Edinburgh Montessori arts school

[Eman83]

Hello
I was wondering if anyone has any update or any information if they have children here regarding Edinburgh Montessori art school?
I had heard a few rumours regarding staff turnover and a few incidents however I never found any complaints through the care commision.

I sent you a pm did you get it?

Hello,

Yes I received it, thank you very much. Sorry first chance I have had to reply, kids are in bed now though so can switch my laptop on.

I will pm you in a minute.

I have been also looking at this school for a while. Any info would be appreciated.

Hi, I'm with cresaamum, I'm looking at the school and really like what I see, but am getting a bit concerned and worried about the staff turnover and implied rumours?? Any info, on here or privatel,y would be most appreciated :-)

The above message is untrue, most of the staff that quit had long term contracts but after many issues with the owner quit! I would NOT recommend this school. It makes me very sad as yes only a few Montessori schools around :-(

I'd also appreciate any info anyone can share and also have a few questions if anyone can help please.

How does it work for the Primary Years, are all the kids together in one room or are they split up?

Is there a secondary school that complements the school, where do kids go? Do they have any problems with the transition?

Thanks

Hi
I don't have lots of info to offer, just what we gleaned from a recent visit. The children are split into two groups based roughly on age - the school house is downstairs and has preschool up to around 6ish, and then elementary stage is upstairs. Both areas are open spaces with free flow, the upstairs area had a lovely calm feel to it (although that may have been because all the children were next door doing a recording of a song!) and downstairs seemed bright & cosy.

I can't recollect how many children are in the downstairs area but upstairs there are 21 kids age 6-12.

We generally really liked it but had a few concerns like you too - the few children that have reached 12 there have gone to the Steiner school, to home ed or to one of the private schools. They are working in partnership with the council and apparently a recent indie room has given very good feedback. The elementary teacher seemed not at all friendly when we visited, although everyone else was very welcoming - she didn't smile, nor speak to us at all and having had issues with a staff member back in our daughter's nursery days Ian just not prepared to go through that again, lovely though this lady may be as a teacher - I don't know.

Finally, our daughter just didn't like it. She seemed really unsettled by it even though we felt very positive on leaving.

Hope some of that is useful.

Sorry, should have proof read that more thoroughly! Inspection, not indie room

Hi! I'd be interested in more info here. Thank you very much x

What do you want to know? I think it's a fantastic little school, going from strength to strength. No worries about the staff at all, they make the school what it is. The classrooms are lovely and peaceful too, set out so thoughtfully. I've no children at the school but I did until recently. Ask more if you like!

Thank you auchin! I have two worries 1I see that there is a principle and a manager, and I feel unsure if that makes things uncomfortable e.g. too many cooks in the kitchen and all that! 2 how do children's n cope mainstream secondary afterwards? Are they considered 'weird' after being in a child centerd approach? I've became considering sending my ds next year and friends are so negative about how that would mean rejecting main stream education...I'm so glad to hear you have found it so positive! Thanks for your help :)

The manager has been kind of acting principal anyway for a while as the principal's been on maternity leave, now they're both working together again but I think they get on very well. It's not like mainstream I think - the staff are very collaborative and all the teacher's have a lot of input into their class. In terms of your second worry, I don't know, but I can't imagine it would be an issue. The children in elementary seem confident and good at self-directed study, so I'm pretty sure they'd be very well placed for high school. Go and visit if you haven't already, it's quite different and you'll know if you like it.

Thanks auction i'll do that!