Les Petits Lapins

At our Montessori nursery, children join our toddler rooms from 11 months old. Les Petits Lapins (The Little Rabbits) is the younger of the toddler rooms at The Gower School. A homely, family-like environment is provided for your toddler, where he or she will receive a lot of attention and individual care from our team of dedicated and experienced staff. Miss Klaudia Majdosz, who runs the group, has been working for us since September 2020.

Montessori Ethos and Key Person Approach

Each child has their own Key Person who looks after him or her each day, every day. They get to know your child and their individual preferences. As well as catching up informally with your child’s Key Person on a daily basis, we produce annual written reports on your child’s progress. We also offer you the chance to talk to your child’s Key Person in depth at one-to-one sessions to discuss their progress.  The Principal will also email all parents a fortnightly nursery newsletter.

For babies aged under two years old, there is a staffing ratio of one adult to every three babies. For children aged over two years old, there is a staffing ratio of one adult to every four children.

Montessori Nursery Rooms and Materials

The children in Les Petits Lapins enjoy a lovely, bright room with lots of natural daylight and a door leading out into the garden, where the children go to play and take part in exciting activities twice each day. There is a ‘home corner’ with pots and pans for play cooking, dressing-up clothes and activities. We use natural toys with hardly any plastic.

There are many new activities that are introduced in Les Petits Lapins, including sensorial, messy play, storytelling, song sessions and Heuristic Play. 

All the activities are designed to encourage independence, such as toilet training, taking off and putting on their own indoor and outdoor shoes, putting on their own coats, choosing their own snacks, feeding themselves, choosing their own activities, cleaning themselves and clearing away their own activities and dishes after meal times.

Curiosity informs Learning

We do not make the children join in with activities. Instead, we set the room out with lots of different toys, games and activities and then encourage them to roam and have freedom of choice. Children sit in small groups for mealtimes and activities. We find that they often start to copy and learn from other children and parents are often amazed that, because of this, their child will not only sit at the table for meals, but also try out lots of new foods!

Children go on regular walks in the local area, including to the nearby park. Our professional sports coach, runs a weekly football coaching session for the children, and our professional musicians, Miss Louise Loft and Miss Sarah Wilkinson, join Les Petits Lapins each week to run music sessions, including guitar, singing, percussion and piano in the hall. Our staff are all trained in Tiny Talk (sign language for babies) and we offer parents the opportunity to find out more about this unique way of communicating with your child through baby-sign language. For more information, please visit: www.tinytalk.co.uk

Protecting our environment for the future is at the heart of The Gower School’s ethos. We reduce our waste by using washable, real cotton nappies for all of our babies and toddlers. When they are changed, they wear a washable nappy. If you are interested in sustainable nappies, please visit: www.nappyeverafter.co.uk

Les Petits Lapins’ day runs from 8am to 6pm.

• Breakfast is available at 8am.
• Snack at 9:30am.
• Lunch at 11:45am and afternoon tea at 3:45pm.
• Regular quiet/sleep times according to your child’s routine.