Curious, Creative, Collaborative Learners

Image: courtesy parent Steve Willis

Denice Scala, CEO

The 3^rd edition of InFocus is brimming with inspiration and a small window into the daily learning our children encounter.

Some of the initiatives we are introducing this year:

• Literacy assessments the Montessori Way
• URSTRONG Friendship Day for 6-12 children
• Stepping into Shakespeare's World for 9-12 children
• Parent Conferences earlier in the year and scoped in advance for your convenience
• A parent education evening showing the continuum from Birth to 12 years on Magical Math- Mathematics the Montessori way

We welcome Alena Swinbourne our Stakeholder and School Relations Coordinator. Her article provides feedback from our recent parent survey.

We are listening to what you are telling us. I extend a warm invitation to all parents at any time to come and talk. We are taking careful, judicious steps to address your concerns, many of which are built up over years so not something we can solve overnight. Yet, we are working hard behind the scenes to do just that. There is much to be gained from engaging with us in a positive, productive way.

Morning and Afternoon Teas have been scheduled this term for parents in each year group. Our Way Ahead 2018-2022, our strategic roadmap, will soon be available for parent consultation. It's exciting to see this coming together and I am looking forward to sharing this with parents.

In the meantime, in consultation with the staff, we've settled on 3 goals for 2018:

• Enhancing our provision to support individual student needs
• Designing a unique approach to building positive social relationships based on Grace and Courtesy
• Providing an innovative parent education program

Every time I observe in one of our classrooms, I leave with the desire to go back to school. That says a lot. The experiences the children encounter are uplifting and inherently engaging. Having worked in mainstream schools and now coming late in my career to Montessori, I am struck by one phenomenal difference: the children in Montessori at FMS are never bored.

Their days flow with purposeful engagement and work with meaning. Sometime we parents are the ones who need reassurance about our decisions and I think that is particularly true when you take a leap of faith and choose a Montessori education for your children. Stick with it, particularly the specialised teaching that FMS offers as all our Directors are AMI trained. I thought you would find this YouTube clip by Trevor Eissler ‘Montessori Madness’ interesting: