Melbourne Montessori School

[EduCativ]

Melbourne Montessori School (MMS) is an independent, co-educational environment currently catering to children from 18 months of age (walking) to 16. Programs include Parent and Toddler playgroups, an Early Learning Program, a Junior School, and a Senior School. There are two campuses, one in Caulfield and one in Brighton. Each has age-appropriate outdoor spaces with impressive structures and classrooms equipped with Montessori materials. These environments are prepared for children and adolescents at each developmental level and allow them to take responsibility for their education. As a result, our students develop a life-long passion for learning.

 

All classes are multi-age, giving each child the opportunity to learn from others and the flexibility to develop their personality at their own pace, both socially and intellectually. Children usually stay with the same teacher for three years, leading to strong teacher-student bonds and a deep understanding by the teacher of individual student characteristics.

The Montessori approach: The Montessori approach to learning in its most accurate understanding is our educational program's framework. We understand that Maria Montessori's methods and materials are not a closed system; however, we commit to apply the words, wisdom, and practical advice of Maria Montessori and her closest associates as the lens through which we select, design, and evaluate our program and curriculum.

We believe that self-esteem, human dignity, and emotional well-being, and the ability to communicate and cooperate effectively with others, whether adult to adult, adult to child, or child to child, must be valued as highly as academic and material success.

We affirm that we will support and promote the principles and practice of Australian democracy, including the commitment to an elected government, the rule of law, equal rights for all before the law, freedom of religion, freedom of speech and association, and the values of openness and tolerance.

We affirm that we will support the idea that all beings are interdependent and that every form of life has value regardless of its worth to human beings. We will support and promote the belief that we need to protect and restore the integrity of Earth's ecological systems, with particular concern for biological diversity and the natural processes that sustain life and to manage the use of renewable resources such as water, soil, forest products, and marine life in ways that do not exceed rates of regeneration and that protect the health of ecosystems.

We affirm that education begins at birth and continues throughout life and that, therefore, all our values apply equally to adults, parents, teachers, guardians, and all children in the school. We believe that intelligence is not rare among human beings. We nurture intellectual, emotional, social, spiritual, and physical growth to develop a whole, healthful being. Our emotions are involved and potent, and we must learn to feel them fully and without fear, identify them correctly (in ourselves and others), respect them, and accept them. However, it is equally essential that we learn to harness their power and not let them control our lives unchecked.

Our ability to interact positively with each other is essential to creating a peaceful world. We acknowledge our place in the physical world and seek to discover, understand, and adopt lifestyle habits most appropriate and beneficial for our bodies and minds.

Melbourne Montessori School (MMS) has undergone significant change and transformation throughout its 44-year history. MMS has evolved from humble beginnings into a substantive, independent School that is an excellent place for children to learn and grow.

The first Montessori Cycle 1 classroom in Victoria was established in 1974 at the current Brighton campus. The success of the three-year-old and four-year-old program generated demand for a Montessori primary class established in 1976 and a permanent home for two primary classes, leading to the purchase in 1979 of the current Caulfield campus. During the next twenty-six years, Caulfield Montessori School & Brighton Montessori School co-existed as separate entities.

In 2005, the schools merged to become Melbourne Montessori School with 250+ students across both campuses. MMS became an independent preschool and primary school for children from 3 to 12 years of age. A Montessori early childhood program, Parent & Toddler and Early Learners, established in 2007 for children eighteen-month to three-years.

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