hello@vmns.co.uk
Village Montessori Nursery Logo

Frequently Asked Questions

Opening times/term time/closure weeks

For full day care:-
Nursery opens at 7.45am.
Nursery closes at 5.45pm.

For sessional care:-
Mornings:- Between 7.45 am and 12.45pm (lunch is at 12noon)
Afternoons:- Between 12.45pm and 5.45pm

Yes we do, our terms follow those of Gateshead schools, and are 39 weeks over the year.

The Nursery is open all year except for:-

  • Bank holidays
  • The week between Christmas and New Year
  • The last 2 weeks of the schools’ 6 week summer holiday

Fees are still payable for Bank holidays, but not for the 3 weeks we are closed. However, no reduction of fees is made for family holidays taken at other times of the year.

Financial/funding

You can find a full breakdown of the funding that might be available to you on our funding page

Funding Information

Yes we do, our terms follow those of Gateshead schools, and are 39 weeks over the year – see the Financial/funding page

Everything Else...

We have been caring for babies and small children since 1983, moving to our present premises in 1999.

“For each and every child to ‘blossom’ through his or her time with us, leaving our care when richer in social skills, life skills and with a love of learning that will last a lifetime.”

We do this by…

  • Providing the very best of childcare – full of love, laughter and understanding.
  • Providing the very best of Early Years Education – full of play and concrete, exciting, stimulating experiences.
  • Valuing, respecting and including each and every child regardless of gender, race, religion, ability or disability.
  • Listening to each and every child and to allowing them to become independent learners. Working in partnership with parents and carers for the good of their child.

Our nursery is unlike most others in that we do not have separate rooms for different aged children. We like to think of our nursery as a ‘home from home’ where loving, caring relationships are built between adults and children, and between children of all ages similar to sibling relationships within a family. This allows emotions, particularly empathy, to deepen, trust to be established, feelings to be managed and self-confidence to grow.

By the time our children reach their pre-school year they are keen and confident learners because they have been ‘pulled along’ by wanting to be part of activities that the previous year have been involved in. We skilfully lead them through early maths, pre reading and pre writing skills, taking each child as an individual and going at their own pace. We sometimes also set tasks for parents to concentrate on at home as well!

We recognise that this will be a big step and once we know which school they will be going to we…

  • Invite the reception class teachers to come to nursery to meet the children
  • Help the children make a special book all about themselves for their new teacher
  • Have school uniforms in our dressing-up trolley
  • Have pictures of their school as a display, including of their teacher if possible
  • Liaise with the school if we feel a child would need more support in school or more settling in visits.

 

This is one of our strengths. We take the view that ‘bad behaviour is just an excuse to teach good behaviour’ and instances where behaviour is not good our children are treated to liberal doses of what we like to call ‘loving discipline’ – firm but fair with lashings of love thrown in!

Research has shown that children need to be very effective talkers so they can become really effective readers once they get to school. So most of our day is spent merely talking to children about anything and everything – extending their language all the time.

Yes absolutely. We have a lovely garden to the rear that has climbing, water, sand and many other resources. We have an open door policy where children can access outside whenever they like and a dedicated member of staff to ensure their safety and to provide stimulating activities. More than half of the garden is covered so that the weather never puts us off!.

We have a dedicated art area and a dedicated member of staff there. Children can explore and create to their hearts content. But not all children find their creative side in arts, some prefer blocks or small world resources and we have a well stocked block area including many small world resources so budding architects or authors can create here as well.

We believe that good, unforced, mathematical activities grounded firmly in reality give children the best start they can have for their future understanding. So counting goes on nearly all the time when we play.

All our staff, except our newly qualified Apprentice, have been with us for many years. Lyndsey has actually been with us over 25 years now.


We have a qualified teacher and an Early Years Professional on the staff team and all other staff have Level 3 childcare qualifications, are qualified in first aid, food hygiene and regularly attend training on Child Protection.


We also host placements from local Universities and colleges.


There is lots more information about our staff on our Staff page

 

Meet the Team
Village Montessori Nursery Logo
The Village Montessori Nursery School in Birtley and Wrekenton provides high quality education and childcare for children aged 0 to 5 in Birtley in County Durham and Wrekenton in Gateshead

Useful Links

Settings

Get In Touch

  • 27 York Road, Birtley
  • 0191 4111 999
  • Mon-Fri : 7:45 To 17:45
  • Sat-Sun : closed
© 2025 VMNS Ltd | All Rights Reserved