Recognizing the immense importance of the child’s absorbent mind, Dr. Maria Montessori formulated specific equipment and a method of education designed to cultivate the child’s natural desire to learn. She envisioned an atmosphere free from competitive stress and conducive to the formation of the child’s intellect and personality.
Children are hungry to learn and flourish. A Montessori education at SMS provides an incredibly fertile environment for their growth.
If the children are free, we can see how they have this great desire, not only to eat and play, but for something elevating. Right from the beginning they have this marvellous wish.
Dr. Maria Montessori
A Montessori classroom is a carefully prepared environment where Montessori-trained professionals work with students during the crucial first years of a child’s education. It is a place where children are encouraged to experience the excitement of learning freely and are encouraged to develop their natural aptitude for learning.
Children work at their own level of ability while interacting with children of different ages and levels. Children challenge themselves by relating to younger and older students, who, in turn, consolidate their own learning by assisting each other.
Diversity, Inclusivity and Respect
As the late education and culture guru Sir Ken Robinson remarked, “…the aims of education are to enable students to understand the world around them and the talents within them so that they can become fulfilled individuals and active, compassionate citizens.”
At SMS, we endorse and embrace those aims. Our passion and mission revolves around helping our students enter the world as naturally curious, engaged and compassionate people respectful of the diversity of our world.
We recognize that diversity, inclusivity and respect are immovable underpinnings of our community. We celebrate differences and the richness of alternative perspectives. In the SMS environment, this is both enriching and natural.
By recognizing, respecting, sharing and appreciating our similarities and differences, we grow and flourish.
Where the natural world meets human experience
One of the biggest differences and strengths of our school is following an integrated curriculum where we tie together studies of the physical universe, the natural world and human experience. Each lesson builds on the previous one in a spiral of learning that delivers greater comprehension of how so many things in our world are directly linked. SMS students gain depth and breadth in all of their studies.
The wonderful diversity of our teachers exposes our children to a kaleidoscope of cultures. Many of our teachers speak more than one language, including: English, Arabic, Punjabi, Mandarin, Hindi, Serbian, Greek, French, Marathi, Turkish, Russian, Romanian, Portuguese, Polish, Gujrati, Vietnamese, Farsi, Indonesian, Korean, Tamil, Chinese, Urdu, Czech, Dutch, Japanese and German. Our teachers themselves model the rich diversity so apparent in our students.