Montessori Primary at Huapai District School



About Room 17 at Huapai District School

Our Montessori primary class at Huapai District School, known as Room 17,  meets the needs of children from 6 - 12 years. The two main goals of Room 17 are for children to gain confidence and build their love of learning.  Our classroom is well-resourced with Montessori materials and was refurbished and extended in 2008. Our children enjoy reading, science and art areas in a pleasant, airy, spacious learning environment.  The children have created a garden and tend a worm farm, make compost and grow their own vegetables as part of their curriculum. 

Huapai District School is a full state primary in semi- rural West Auckland with a current roll of 400+ students.  Our principal, Kevin Cronin, is committed to helping Room 17 become the stand-out Montessori primary class in New Zealand.  His own children attended a Montessori early childhood centre and he’s enthusiastic about the Montessori approach to primary education.  Of the twenty full-time members of staff at our school, four have formal Montessori qualifications and the chair of the Huapai Board of Trustees is a Montessori parent. 

We have two full-time teachers in Room 17.  Fumiyo and Kristina are both Montessori-qualified and trained.  Fumiyo has been teaching in a Montessori primary setting since 2007 and Kristina has been a Montessori primary teacher since 1993.

Our parent community is incredibly supportive and takes part in four fundraising events a year to raise extra funds for Room 17.  As a parent community we have created a vision which embodies how we operate: “The spirit of our parent community honours trusting and equitable relationships through honest and considerate communication.”  We hope, as parents, that the behaviour and interactions we model, leave an affirming, lasting impression with our children.

Enrolment Procedure

We have a sequential ten-step process for enrolling a child in the class:

1. Parent makes an enquiry about entry to Room 17 by contacting Yvonne Jenner at Huapai District School on (09) 412 5042.

2. Parent receives an Information Pack and an Enrolment Pack.

3. Parents contact Kristina McDougall (kristina@huapaidistrict.school.nz) or Fumiyo Shirota (fumiyo@huapaidistrict.school.nz) to organise an hour-long observation of Room 17 in action.

4. If parents wish to proceed to the interview stage, they complete the application form which is part of the Enrolment Pack. Once this has been received they will be contacted by Kathy Powell of the West Auckland Montessori Trust with an interview time.  If the child is under four, so not yet ready for an interview, the parent sends in an application form and the child is placed on the waiting list.  Receipt of their application fee will be acknowledged.

5. The interview will be attended by both parents or caregivers, the child and the Enrolment Committee.  The child is asked to bring his or her portfolio to the interview.

6. One week after the interview parents receive advice on whether their child has been accepted.

7. Parents will be asked to participate in two fundraisers and at least one parent evening before their child joins the class.  See Information Pack for more details on fundraising.

8. A month in advance of the start date for the child, parents will be sent a Welcome Pack that will detail orientation information on Huapai District School and the Montessori classroom.

9.  The child has two full day visits in weeks 6 and 7 of the term that precedes their entry to the class to familiarise themselves with classroom routine and the school layout.  All visits are conducted without parents remaining to watch. Parents contact the Room 17 teachers directly to arrange these visits.

10. A buddy system exists for new parents coming to Room 17.  A member of our parent community will be in touch before the child’s start date and act as a point of contact for the first few months of term.

Who is Eligible?

When selecting children for places in Room 17 the school will enrol those children best prepared for the Montessori primary environment.  An eligible child will need to have completed a minimum of two years at a Montessori preschool.  It is recommended that by the age of five years children should be attending a minimum of four full days before entry to the primary school classroom at age six. 

Older children transferring in from Montessori primary classes located in New Zealand and overseas are welcome. Places will also be provided for brothers and sisters of pupils currently enrolled or attending Room 17.  The sibling should nevertheless have the required two years minimum Montessori preschool experience.

Children with Montessori backgrounds who have attended mainstream schools since leaving Montessori preschool may apply if they attended their Montessori preschool until they were six.  An enrolment decision will depend on the eligibility and suitability of the child.  In the latter case the Trust requires the child to visit for a full week to give the teacher a chance to assess how well the child appears to cope with self-directed learning and the multi-age grouping.

The Enrolment Committee reserves the right to limit the number of children with special needs to ensure we can cater for the special needs of that child as well as the needs of all other children.  The current plan is for one child with special needs per full class (25 pupils).