Brisbane Montessori School

"I have been to Montessori schools and we were hoping to see successful alternative education but this school felt very average. The younger children who were crying were looked after by a staff member but she looked like she needed more help and the school had a neglected feeling about it. In particular, the secondary school felt uninspired, disorganised and greatly lacking in passion and the arts. The students were all on laptops, the garden that the students are responsible for was overgrown with weeds and the ducks were kept in a very small stinky enclosure. Very depressing."

"Montessori in name but not in method Whilst we acknowledge that many families have had positive experiences at BMS, ours was not and we would encourage those looking at the school to do their due diligence particularly about the school’s capacity to cope with kids with any degree of learning or developmental challenges. Our 6 year old had some anxiety around attending school, the classroom team (a teacher, teacher aide and part time learning support person) seemed incapable of showing any sustained empathy to make him welcome – they would ignore him when entering the class in significant distress and were non-responsive when this concern was raised formally. His anxiety began to result in behavioural problems which led to us having him see a counsellor who provided resources for the school which the school provided no feedback about having been used. After one term with no contact from anyone outside the classroom teacher and the learning support coordinator, we were called to a meeting with the principal (first time we met him) who told us to withdraw our son as he was ‘not suited to a Montessori environment’, he told us other parents had complained about our child’s behaviour which was clearly the motivation for them doing so – the Chair of the Board later directly referred to this in justifying their conduct. That same week we spoke with the head of junior school who stated that if we kept our child at their school they would be treating the matter as a disciplinary issue and, essentially, would start excluding him from class. The same week we raised concerns about other children demonstrably ostracising ours (and saying that their parents told them to do so) and seeing other kids baiting ours into acting out – leading to disciplinary consequences for him; the teacher and school never responded to this. We wrote to the principal setting out a number of concerns about their conduct and approach. The principal eventually invited us to a further meeting to discuss it, however when asked if he would respond to our concerns he said he would not be doing so. We then withdrew our child and raised the matter with the chair of the school board, who essentially said that no policy had been breached and no remedial action would be taken. We have heard (from the school’s learning support team amongst others) and read online of other families having similar experiences to ours with children who may have learning or developmental challenges, the expression ‘weeding them out’ is seen a bit and our experience was consistent with this. The great irony of this for us is that Montessori schools were established to cater specifically for kids with learning/developmental challenges, we sent our child to BMS hoping they would provide a gentle and supportive environment for our child to commence his schooling with this in mind, sadly the school does not appear well equipped to provide this. Note: posted under a pseudonym to provide anonymity for our child."

"We moved from Sydney at the start of 2020. Our boys felt immediately at home at BMS. The care taken to craft lessons that incorporate multiple subjects such as science, history and art is extraordinary. The responsibility children are taught combined with multi year groups helps to develop self aware, thoughtful and community minded young people. The community is very welcoming and our boys are thriving. I couldn’t speak highly enough about BMS, very happy."

"After moving to Brisbane from overseas in 2017 our two children started school at BMS. They immediately felt at home since they were previously in a Montessori school. When they started here they were in the 15 months - 3 year old group and the 3-6 year old group. The level of care they that the teachers and staff provide is excellent. The school grounds are beautiful and the classroom materials all have a purpose and a place. You will not find this level of care, serenity, or attention to detail at a normal childcare facility, or primary school. My children have now both moved to the next age groups. We were so happy with the education our eldest child received in the 3-6 age group, we kept her here for prep and year 1. She is now in the 6-9 age group and her independence and critical thinking have really taken off. BMS also has a wonderful community, parents are encouraged to get to know each other and be involved with school activities. We can’t wait to see where our children’s Montessori journeys take them."

"The Montessori school started with excitement and ended with disappointment. The system outdated and not applicable for 21 century. Teachers educate 3 different years together and students lack practice, accountability and attention. We were told that our boy performs on his limit. We didn’t trust them and moved him to the local state school. His performance increased significantly. Don’t waste your time and money. Out of school care is nice, plenty of space for kids to play."