The Montessori School Kingsley

Contemporary education grounded in timeless Montessori values.

Helping children grow, from age 3 to 18, with a love of learning and a world of possibilities ahead.

Located in Kingsley, on beautiful Whadjuk Country, our school is surrounded by native bushland and looks over Lake Goollelal.

We’re proud to be Australia’s longest-running Montessori school, and the first Montessori school in the world to offer the International Baccalaureate. That pioneering spirit still shapes who we are today.

While education continues to evolve, our commitment to Montessori remains at the heart of everything we do. We focus on the whole child – nurturing their physical, intellectual and social development – and supporting them to grow into confident, capable, and curious learners.

Our Classrooms

To an outsider, a Montessori classroom might look unusual: children are free to move around and work on tables or on the floor; unused material is kept out of sight, which makes the classrooms look almost pristine; each material has its own place on shelves, which are students’ heights, making it easier for them to access the material; children can choose to work alone or in a group, and, to most people’s surprise, the classroom is usually quiet.

We carefully prepare our learning environment to promote curiosity, resilience, independence, and connectedness, to self, to others, and to the natural environment. Montessori materials are designed so that the child receives instant feedback about their progress as they work, allowing them to recognise, correct, and learn from an error – without adult assistance. Putting control of the activity in the child’s hands strengthens their self-esteem and self-motivation as well as their learning.

Children are internally motivated to work until the task has been completed and they leave the work feeling invigorated not exhausted as adults do. If the work is appropriate to their developmental plane and they have the freedom to choose it, they will work happily and intensively paying attention to every detail. Observation is important as the adult makes this judgement and responds accordingly.

Our mixed-age classrooms mirror real life, creating a supportive culture that fosters empathy, mutual respect, and leadership.

Moreover, we tailor our ever-evolving programs to fire your child’s imagination and nurture a lifelong love of learning, and equip them to thrive as confident, capable young adults in a world filled with possibilities.

A Learning Environment for the Adolescent Years

Our purpose-built Secondary Building offers flexible learning spaces, quiet study areas, and collaborative zones that reflect Montessori principles. Every aspect of the design supports the unique developmental needs of adolescents, fostering independence, community, and purposeful engagement in their learning.

Our Motto

Our motto is: Help me to do it myself.

We believe, as did Dr Maria Montessori, that it is important for children to have the opportunity to do work for themselves, and adults should not do for a child something that the child can do themselves. When we take the time to show the child how to do something and have the patience and care to wait, our time, guidance, and encouragement show the child that we trust them and that we have faith in their ability. When we do the task for the child, we teach them that they can’t do it, that they are unable and inadequate, and they learn dependence, inferiority, and weakness.

Never help a child with a task at which [they] feel [they] can succeed.”

– Dr Maria Montessori

Our Structure

We currently cater to children aged 3 to 18, starting with pre-primary education until the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP) and the International Baccalaureate Careers-related Programme (IBCP) for students in Year 11 and 12. Both qualifications are recognised globally and enable tertiary entry.

Our structure is as follows:

• 3 x Pre-Primary Classes (ages 3 to 6 years)
• 3 x Lower Primary Classes (ages 6 to 9 years)
• 2 x Upper Primary Advisories (ages 9 to 12 years)
• 1 x Lower Secondary Advisory (ages 12 to 15 years)
• 2 x International Baccalaureate Cohort
  • Pre-International Baccalaureate (Year 10)
  • International Baccalaureate IBDP & IBCP (Year 11 and Year 12)

The Montessori method is designed with and for your child, providing the structure, freedom, and guidance they need to learn at their pace, in a way that fosters respect – for self, for others, and for learning.

The importance of cursive handwriting.

Recent neuroscience and psychology research shows us cursive handwriting enhances brain development and function.

Handwriting activates multiple areas of the brain – areas associated with cognition, language, and working memory. The brain develops ‘functional specialisation’, integrating sensation, movement control, and thinking.

Cursive at all levels:

• At the pre-primary level, all children learn to write in cursive script, using cursive sandpaper letters and movable alphabets to master letter symbols and double sounds.
• At the lower primary level, students continue with developing control and legibility and learn more about how to lay out their work, and they are introduced to many different styles and requirements of writing.
• Once at the upper primary level, children begin to develop their own individual styles and can experiment with calligraphy.
• By the time the students get to lower secondary, they have developed their own individual style of writing, and most of them still prefer using cursive.

Child Safety

We support the National Principles for Child Safe Organisations, which means that we have created a culture, adopted strategies, and have taken action to prevent harm to children.

Find out more:

Child Safety

To consider the school as a place where instruction is given is one point of view. But to consider the school as a preparation for life is another. In the latter case, the school must satisfy all the needs of life.”

– Dr Maria Montessori