LONDON — Prince George will begin nursery school by the end of January, Kensington Palace announced Friday as a new photo of the royal family was released.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge enrolled Britain's two-year old future king at a Montessori nursery school near their country home at Anmer Hall in Norfolk.
"We are looking forward to welcoming George to our nursery where he will get the same special experience as all of our children," Westacre Montessori Nursery said in a statement.
It uses the teaching methods pioneered by Italian doctor Maria Montessori more than a century ago, encouraging independent learning in the classroom. The U.K.’s Ofsted education standards authority gave the Westacre a "good" rating in a June inspection report — the second-highest ranking on a scale of four categories.
The report said that staff at Westacre are "good role models and have high expectations of children's behavior" and praised the manager's leadership. It added: "Children display high levels of self-control. They are respectful of each other and the environment. They are confident and staff support their growing independence well."
The nursery school announcement came as the new photograph of the family — including seven-month-old Princess Charlotte — was published. It shows them outside at their London home.
Photographer Chris Jelf took the picture in October.
"I thoroughly enjoyed photographing a very lovely family, although you have to be sharp as you don't have long when there are two young children involved,” he said in a statement.
