2009 CO-PRINCIPAL’S INFORMATION FOR PARENTS

The Schools (Learning Together – Achievement Through Choice and Opportunity) Regulations of 2009, on which our federal funding depends, requires certain information to be provided to parents. Parents will recall that every parent of our school has requested exemption from those aspects of the regulations that were contrary to a Montessori education – in particular the ranked and graded assessments.

It is easier to provide some of the required information as a list – it will also be available in written form. The remainder of the information is in the body of the report.

The school’s funding comes from 3 sources:

1. The Government of Western Australia:

·           Capital funding: 2 Low Interest Loans

1.        $500,000 to purchase the remaining half-share in the property. Notified April 2003.

2.        $850,000 to build 2 new buildings. Notified December 2006.

·           Recurrent funding: $268, 986 in the last year

2. The Australian Government:

·           Capital funding: 1 Capital grant of $1, 056, 854 to build 2 new buildings. Notified December 2006

·           Recurrent funding: $563, 297 in the last year

3. Parent contribution

·           Capital funding: Building Levy: $21, 400 in the last year

·           Recurrent funding: Fees: $557, 622 in the last year

·           Donations: $8571

 AGM PRINCIPALS’ REPORT – MAY 2009

Welcome to all, parents and staff, to this, the first AGM to be held in this building. It is very exciting to be here with you all in our beautiful new environment. More excitement is coming, as we progress towards applications for further funding under the Federal Government’s Building the Education Revolution programme. These will be both for refurbishment and for another new building – this time, to replace the two pre-primary rooms. We continue, however, to maintain our focus on our primary aim – assisting the development of the children in our care. It is always observation of the children themselves which reaffirms our purpose and reminds us that their development occurs most positively within the carefully prepared environment. This prepared environment includes the buildings and facilities, but also the intangible environment of the social graces and courtesies which are an essential part of our community.

At times, maintaining a Montessori environment can be difficult in an atmosphere of global anxiety, expressed within education as a constantly increasing emphasis on quantitative measurement. The pressures resulting from this atmosphere can tend to subvert the Montessori approach. For the sake of our children’s positive development, we all need to resist this pressure, and so staff and parents must support each other, keeping the focus on the essence of the Montessori education we know to be right. The changed format of the Montessori Discussion evenings has been devised to increase the involvement of all staff and parents – to give parents a sense of the shared values and understandings of all the staff.  Discussion nights, articles in the newsletter or on the noticeboard, and direct contact between all staff and parents, also help to build a community of shared values. We have continued the provision of Montessori materials workshops for staff, to refresh, and revitalise our work with this wonderful equipment. It is essential that we all work together, with our focus on the development of the children and the maintenance of the Montessori environment.

One of the areas we are required to report is the proportion of students meeting Education Department of WA benchmarks. All information that is given to parents must also comply with the Privacy Act, and in a small school like ours, we must be careful not to give information that will enable students to be identified to anyone other than their own family. We must also remember that because we are a small school, we have very small numbers in each group, and the figures may show wide variation yet have little statistical significance. Most importantly, we must always remember that even merely reporting on ‘testing’ results gives them an apparent validity which is contrary to our philosophy of education. However, we can report that the Benchmark testing results did not surprise the teachers, that averages have risen or stayed steady in all areas. We are aware of how ‘shaky’ quantitative measures are across such small numbers as we have, and we certainly do not need added support from such measures to have confidence that Montessori education successfully assists the development of children in all areas. However, we can’t help being pleased to note that our school’s averages and ranges of results in this testing compare very favourably with national, state and ‘like school’ ranges. We can also report that those children who were experiencing difficulty are being assisted, and that the work of the children is constantly assessed and discussed.

Since last year’s AGM, held in the temporary buildings, so much has happened that it can hardly all be said in the time available. Of course the biggest thing has been the completion of the building project, a huge undertaking which has required much consideration, care and co-operation from everyone in the school community. And here they are! The recent official opening ceremony, so ably organised by a small working group of parents, will still be fresh in everyone’s minds. This brought together current and past students, parents and staff, as well as special visitors, especially including Mrs Duyker, our founder, who opened the buildings. We were fortunate to be addressed by Dr Noel Nannup, who gave a ‘Welcome to Country’, Mr Luke Simpkins, the MHR for Cowan and Mr Troy Pickard, the Mayor of the City of Joondalup. It’s always a special pleasure to see the reactions of visitors to meeting and seeing our children – who are always such a delight to observe.

Other visitors over the time have been Mr Greg Valentine, the Regional Representative of the International Baccalaureate Organisation, who visited in July, as well as Principals of other schools – the Montessori schools in August, and of small schools in February. We welcomed Ms Andrea Mitchell, the MLA for Kingsley to our school in October of last year, and were happy that she was able to attend our official opening as well. Another group to visit were the panel who came as part of the school’s re-registration process. This was an interesting experience, although we were very fortunate that one panel member is a Montessorian, who therefore understands both what we do and what is required by the state. Our registration was renewed for 3 years. It is always valuable to reflect on what we do, and consider it from another point of view.

Both staff and students also went ‘out’ many times over the year, with staff attending the national Montessori Conference in June, IB workshops in October, February and April, and a Montessori leaders’ forum in March, as well as many other professional development activities. The Co-Principals have also been taking part in discussions towards an AISWA response to the review of the WA College of Teaching Act – we certainly hope this review will take account of the views of those affected! Expenditure on Professional Development is shown in the budget papers: a list is also available showing the range of Professional Development undertaken by our staff.

