The Full Preparatory School Prospectus is available for download HERE
At the Leicester Montessori Preparatory School, we offer a caring, progressive environment for children aged from 3 to 6 years, standing amidst, and supported by, the Nurseries, Grammar School and Sixth Form College. The Preparatory School is a co-educational day school which provides its pupils with an excellent academic environment, enhanced by Montessori teaching methods while maintaining traditional educational values.

The Preparatory School is situated in South-Central Leicester, overlooking the Victoria Park. We offer a full pre-school teaching curriculum, and introduce children to the routine of classroom study gently and with an emphasis on learning through play and exploration. At the same time, teachers ensure that the core themes of language development and number work are at the centre of each child’s academic development in these early years. A place in the Preparatory School is the natural progression from our Nursery School. Similarly, it prepares the children for progress to the Upper Preparatory and Grammar School at age 6.

The School, which runs independently with regard to its day-to-day routine, also enjoys access to the facilities offered by our other schools, and participates in all of the annual Leicester Montessori School events such as Sports Days and the Christmas Production.

The children of the Preparatory School spend the majority of their day with their class teacher. Children experience a rich and varied program, tailored to each individual’s learning style and nurturing their own unique gifts. The School is equipped with a computer room, music room, and a safe outside play-area. Specialist lessons such as music and foreign languages are delivered by skilled tutors. The classrooms are vertically grouped with a low student to teacher ratio, allowing students to receive maximum personal attention.

The full and varied academic program incorporates:

While maintaining a warm, playful Montessori environment, life at the Leicester Montessori Preparatory School is progressive and forward-thinking. The influence of the Grammar School ensures that academic excellence is pursued. It was for Preparatory schoolchildren that the Montessori methods were developed, and they are used creatively by our enthusiastic, qualified teachers.
The School provides a wonderful environment in which a child can both learn academically and develop his or her own unique character. Montessori equipment is used extensively while teachers guide learning activities of both the class and the individual child. Preparatory School classes are small, stable groups that encourage a feeling of security that helps the children to sustain concentration more easily than a larger classroom setting would allow.
We find that, in agreement with Montessori theories, children benefit immeasurably from this pre-school experience. Upon entry to the Grammar School, they are more eager and better able to absorb the material offered by subject teachers and, as a result, progress more quickly than would otherwise be the case. At the same time, Montessori children are typically more relaxed socially and more articulate in adult company. Children of different age-groups are encouraged to interact, resulting in a natural development of courtesy and care for each other.
The Preparatory School believes that the educational and personal development of a child is a partnership between the School, the parents and the child. As such, parts of a child’s day-to-day schooling require the co-operation of the parents. It is important that the School maintain meaningful communication with parents in order to ensure the well-being of the child. Time in the evenings must be made available to the child to complete small amounts of homework or preparation for such things as costume performances or theme days.
The maintenance of school discipline also requires the support of parents. We believe that only through this collaberation can a child receive coherent and effective guidance.

Unlike any school in the Midlands, our Schools operate on a Four Term system. This means that our pupils attend classes throughout the year with the exception of Bank Holidays, Easter and a week during the Christmas break.
We remain open between the three traditional terms and during the summer in a fourth term. Parents may take their children on holiday at any time during the year (commonly for 2-3 weeks during the summer term and another 2-3 weeks total at other times) but we ask that pupils should not be absent during the three term core dates unless it is unavoidable.