Community.
The school is built on a vibrant and compassionate community. It is a happy place where parents and educators come together with a common goal to nurture and support each other and the children through celebrations, parent education courses, social support circles and community outreach programs.
Parent Education : Silent Journey & Discovery
Walking in the shoes of a child
What happens when parents of our students are invited to experience the classroom as the child does?
Silent Journey & Discovery is a two-part experience designed to give parents and caregivers a rare and powerful insight into the world of the child in a Montessori setting. It is one of the most memorable and moving experiences offered at Montessori East — often described by participants as transformative.
Session 1: Silent Journey
In this first session, parents move silently through each Montessori learning environment, from early childhood to the primary years. Without distraction, parents observe the carefully prepared spaces and materials through the lens of the child — noticing how beauty, order, and purpose come together to support independence, curiosity, and focus.
Session 2: Discovery
The following session invites parents to engage directly with the Montessori materials. With guidance from our educators, parents work hands-on with the same materials the child uses every day. Parents uncover the purpose behind each activity, and begin to understand the deep, intentional design that nurtures the child's cognitive, emotional, and social development.
This program is a living demonstration of Montessori philosophy in action. helping families connect more deeply with the learning journey and better understand the "why" behind what we do at Montessori East.
Reviews: Parents of 2025
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"Participating in the Silent Journey was an eye-opening and deeply valuable experience ...It gave us unique insight into the Montessori approach, and we walked away with a much deeper appreciation for the thoughtful design of each learning environment. Every classroom is prepared with clear intention, and it’s evident that the teachers put in an extraordinary amount of care and effort—going above and beyond not just as educators, but as people who are genuinely passionate about each child’s growth. While not a surprise, it was this aspect that impressed us the most."
"We were blown away by the Cycle 2 classroom and how it blends the activities with nature and just how welcoming the classroom was! By going through the material and lessons, we have a better appreciation of how the approach addresses the academic aspects. We also appreciated the minimal use of technology, even in Cycle 3, and are curious to see how this aspect will evolve with time."
"One of the most surprising and meaningful takeaways was understanding the purpose behind activities we had previously seen but not fully understood... The emphasis on mastery really stood out to us—especially when observing the progression of the math materials, where each step builds seamlessly on the last."
Journey of Service.
The Journey of Service was first established at Montessori East in 2013 as an opportunity for students in their final year of primary school to experience the world beyond their community and to offer their service to others.
The Journey of Service is far more than just an event where the children are helping others for the greater good but an introspective ‘journey’ where the child forges a deeper connection with themselves and their purpose in life.
Every year, Montessori East's graduating students (Year 6) visit another school in need. Originally, this was the Udon Thani Home for Girls and the Montessori Chuakmuay Wittaya School in Thailand. In 2020 we forged a new connection closer to home, and now we visit our friends at the Dalaigur Indigenous Pre School in Kempsey, New South Wales.
The Dalaigur community has been greatly affected by the drought, fires, floods and Covid pandemic of the past few years.
Montessori East students have raised money for the pre school to help with essentials for the children; such as education materials, clothing and repairs. When the Year 6 graduates visit Dalaigur, they will run activities with the children, help with gardening or other manageable tasks that are valuable to the school.
If you would like to donate to the cause, we welcome any small donation that will be collected each year and taken with the graduates on their Journey of Service.
SustainME.
SustainME is our school wide initiative for our environmental and sustainability practices.
The goal is to raise awareness and change behaviours within our school to reduce waste and lighten our footprint.
Current focuses include composting, waste reduction and management, nude lunches and soft plastic recycling.
ME Village.
The ME Village was spearheaded into operation by parents, Skye Garside and Cindy Kavanagh in 2017 to help us invest in the welfare and vitality of the school community.
Successful events include our Winter Solstice celebration, Market Day, Spring Equinox, ME Village singing group and Family Camping.
Parents in community.
Extraordinary relationships occur between parents at Montessori East in the most wondrous ways. Not only do you enrol your child in a school but you enrol yourself in a community.
The community organically behaves like an extended family where parents cross-share their skills and chip in where they can. Friendships are formed, often for life; alumni parents still socialise together well after their children are married and parents are inspired to create business ventures together. Here we share one of our entrepreneur stories.
Kristina Freeman and Alice Peel - Grow your Mind venture
Kristina Freeman and Alice Peel met at Montessori East when their children started in the preschool program. Kristina, an acupuncturist and Chinese herbalist was experiencing an increase of children with anxiety coming to her clinic and Alice, a primary school teacher with a background in public health and positive psychology, felt there was a better way to teach students about emotional regulation, resilience and how the brain works in a playful way. Together they embarked on their B Corp social venture, Grow Your Mind, a program that aims to make mental health education playful. Their school and home resources are full of invitations to boost connection, compassion, a benefit mindset, optimism and ways to practice mindfulness. This has since extended into delivering teacher wellbeing workshops. In less than 3-years, these two remarkable humans have been awarded grants from Atlassian and Macquarie Bank. They have resourced hundreds of schools and homes nationally and internationally and are weeks off launching a world's first children's mental health podcast, read and delivered by children for children. They love what they do and they form a formidable team.
