About

Tamworth Montessori Preschool is a parent run, community based preschool caring for children aged between three and five years.

At Tamworth Montessori Preschool we seek to understand, interpret and implement the teachings of the Early Years Learning Framework and the Montessori Method of Education. We believe that by combining these complimentary curriculums we give our children the best possible start in life.

We believe that access to a quality early childhood education is the right of every child and provides an important foundation for those children, by developing within them a positive attitude and approach to education and to the wider world. By providing a quality early childhood education we aim for our children to have a positive self-image, develop positive relationships with others and increase their capacity to problem solve, be competent, thoughtful and contributing members of society.

At Tamworth Montessori Preschool we encourage a holistic view of the child. We are interested in the development of the whole child. We believe that children are self-motivated learners who explore their world as they pass through what Maria Montessori called sensitive periods. That is times of intense attraction to certain activities in different developmental areas.

Both these educational philosophies foster a love of learning and encourage independence by providing a learning environment full of opportunities for children to engage in spontaneous, purposeful activities which we refer to as work as a mark of respect and to highlight the importance of what the child is doing.

We also acknowledge the vital importance of play defined by the Early Years Learning Framework as:

A context for learning through which children organise and make sense of their social worlds, they engage actively with people, objects and representations.

Through play we believe that children have the opportunities to talk, to listen and explore language. Play provides opportunities to be social, to explore, experiment and solve problems.

Our fully qualified Educators play a vitally important part in supporting our children’s learning, through them we provide a warm, nurturing and friendly environment. A place where our children can develop individually and socially. Our Educators have a guiding role, offering opportunities for both child led and intentional teaching. Our Educators are observers, unobtrusively yet carefully managing each child’s development, recognising and interpreting each child’s needs. Our Educators are calm, consistent, courteous, caring and completely focussed on each child’s total wellbeing. We recognise that our Educators are individuals and respect the knowledge, skills, training and experience they bring to their role.

We support all areas of our curriculum through a combination of play based learning and enabling our children to engage with the Montessori materials in our prepared learning environment. The key principles which underpin our children’s learning are:

Independence

Our classroom is set up to enable the children to become as physically independent as possible from the adults, they are encouraged to do things for themselves. This is achieved by the way that the materials and activities are prepared and the approach and attitude of the Educators.

Indirect preparation

Just about every activity in our learning environment has two purposes, one direct and one indirect. The direct goal provides the child with a skill they can use and develop in the present, the indirect goal focuses on preparation for skills used in later life.

Order

This is not just about the physical set up of our learning environment, but also about consistency of Educators and their approach, the order of presentation and social order in the classroom.

Choice

The environment gives our children the opportunity to choose what they do from a range of activities suitable to their developmental needs.

Freedom within limits

Our children have the freedom to choose their activity, to work as long as they want on that activity without interruption providing that their activity does not interfere with other children’s ability to do the same.

Mixed age range

We believe that by having a mixed age range we encourage our children to learn from each other. Our older children act as guides to the younger ones which increases the older child’s sense of self-worth and agency and inspires the younger ones. With such a variety of levels, each child can work at their own pace in a non-competitive, cooperative environment which directly prepares them for living in society.

Movement

We acknowledge the importance of movement in learning. Our children move freely within our learning environment, working at tables and on floor mats, going from the Inside Learning Environment to Outside Learning Environment.

At Tamworth Montessori Preschool we will act as advocates for our children and acknowledge our duty of care. We believe that our children have the right to be safe, happy, nurtured and well cared for. In an attempt to ensure this we have embedded into our program the teaching of protective behaviours through programs such as Seemore Safety, Kids and Traffic, and SAFE Series.

Tamworth Montessori Preschool acknowledges the importance of critical reflection in all that we do.

Tamworth Montessori Preschool recognises that the first nations of Australia, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ways of learning will enrich our whole preschool community and we will strive to embed their unique cultural and spiritual connection to our land into our program. We acknowledge the Gamilaraay people as the traditional custodians of the land we are on. We recognise our Gamilaraay community and have the utmost respect for their elders past, present and future.

Tamworth Montessori Preschool acknowledges and respects the uniqueness of each of our children, their families, culture, language, beliefs and customs. We acknowledge that children learn within the context of their family and community and bring a wide variety of experiences with them to our preschool. It is our aim to encourage a partnership with our families and encourage them to be active participants in our preschool and embed all of these cultures into our program and thus ensure that it is meaningful and accessible to all children. We will support and include children and families with diverse abilities and alternative perspectives. This inclusivity is extended to all our children, our staff and visitors.

We will look outwards and strive to form connections with people and places outside of our preschool walls. We believe it is important that everyone, children and adults, have an understanding of what it is to belong to a community and we endeavour to help our children to understand what it is to belong in a number of contexts. We believe that children are citizens in their own right and should therefore be given the opportunity to engage, participate and contribute meaningfully with their communities.

At Tamworth Montessori Preschool we acknowledge the importance of teaching our children about sustainability and in giving them the opportunity to learn about and participate in caring for our environment.

At Tamworth Montessori Preschool we believe in the importance of teaching our children about the benefits of physical activity and healthy eating. Activities which promote these benefits are embedded into our daily program. Each day there are several opportunities for physical activity - our gym program and outdoor playtimes. Our Outdoor Learning Environment provides our children with the freedom to develop a wide range of skills. Our staff model healthy eating and we take the opportunity to discuss healthy lifestyle choices during our daily group times.

At Tamworth Montessori Preschool we have a supportive culture of ongoing quality improvement in which the learning and development of each child and each staff member is highly valued. We recognise the importance of providing opportunities for our staff to have professional development. This is driven by and reflected in the management and governance of our preschool.

We view our philosophy as a living document and will endeavour to continually evolve and improve it in the light of new early childhood research and from the contributions of our children, families, staff, and management.