My name is Emma White, I am the Manager and Owner of Small World.

After receiving my Montessori Diploma I worked in Montessori schools in both Suffolk and London. Then a move to New York as an ‘’English Nanny’’, opened up a chance move into publishing and a 10 year career followed. I left Penguin Books and London in 2014 to buy Small World with my husband and raise our son in rural Suffolk, close to my mother.

We are so proud that Small World has been rated ‘Outstanding’ twice by Ofsted and work hard to keep it the small and happy nursery it is (Most recently in May 2021).

As a working mum myself, we hope to offer families a truly personal experience with flexible, high-quality childcare and a fantastic Montessori education at its heart. Through our highly qualified staff, resources, Montessori materials and purpose-built setting, we help and encourage children’s independence. Within our nurturing environment your child’s health and wellbeing, both emotionally and physically, is our highest priority and that starts with your child’s settling in, we have free trials and shorter three-hour sessions to start on to ensure a happy beginning for your child. At these trials we use a nursery communication app called Eylog, to record information about your child and together we can track your child’s progress, with pictures and comments.

All our staff are DBS checked and paediatric first aid trained, we are a combination of experienced Level 4 Montessorians and Level 3 childcare practitioners who have completed 18 hours’ of Montessori training from our East Anglian Montessori Ambassador.

We believe that the early years are the most important for exploration and discovery; that children need opportunities to create, play, make friends and learn whilst having fun.  Small World offers each child an atmosphere of warmth, care and understanding and a place to develop, both as an individual and part of a group.

Meet Our Rooms!

We have two linked classrooms at Small World.

Blossom Class – for children aged 11 months – 2.5 years

Welcome to Blossoms! Children in this class are 1-2 years old and there are usually 3 or 4 children for each qualified member of staff up to a maximum of 11 children.

In this classroom you will find a rich environment with low level furniture to encourage and enable the children to select what they would like to play with independently. Each day we provide a variety of activities to spark their natural curiosity. We select inviting activities to stimulate their interests, to enhance their learning and to support their development.

We offer lots of sensory opportunities as using senses during play can support a number of areas. These include their hand eye coordination, fine and gross motor skills, problem solving skills, language development, muscle strengthening, self-awareness and so much more!

We include a number of opportunities that support the Montessori approach and ethos, we encourage their independence, we give them time, trusting and respecting them, letting them lead, to nurture their curiosity.

Outdoor play is important to us – we spend time outside every day. Most children love being outdoors and nature is a key ingredient to spark curiosity and endless learning opportunities.

We love to do baking, messy play and role play in our home corner, as well as many other activities that are available for the children to choose from the shelves.

We have a general theme that we plan activities around (usually for the 3 classes) although we also like to let the children direct their own play and choose what to do.

If your child requires a nap in the daytime, we will accommodate this in our calm, relaxing sleep room environment. We have cots, corical and Sleep mats for the children to choose from. They will have a basket with their bedding for the week set out, this will get washed at least once each week.

In Blossoms we encourage independence by teaching the children to put on their own slippers, wash their hands and tidy away toys once finished. This also helps prepare them for their next move to the Apple Tree classroom.

We also support children’s transitions to the pre-school room by sharing information about the child with their next key worker and taking them into the classroom for a number of sessions before their move.

We encourage speech and conversation with weekly Sing & Sign classes taught by Nicky, as well as using Makaton signing every day for things like ‘good morning’, ‘please’ and ‘thank you’.

….and most of all, we have FUN!

Apple Tree-Room – for children aged 2.5 – 4 years

In apple tree class, our aim is to learn together in a secure and happy environment, where the children feel valued and form good relationships with peers and adults.

Through a prepared Montessori environment, children can access specific practical activities that encourage development, encompassing all areas of the EYFS.

Encouraging independence is a priority which we believe develops self-confidence and a natural desire to learn.

Our area can cater for around 24 children, aged around 3 years and school age.

Our day starts with a good morning session including practice with days of the week and numbers and also includes the start of a planned activity for that day.  We offer a mixture of adult led and child led activity, always with the child’s interests and needs at the centre. The child is able to make choices through the day, which also links to their development in independence etc.

Three times each week we offer special activities provided by external teachers. These are dance, yoga and forest school. The children enjoy these activities immensely and gain a great deal from them.

Our activities start to prepare children for their next steps for school, when they are ready including phonics/letters and sounds and early reading. We ensure information is passed onto the receiving school to help with their onward transition.                                             

More information

• Montessori and Early Years Foundation Stage
• Day Nursery Policies
• Daily Programme
• Contact the Nursery