Melbourne Montessori School

Melbourne Montessori School (MMS) is an independent, co-educational environment currently catering for children from 18 months of age (walking) to 16 years of age. 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 interesting 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 own 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, and this leads 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 authentic understanding is the framework of our educational program. 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, as well as 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 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 ideal 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 special 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 for the development of a whole, healthful being. Our emotions are complex and powerful and it is important that we learn to feel them fully and without fear, identify them correctly (in ourselves and others), respect them, and accept them. It is equally important, however, 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 the lifestyle habits most appropriate and beneficial for our bodies and minds.

Melbourne Montessori School (MMS) has undergone significant change and transformation over the course of its 44-year history. MMS has evolved from humble beginnings into a substantive, independent School that is a great 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, lead to the purchased 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, was establishment in 2007, for children eighteen-months to three-years.