Most nurseries have received ‘satisfactory’ or ‘weak’ grades; Little Trotters is still the only one marked as ‘excellent’. All four Montessori schools that have been inspected have achieved overall ‘good’ grades and ‘excellent’ grades in specific areas.

In the case of the Montessori School of Cayman, which was the first of this model to open in Cayman, inspectors said that across all quality indicators, most judgements were ‘good’ with some graded ‘excellent’.

“Staff at the school effectively facilitated Montessori principles such as the promotion of children’s independence, choice and responsibility in learning. The school was a happy, safe community characterised by an ethos of mutual respect and care for the children’s welfare,” inspectors from the Office of Education Standards wrote in the report.

“The learning environment was well planned and engaging and provided a good quality of multisensory experiences for the children who displayed high levels of enjoyment and engagement in their learning.”

The inspectors found that children in all age groups had positive learning dispositions and often concentrated well on their tasks.

“Interactions between the staff and children were nurturing, respectful and affirmative. Staff morale was high,” the report said, adding that parents expressed high levels of satisfaction with all aspects of the work at the school.