Curriculum

Rockingham Montessori School is fully registered with the Department of Education and Training (DET).

Our present curriculum initiatives include designing our curriculum into a format compatible with the WA Curriculum Framework. Parents can therefore be certain that children remaining at the school through the primary years will attain levels that other primary school students do, with the addition of the deeper learning achieved by the Montessori approach.

The Children’s House for 3-6 year olds provides a program which is divided into five areas and provides every opportunity to ensure that children achieve agreed outcomes of learning areas of the Curriculum Framework in WA for Early Childhood.

The five areas are:

  • Practical life exercises (including Health and Physical Education)
  • Sensorial equipment
  • English learning area
  • Mathematics learning area
  • Cultural activities (Science, Society & Environment, The Arts, Technology & Enterprise)

The primary rooms for 6-9 year olds and 9-12 year olds provides a program for early and middle childhood in the following eight learning areas as set out in the WA Curriculum Framework.

  • The Arts
  • English
  • Health and Physical Education
  • Language other than English (German)
  • Mathematics
  • Science
  • Society and Environment
  • Technology and Enterprise

This curriculum fits well with the Montessori integrated program which provides for the interest, curiosity and developing imagination of the 6 to 12 year old.

Dr Maria Montessori observed that children passed through very definite stages of development. Therefore, instead of the usual grades, children in Montessori schools pass through three cycles:

  • Children’s house: 3 – 6 years
  • Lower Primary: 6 – 9 years
  • Upper Primary: 9 – 12 years

Each cycle creates a sense of community. Younger children observe and are inspired by the older children. The older children reach higher levels of understanding through teaching the younger children. Such interaction builds self-confidence and self esteem.

There is a teacher’s assistant in every class except the Upper Primary, increasing the ratio of adult to child support. We also provide specialist teachers.