Rockingham Montessori School, Rockingham | Fees, Address, Admission, Vacancies, Reviews & More

Terrible experience upon getting out and comparing to a regular school. Which I can tell you surprised me a great deal.
For a school based on Maria Montessori and breaking down barriers to education, they certainly do not follow through.

Our daughter now has a fear of failing (never existed before) bought on by her poor experience in this school and the way staff handled her educational and special needs.

The worst part is we were upfront with our daughters needs before moving across the globe to Aus and after being assured their school was well suited to address our daughters needs, it was the exact opposite. Not suited remotely, actively turned “we’ll call your mum” into a threat so that our child now has a “don’t call mum” response we have had to work out of her.

Rockingham Montessori traumatized our special needs child, to say I am furious is an understatement. I waited a year before writing this so it wasn’t a fresh wound. Our child accomplished more in 3 months at her new public school than a year and a half at Rockingham Montessori. No embellishment at all. pure fact. Disappointing and a absolute disgrace to education.

Don’t bother responding RM, I have seen your response to parents with complaints, always the same “Some children are not suited to the Montessori environment”. No. its You, when it keeps happening, take a look in the mirror. It’s you. You bad. do better.

Lucky kids, wish I could go here growing up[UP!], miss chipmunks tho, they stole the beautiful building, pretty sigma school tho, happily nibble my toes

After 3 years of fighting the government education system, my son’s flame having near flickered out, and my hope failing in an education system that supports a child’s growth and sees them as children, rather then mini adults, Montisorri has been a saviour.
Granted it is not a school that suits everyone, if you focus on grades, and have your expectations set on the standard educational curriculum, you will be disappointed. Some students excel in some areas, are doing high school subjects in lower primary classes, and in others areas, their interest has not yet been sparked.
My son, is finally able to pursue his interests, he was bored with the lower level maths in public school, and more interested in problem solving concepts. He knows more than my University education already and he applies it to his life, to have a greater understanding of himself and his world, tackle problem solving in his way, and he is set up to succeed, rather then fail.
This is all we ever wanted and more, we are grateful.

A really wonderful school. The teachers seem so much happier and calmer at RMS and they are really able to work so well with the kids. Every time I go into the class there is at least 2 teachers for a small class size, but usually more support staff helping. Some times we think of moving away for work opportunities but I don’t think we would ever find such a loving school, especially not one with fees as low. It’s the only place we have ever felt comfortable leaving our daughter and trusting that she will be safe/well looked after with all of her needs met.

Since posting this review I have had a number of parents of ex-students contact me, telling me they have had a similar experience but were to afraid to speak up to Vanessa the principal. Beware, do all your due diligence before enrolling and don’t just believe all the selling points they drill in during the introduction.

SEE EDIT BELOW!: This was my original review: My son loves going to Rockingham Montessori School. Small class sizes are great, stability of having the same class and teacher for three years, progression to higher levels when student is ready and not on a date on the calendar. The teachers are fantastic, and any issues were have had have been dealt with with great communication and understanding.

I have taken two stars off for issues concerning possibly low vaccination rates (they will not disclose numbers), lack of social support in the school community, lack of communication on various issues.

EDIT: As of 2022 I have removed my son from this school. The class sizes are now 32+ with only one teacher and part time assistant. The school has opened a new “campus” which is actually a massive shop space next to Harvey Norman with no outside space adjacent to the building. One class had to close for a week because of COVID in the classroom, and the teacher could not handle online learning so it was a waste of a week with no financial compensation for the massive fees charged to parents.

When I told the principal that I intended to home school, she became very cold and defensive, but then offered a year for free. I still took my son out, because saving money is nothing when it means my son is still not learning anything.

My son has ASD and ADHD, and from spending time volunteering in two classrooms, I saw that they allow the ASD kids to wander around, leave the classroom whenever they like, and don’t encourage buddy system as I was told would happen. My son left with no friends in his class, being picked on (physically poked by other children and name calling), and barely a Year 2 level of maths – at Year 6.

There is no anti-bullying policy, because they don’t believe bullying happens at RMS. Complaints about teasing etc are met with responses like “they are kids, it’s what they do.”

The principal promised all sorts of things about RMS, like kindness and responsibility of the children (not true, they behave in the same way as kids from public schools), supportive community (also not true, the Community Spirit group just raises money for social events, not community support or outreach to local charities or families in need. Also promised was a lot of one on one learning with my son, but his anxiety meant he was too scared to read aloud, so even though he is advanced at reading, they had him practicing the same early phonics books day after day which he was bored with.

I am homeschooling now and he is doing well at Year 2 maths, even though it’s challenging because he was not taught properly at RMS. He was given answers to copy from the board, and allowed to sit and daydream instead of doing work.

Homeschooling is showing me everything RMS failed in teaching him. I had such high hopes for the school but have left completely disappointed.

Reply to RMS reply: as a former Montessori teacher, I am fully aware of the Montessori pedagogy and it certainly does suit my son when practiced in the traditional way. However, “Montessori” as a term is not regulated and can be used by any school with any pedagogy. The expansion of the school showed just this, increased class sizes, chaotic re-forming of classes and high student AND teacher turnover is just alarming, no concern for students who cannot deal with such huge and rapid changes. The second campus was a strategy to increase profit for the school, and the claims that there were enough students in the waiting list to fill classes were nothing but untruths, proven by the continued drive to enlist more students.