OUR SPACES

Light-filled spaces in our
modern open-plan environment

Montessori Oamaru is a beautiful, light-filled and purpose-built early learning centre with a modern feel, and a fresh relaxed atmosphere.

We have created a learning environment that reflects the Montessori method, and have kept our room structure simple: three distinct learning spaces with a shared outdoor play area for our over 2s which creates a high level of inter-age socialisation. We take great pride in our natural outdoor environment, and our edible garden is looked after by our own tamariki and family.

Casa Pepi

0-2 years

Casa Pepi is for our smallest family members: our 0-2 age group. This nursery space is separated from our other two learning areas, to provide a peaceful, quiet area purely for our little ones. We have a very limited number of places available within the Casa Pepi nursery area, as we believe our youngest children require a great deal of one-on-one attention while they develop key cognitive abilities. Our teacher-to-child ratio here is required to be 1-5 although we will try & sit around 1-4 to allow for that more personable quality care of your precious wee ones. With their own private outdoor environment to safely explore and a range of educator-crafted developmental resources to stimulate their absorbent minds, we believe our Pepis receive the finest care available.

Casa Toru

2-3 years

A larger, more robust environment awaits your child in the Casa Toru space – built specifically for the 2-3 year old developmental stage. At age 2, and on into age 3, children begin to become more tactile, more experimental, and more curious in their learning stages. All five of their senses start coming into play, and this beautiful learning space is designed to stimulate all those stages. With an outdoor area that flows into the 4-5 year old’s space, there is also ample opportunity for socialisation with friends and family members. Our child numbers are licensed to 30 in this learning space, but we are limiting this to 25 for the Casa Toru space, with a teacher to child ratio of 1-8.

Casa Wha

3-6 years

Casa Wha is a learning environment designed to guide and enhance your child’s learning processes, their critical thinking, and their practical and analytical brains. We have created Montessori resources to build on the particular interests of our Casa Wha children, appropriate to their developmental stage. This light-filled, spacious area is made with our pre-schoolers in mind and we will aim to keep a limitation of 27 children as a maximum. We have a teacher-to-child ratio of 1-9 in our Casa Wha learning space, promoting independence and guiding our older children into the larger social environment which awaits them.
Although our spaces are guided by age, we place just as much emphasis on the developmental stages & readiness of each of our children. We don’t believe in moving children before they are ready. Although their age will be a guiding factor, we will be transitioning children based on their teacher’s professional opinion and in consultation with their parents.  We will continue to communicate about this as your child develops.

We place importance on our children being linked in our Montessori community & so all of our spaces are creatively linked, allowing siblings and friends to communicate and interact with each other, through large internal doors, large windows, long phone lines through fences & little step ups between the external areas. We actively encourage this link.

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