“I beg the dear all-powerful children to unite with me for the building of peace in Man and in the world.’ Dr Maria Montessori.
These words, that can be found on Maria Montessori’s tombstone, are an indication of the immense respect she had for children and her incredible belief in their potential. For those families who joined us at the Alumni Q&A recently, you would’ve heard for yourself just how much impact a Montessori education has had on our past students.
I was blown away listening to our special Alumni guests:
• Jemima Barnes, 2007 Graduate
• Dan Allen, 2008 Graduate
• Lucy Allen, 2012 Graduate
• McCready Parisi, 2013 Graduate
• Isabella Sham, 2016 Graduate
• Ria Aung-Thein, 2020 Graduate
• Nishabel Rehn, 2020 Graduate
• Maree Barbara, 2020 Graduate
A huge thank you to our panel. I heard so many gems of wisdom. They made me feel very proud of all that FMS, over 40 years, has achieved. Here’s just a few of the comments that resonated with me:
“The slow step of support was always there from our teachers.” Dan Allen
“We’re all able to back ourselves.” Lucy Allen
‘I was able to experiment with my identity without being judged.” McCready Parisi
“We were always the peacekeepers, dealing with conflict in calm, peaceful and respectful ways.” Jemima Barnes
The list of what they loved about FMS was extensive but here’s just a few of their fond memories:
- Attending the Montessori Model United Nations (MMUN) in Rome and New York
- Freedom to choose your work
- Having animals in school
- Mixed aged classrooms
- Having your siblings in the same class
- Getting to be creative
- Being offered multiple ways to tackle things
- The ‘peace rose’
- The community feeling
- All the mathematics
- The Montessori materials like the Grammar Box
- Learning in nature
The list is endless…What is significant is how often our Alumni spoke about the immense benefits of their Montessori education in terms of their love of learning, intrinsic motivation, independence, and compassion.
A special thank you to Idette Warburton, 1986 Graduate and Alex Pilmore, 1985 Graduate for hosting the event. Click here to read everyone’s bios.
Don’t worry if you missed the live session, you can now catch up on the Q&A via the below video. I really encourage everyone to listen. It’s just so good to hear from FMS Alumni who can now look back and appreciate their Montessori education.
They are living testament to our FMS identity:
A Montessori school educating children for life and for peace.
