute drive from central Henley-on-Thames or Marlow.

Nature Nurture Network

Our Values

At Denning Montessori School, we embrace the Montessori and Forest School philosophies to support the holistic growth of each unique child. Our goal is to nurture emotional intelligence, encourage social responsibility, and cultivate skills that will help your child build a life they love.

Our Approach

By embracing the Montessori and Forest School Philosophies, along with our knowledge of child development, we support the holistic growth of each unique child and embrace their infinite potential.

Our aim is to nurture emotional intelligence, encourage social responsibility and cultivate an attitude and skill set for each child to build a life they love.

TESTIMONIALS

We believe in a strong partnership with parents.

“Denning is an excellent place for a child to kick start their schooling experience. It is a calm safe place which nurtures children and makes them feel at ease which is essential for a healthy happy schooling life.

The children enjoyed the story about the tree that was meant to be. All about a little tree left alone in the forest and then decorated by all the animals. The children decided to find a small tree and make their own decorations for it, complete with a leafy star! They were busy making lots of Christmas crafts, Santa tree cookies, jingle bell sticks, ivy and hazel wreaths. What talented children we have! They also moved some large logs that had been cut and learnt how to carry them safely, helping each other when they were too big for one person! Each child had a turn at using a bow saw to cut their own cookies. They were careful to listen to the safety instructions and were really pleased with themselves when the last cut was made and the cookie fell to the ground!

Christmas cheer at Denning Montessori. Swipe to see some of our joys of the week. 🎄✨🎄✨

#spanishinearlyyears#preschoolspanish#montessori#eyfs
#henleynursery#henleyparents#henleyonthames
#henleyonthamesbusinesses#marlowlife
#marlowmums

We were so lucky today with the rain staying away. The copse, the children’s forest looked beautiful as we walked towards it. The children made their own game of What’s the time Mr Wolf. They loved chasing bubbles through the trees catching them before they blew away.

Our week in pictures

#letthemplay#montessori#independentplay#play
#earlyyears#eyfs#concentration#preschool#nursery
#henleyparents#marlowparents#marlowlife
#villagelife#montessorischool

In forest school today we learnt that hedgehogs hibernate and carried out an experiment to see if we could keep our hot water bottle hedgehog warm. We made him a bed of leaves and then covered him in layers of more leaves to keep him cosy. We checked him at the end of the session and he was still lovely and warm. We also enjoyed bouncing up and down on the slack line together. We set sail in our pirate ship and fished for octopus with our wooden spears. We had fun using sticks and logs as drum kits. What a busy morning!

#forestschool#forestwchoolleader#hibernation#letthembe
#freshair#learningoutdoors#montessori#villagelife
#earlyyears#preschool#henleynursery#marlowlife
#marlowmums#henleymums

Tube phones are popular for chatting and telling news, to friends. This fun experience expands vocabulary, encourages rich language development and encourages spontaneous talking for all our children. Placing pegs on the outdoor weave frame, strengthens fingers and balancing on the wobble board, strengthens the whole body and improves balance. Meanwhile in the classroom, a child wanted to arrange flowers for the classroom, so with a teacher collected rosemary from the herb garden, and placed them around the room. What a joy Denning teachers experience being with our busy children. ✨📞🪴✨
#vocabulary#communication#montessori#preschool
#eyfs#earlyyears#letsplay#henleyparents
#marlowmums#henelynursery

In forest school today we read the story of the hedgehog band and joined in playing our log drums. We found different ways of beating the logs to make different sounds. We made some hedgehogs using leaves for their spines, it was tricky work as we had to lift up rubber bands and carefully put each leaf in place giving our fine motor skills a good work out. We also had great fun balancing and bouncing on our slackline which was attached between two trees.

What a wonderful experience at 3 Oaks Orchard, Greys Road, Henley on Thames. An organic orchard owned by the Poostchi family. Denning Montessori families were invited to collect windfall apples and follow a process, from whole fruit to pulp, to the extraction of juice. The children collected and washed the apples and the parents chatted in the sunshine, as they chopped apples. The apple pieces then got put in a scratting machine. Once in a pulp a ‘cheese’ was made, layering with pulp in net and boards. The ‘cheese’ was placed into a press worked by a hydronic jack, where after the squeezing down the juice appeared. The children also saw a traditional press and had a go at winding the handle, to press the pulp. We all enjoyed tasting the juice. If in the area, it’s worth a visit to purchase some juice or apples, take some cash for the honesty box. 🍎🍏

#apples#windfall#autumn#orchard#organicfruit
#harvest#community#montessori#outings#parents
#family#henleyonthames#supportlocal
#henleymums

Celebrating Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, with Miss Renuka. Stories, making rangolis, tasting foods, wearing clothes from India, grinding and smelling Indian spices.

#diwali#divali#festivaloflight#montessori#eyfs
#henleynursery#marlownursery#henleymums
#marlowmums#marlownursery

Lots of fun was had in the forest today. We made leaf crowns after reading the Leaf Man. We used clay to create our own creatures. We jumped in the puddle by the gate enjoying the splashing and splashing noises that we made. We found different ways of swinging in the hammocks. A little ladybird came to say hello!

A misty start to our Friday walk. We found some beautiful sparkling cobwebs. The children spotted some tyre tracks by the vines. We found many different coloured leaves of all shapes and sizes and brought some back with us. We found some sweet chestnuts which the children enjoyed feeling as they were lovely and smooth unlike their outer shells which were very prickly!

We had fun going on a leaf hunt today seeing if we could match leaf colours to the colours on our cards. Some of the children decided to make a lions face using the lovely yellow leaves with cones for eyes and sticks for whiskers. We followed each other walking round the log circle balancing carefully and trying not to bump into each other. We also enjoyed listening to stories.

#forestschool#forestschoolleader#montessori#outinnature
#freshair#letthemplay#creativity#henleynursery#eyfs
#henleymums#marlowmums#marlowlife

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