Apple Tree Montessori Forest School, Clayton

This week has been a busy week of space adventures. We have put our astronauts suits on and jumped in our rockets to look at stars and galaxies. When we got back down to earth we have created what we saw in space. Looking forward to our next week topic of what animals do in winter. Have a lovely weekend guys!!!! Keep safe in the storm.

Do you have a child aged 2 and over?

Don’t let the government funding go to waste!!!

September is just around the corner. Get your child into nursery either term time or even full time.

Check out reviews on Google - from all recent and current parents - we have 5 ⭐️. Come and check us out!!

We, at Appletree have availability, don’t hesitate to contact us to come and see our lovely rural setting in Clayton!

Do you have a child aged 2 and over?

Don’t let the government funding go to waste!!!

September is just around the corner. Get your child into nursery either term time or even full time.

We, at Appletree have availability, don’t hesitate to contact us to come and see our lovely rural setting in Clayton!

We have been very busy since May, focusing on our senses; looking at tasting new things and enjoying quiet sensory activities, even feeling like we are in space!

Then we enjoyed the sunshine and did some sports like, learning how to hit a ball with a bat and running as well as an egg and spoon race.

Then we had a teddy bears picnic and enjoyed bringing in all our teddies and showing them our lovely nursery and big field as well as our garden. We all enjoyed some exotic fruits including pomegranate and mango!

To top it all off we had a lovely visit from the West Sussex Police who showed us their vehicle, did our fingerprints and allowed us to dress up to become official Police Officers.

Then finally we said goodbye to all those facing a new adventure in going to school, we wish them all the best and hope they come to visit. Including Tracey who will be relocating to our Hove nursery.

Good luck to everyone who is beginning the next chapter of their lives.!!

We have spaces from September 2025 call us now on 01273 271969

Come along and meet our wonderfully welcoming friendly staff. Our team nurtures your little ones and helps them develop whilst ensuring their safety and happiness is paramount.

This week has been very busy, we have had a lovely visit from one of the parents who is a nutritionist. She spoke to the children about healthy eating and what foods give us the best energy like watermelon. We also had an amazing visit from the local fire service who showed us their engine, they also showed us what they have on their engine. They even showed us their water hose in action, plus their lights. We hope everyone has a lovely bank holiday weekend and those term time children have a lovely week off.

Last week we had such a busy week talking about doctors and nurses, learning what they carry in their bags. We even had some special visitors from a nurse who taught us how to put plasters and bandages on as well as listening with a stethoscope. Finally, to top the week off we had a visit from the tractor who cuts the grass in our field, he let us climb inside and see how tall we can be. Have a sunny week!!

This week we have welcomed the sunshine 🙂. We have planted some tomatoes and pumpkins let’s hope they grow!
We have also been practicing our scissors and pencil control.
E we also welcomed some new friends and looked at the Rainbow Fish before making our very own Rainbow Fish.

Happy bank holiday weekend everyone 🥰

So the government are opening new school based nurseries!!! It won't be long before babies and our youngest children are being pushed into schools.

What’s next — school-branded babygrows?

Children shouldn’t be in school so young.
Teachers — though amazing in their own right — are not trained to care for babies and toddlers. School environments weren’t built for this age group. And the constant push for “school readiness” is not only developmentally inappropriate — it’s dangerous. It shifts the focus away from emotional safety, social growth, and play-based learning, and towards checklists and control.

Here at Appletree, we believe that all children deserve individualised time and attention, which is why we maintain smaller staff-to-child ratios in comparison to school based nurseries.
We pride ourselves on being a small, local setting with a fantastic team of individuals who know all of the children inside and out.

We have devised a curriculum that supports important skills children need to develop, doing so in a way that is child-centred and fun. Of course, we prepare them for the transition to school, when the time comes, but focusing on the most important skills, such as their emotional well-being; not how many letters they can form.

Our approach and curriculum allows all of our children to thrive at their own pace, through activities that best support their needs, yet reflect on their personal interests.

Children spend on average 13 years of their lives in education, from starting reception to finishing school, excluding the time that schools are closed. Yet, we offer consistency for our children and flexibility for care all year round.

We want to let children be children!
Where they can learn through play, explore curiously and develop their understanding of the big wide world in a fun and nurturing way. We understand that our children learn best when supported, nurtured and cared for; not when in uniform and under a regimented routine.

Our children spend the majority of childhoods inside school buildings let alone now pushing this from a younger age!

Children deserve to be children!

In our local area we are very fortunate to have absolutely amazing schools but they are schools they are not made for Early Years.

The government and local authority should be putting the effort into supporting the current Early Years sector who are struggling rather than adding the extra pressure onto schools and ripping away our children's childhoods.

HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE!!!!

This week we have had lots of Easter fun arts and crafts.

The children got to sit in the tractor (the one that cuts the grass). They loved every minute of it!

They also got to decorate some lovely baskets and even scratch their own patterns on some eggs!

We have also been observing our caterpillars growing at a rapid rate! They have grown almost 4 cm in a week! Next week they will be turning into cocoons to start their metamorphosis!

We hope you all have a fun filled “Eggselent” Easter with lots of “Eggcitement” and “Eggsuberant”amounts of chocolate! 😂🤣😂🤣🥚🐣

But most if all we hope you have a lovely weekend.

This week we have explored healthy habits: looking at our bodies, how to keep them healthy and clean. This ties in with world health day on 7th. The children have learnt about hacky smacky who lives on sweeties and likes to bang holes in our teeth! He doesn’t like tooth brushing.

We have brushed our teeth, washed our hands, talked about having baths/showers and what foods keep us healthy.

https://youtu.be/cwexefzhWHY?si=FBtLQIMOOwZaKERF

Feel free to have a listen about hacky smacky

This week we had lots of fun in the sun! (Hopefully the first of many this year 🤞🏻🤞🏻).

We cooked Marshmallows over an open fire!

We also practiced our fine motor transferring skills using the pipette for the older ones and a spoon for the younger ones!

We made our amazing mummy’s some Bath bombs and some lovely cards, for all the love, support, care and nurturing they give us!

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY TO ALL OUR LOVELY MUMMIES. ❤️❤️❤️