About

The Director

Mrs Enimien Inegbedion is the Owner and Director of Arcadia Montessori Nursery School, Lekki, Lagos. She holds a BSc. in Computing and Information Systems and an MBA in International Business. After obtaining her degree, she worked in the Telecommunications field with roles in Sweden, Romania and China before relocating to the UK.

Her passion for children led her through a rigorous process of obtaining a diploma in Montessori Pedagogy (Early Years Educator) qualification from the prestigious Montessori Centre International in London. She also spent 420 hours completing her teaching practice at a wonderful Montessori school in Pinner, London where she earned a distinction. Soon after, she decided to bring the Montessori approach to Nigeria as she is convinced it’s one of the best ways to educate young children.

Why Montessori?

The first 7 years of life are crucial and not to be experimented with. Mrs Inegbedion’s love for photography highlighted her gift with children as she had a knack for calming them down and getting amazing images that their parents loved. She decided she wanted more than just to capture children with a camera, she wanted to make an impact in their lives. On her first visit to a Montessori school, she was in awe of the beauty in the environment, the freedom of movement and of choice, the quiet enthusiasm of the teacher, the attractive and seemingly advanced learning materials, and the calmness of the children. She loved that the children seemed so independent  and self confident which was quite different from what she knew growing up. This piqued her interest and inspired her to learn how children could experience this amazing approach to learning.

The School

Arcadia is a synonym for heaven. Children come and don’t want to leave because of all the love and beauty that surrounds them. Arcadia Montessori School offers a warm and friendly learning environment in which your child can grow and develop confidently. Each child is encouraged to achieve their full potential through the spectrum of activities that they will be guided through. An individual plan is made for each child, which includes their personal interests and stage of development. A group plan is also prepared to help each individual child to adapt to becoming one of a larger group through a variety of activities.

There are three classes at Arcadia Montessori Nursery. The creche has 12 children aged 15-18months with a ratio of 1:3. The toddler community has twenty four children aged 18months to 3 years old and four members of staff (a ratio of 1:4). The pre-primary class has a mixed age group of three to five year olds and there are up to twenty-four children with a minimum of three qualified staff in each class (a ratio of 1:8). Our Year 1 class has a maximum of 10 children.

The Teachers (Directresses)

Our directresses are simply the best! They are warm and loving and bring out the gold in all the children.  They nurture, encourage and build up the children’s sense of self esteem and independence, leaving them ready to take on the world. They also love to have fun with the children. Children learn through play!

At Arcadia Montessori School, our teachers are highly qualified and experienced.  The qualifications vary and each has at least a BSc or BEd. Our teachers have received their training from an accredited Montessori training center and/or hold a Bachelor’s Degree.

All staff members are CPR certified and go through the necessary medical and background checks for the security and the welfare of your child. Arcadia encourages their staff to continue with their professional development and sponsors training courses and they all complete a Paediatric First Aid Course whilst at Arcadia.

Our Schedule

7:30-8.30 Children arrive, move freely throughout the rooms. They can have a snack or breakfast.

8:30-8:45 Morning Circle: Calendar & Weather, Grace & Courtesy lessons, Character Education.

8:45-10:00 Small group Presentation and work period.

10:00 Snack

10:30 2nd Circle: Sharing Bag, Music and movement, Songs, Stories, Phonemic games, Art & Crafts

10:45 Free flow indoors, outdoors

12:00 Outside, lunch, inside rooms-all options

12:30-1:30 Book reading, Rest/Nap

1:30-2:30 Extra Curricula Activities

2:30-6:00 Afternoon Specials, outside, inside rooms all open