About the school
A school built by a parent who kept asking better questions
British Oak Montessori began in 1993. More than three decades later we remain deliberately small, deliberately unhurried, and deliberately faithful to the method.
Our story
Founded on an unanswered question
Our start was in London UK, prior to opening our own we visited, dozen nurseries and found the same thing everywhere: Montessori named on the sign, and a themed craft table inside. The materials were there but the method was not.
Established in 1993, we are an education group with a range of nurseries spanning the UK, Europe and the Middle East. Our prime vision is to nurture the leaders of the future, using our broad range of state-of-the-art facilities and curriculum education establishments.
Today we run two campuses in Abu Dhabi, and the founding commitment has not moved: authentic practice, small ratios, and a promise that no adult in our building will interrupt a concentrating child.
A home-like environment where safety and security are paramount, quality educators guide the way, and children play to learn and grow.
Our mission
To prepare environments in which children from four months to six years construct their own independence, curiosity and self-discipline — and to partner honestly with the families who trust us with those years.
Our vision
To nurture the leaders of the future, using our broad range of state-of-the-art facilities and curriculum education establishments across the UK, Europe and the Middle East.
- Ages welcomed
- 4m–6y
- Infant adult ratio
- 1:4
- UAE campuses
- 2
- Group established
- 1993
The five areas
The Montessori curriculum, area by area
Dr Montessori did not organise learning by subject timetable but by the child’s own developmental appetite. These five areas sit on open shelves, always available, always in the same place.
- Practical Life
- Pouring, buttoning, sweeping and food preparation. Real tasks with real consequences build coordination, concentration, independence and order.
- Sensorial
- Materials that isolate one quality at a time — dimension, colour, weight, sound — so the child classifies and refines what the senses already gather.
- Language
- Spoken vocabulary, sandpaper letters and the movable alphabet lead children into writing before reading, in English with parallel Arabic exposure.
- Mathematics
- Number rods, spindle boxes and the golden beads make quantity tangible, so abstraction arrives only once the hand already understands.
- Culture
- Geography, botany, zoology, history, science, music and art — the child’s place in a wide world, explored through material and story.
The prepared environment
The room is the third teacher
- Everything sits at the child’s height, within reach and without asking.
- One of each material, so children learn to wait, negotiate and share.
- Real glass and ceramic — breakable, and therefore treated with care.
- Order that never moves, so a child always knows where to return their work.
- Beauty as a requirement: plants, natural light and nothing plastic or garish.
See it for yourself
Reading about a work cycle is not the same as standing in one. Monday to Friday, 8am – 4pm.