St Helens Montessori School opened as a Nursery in East Farleigh, Kent in 1989 and due to parental demand was extended to include primary classes in 2005 for those who wish their children to continue with us. The school is located in a well adapted coach house surrounded by five acres of grounds in a beautiful rural setting in the medieval village of East Farleigh, just 3 miles from Maidstone and the M20.

The Montessori Philosophy

Montessori education was formulated in 1907 by Dr Maria Montessori, the first woman in Italy to become a physician. She based her educational methods on scientific observation of children’s learning processes. Guided by her discovery that children teach themselves, Dr Montessori designed a “prepared environment” in which children could freely choose from a number of developmentally appropriate activities. The well-known Montessori classroom materials are simply an implementation of one aspect of her total philosophy. The Montessori Method is designed to support each child to become an exceptionally well-rounded, responsible and self-reliant individual who will demonstrate a love of learning, self confidence and sense of fair play throughout life.

At St Helens Montessori School we nurture each child’s desire to learn and each pupil enjoys developing high levels of concentration, motivation and self-discipline. Every child is presented with on-going opportunities to make individual choices that inspire new learning and each child is encouraged to take pleasure in satisfying his or her natural curiosity.

Our Ethos

Our aim at St. Helens Montessori School is to create and sustain an optimum Montessori environment to enable each child to realize his or her richest potential and to become an independent, self-motivating, informed, compassionate and contributing member of the world community. We aspire towards excellence in the education and inner well-being of each child. We accomplish this by giving the child a loving, nurturing and stimulating environment. We provide a curriculum adhering rigorously to Montessori standards, informed by current thinking and the latest research on child development and learning. Through freedom and love the child’s natural greatness flourishes. We foster a spirit of harmony, tolerance and respect for one another. We facilitate and encourage the involvement of parents, teachers, pupils and the larger community. We instill in the child a passion for learning. We are a Christian school. We warmly welcome families of other faiths but we ask that you respect our distinctive Christian identity. In all our instruction we are respectful of other faiths, while humbly maintaining the truths of our Christian faith.

St Helens Montessori School is committed to safeguarding and protecting the welfare of our children. An Enhanced DBS Disclosure will be required as part of our Safer Recruitment checks.