Our IB students shared in Theory of Knowledge seminars with the International School of WA in August. This school, also an IB school, has been a fantastic help to us, allowing us to use their laboratory facilities while our school was being rebuilt, as well as letting us hold our May examinations at their school. The two groups of IB students also organised a joint ‘ball’, which was a great success, by all accounts. This collaboration, as well as the networks now developing of IB teachers in addition to the co-ordinators’ group, is both helpful and reassuring, as we feel much less isolated than we once did.

After the great success of the Montessori Centenary picnic in 2007, the Montessori schools have decided to hold a Montessori schools picnic each year. Last year’s, held in November and organised by Riverlands Montessori School, took place at Whiteman’s Park and was much enjoyed by all who went. This year we are taking our turn, and the picnic will be at Perry Lakes. Once again, the IB art exam and exhibition was a great opportunity to see the students’ work, and realise just what development they have experienced over their time at school. This event is usually attended by a number of past students as well, so is a great chance to catch up with them. Another major social event is the annual farewell, where once again the secondary students provided entertainment as their band performed for us all. At this function we also performed our small, low-key graduation ceremony to celebrate our graduating students – 6 this year! The IB graduates were happy with their results, and proceeded to the post-school option of their choice. These included Murdoch University, Edith Cowan University, including WAAPA, and the University of Western Australia. Some students decided to defer taking up their offer in order to work or travel. We are delighted with them, and always very happy to see them when they visit, as they often do.

Of course, at the end of 2008, as the new buildings became available, we had a(nother) Big Move! This year, since all was ready in time, the children were able to take part in the shift. We had wanted to include them in the shift out of the old building also, but were not able to. It was great to be able to share the excitement of moving tables, equipment, books, chairs, into the new buildings, Once again, parents assisted in moving the shelving and big items into their new places, ready for the equipment and books to be put on them by the staff. Staff spent a great deal of time preparing the rooms ready for the beginning of the school year – but what a happy time!

During 2008, a major restructure of the secondary group was designed, to take effect from 2009. The result of some years of thought, but given added impetus by the Montessori Conferences, this was intended to add a greater emphasis to manual work for the children, based on Montessori’s recognition of how necessary this is.  Ours is an ‘urban’ Montessori environment, based largely on the European model, and the provision of real work has always been an essential part. This has now been incorporated into a series of ‘projects’ (or ‘occupations’) that the children can engage with. This has been working very successfully, with the construction and sale of some very beautiful outdoor settings, as well as work with furniture restoration, cooking, the construction of a food-producing garden and many other aspects.

We have also been able to increase the opportunities for the Higher Secondary students to undertake vocational training alongside their IB Certificates, if they so desire. Neil Sullivan has been working on this with some highly motivated students, and we now have students in the Higher Secondary group undertaking a mixed program of this kind, as well as those continuing with a program aimed towards achieving the IB Diploma, a more academic focus. As part of these changes, we have significantly formalised the entry process into the Higher Secondary, so that students and their families are making conscious choices about the direction they will be taking, rather than simply ‘drifting’ into it by reason of becoming older.

The school’s retention rate for both students and staff remains high, suggesting that things are going well. Our aim is to hold the school at pretty much the size it is now – retaining the benefits of having a small community. As happens every year, despite the high level of stability of our staff, some changes have taken place. The Lower Secondary re-structure has meant that our wonderful IB Geography teacher has moved his total focus to where he is really most needed – the Lower Secondary. We were extraordinarily lucky to welcome Jaromir Kulir to the IB team, to teach the IB Geography. The return of Sue Hoolohan, both to the IB Social and Cultural Anthropology and to the Upper Primary group has been very welcome, and Faye Peel has moved her attention to the Upper Primary group as well. Zoe Judge and Kylie Toon having flown overseas (one to India, one to Europe) also necessitated some changes among the aides, although we are very happy to report that most of our terrific aides have stayed with us. Yaelle Grinberg has been assisting in the Upper Primary and Lower Secondary groups this year, while Kate Fogarty and Clare Jackson have ably assisted with relief. The long sick leave of Sujatha Abeywickrema has been challenging for the school – a challenge that has been brilliantly met both by existing staff and by the relief work of Ellen McCarthy. The steady and dedicated staff is one of the things that makes the school great – they are a great bunch of people whose total focus, as always, is on the children and the Montessori environment. We are privileged to work with them.

Parents will recall the great assistance with funding that we received from both the Federal and State governments to build the new primary and secondary buildings. This has continued in the form of the grant for computer purchases – these computers are now in use in the IB, the Lower Secondary and the Upper Primary. The funding, of course, does not cover the work, or the costs, of sourcing, installing and maintaining these items – this simply places an additional load on those whose work for the school is already unstinting. The tremendous work of our bursar, Debby Duburguet, and treasurer, Yvonne Warner, continues to astound us all. We owe them a great deal, as we do also to the patience and forbearance of the school community as a whole. Both will once again be drawn upon as we undertake the construction of the new pre-primary buildings. It will be fantastic to have them – and once again, the excitement of seeing their construction before our eyes, will be compensation for the inconvenience that we are sure to experience during the process.

This past year has been filled with excitement and achievement for all of us … and the fun doesn’t stop! The most significant focus, always, is on assisting the positive development of the child, the child as a part of society. Always, the aim is that the fully developed adult created by the child will in turn create a better, more peaceful society. As seems to be ever the case, we can look at our world and see the pressing need for this, just as Dr Montessori did. Working as we do with the children, seeing them express their inner natures, gives us hope and encouragement from day to day, reminding us of how fortunate we are to be working in this fantastic environment.

Copyright © 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 The Montessori School
Last modified: 16-06-09