If you know anything about Montessori teaching, please come and talk to me!

[Janni]

I wantto return to work next year and am interested in early years teaching.

Does anyone know which Montessori training institutes in London are the most respected and how easy is it to find work in a Montessori nursery upon completion of training? Is the pay lower than in the state sector?

MN is generally very positive about Montessori, but ARE there any horror stories? I would like to be forewarned!

Thank you

Hi Janni,

I have come to your discussion late.....just to say that I changed my career at 52 to do the Foundation degree plus the Montessori diploma through MCI. I have had a difficult first year since qualifying...ending up in unprofessional...so called Montessori settings. I am from South East London and I was surprised to find very few good Montessori's locally. Most seem to be in Central or North London. I also found that lots don't do 'sick pay' so if you are a 1 person household, like myself, you will lose a quarter of your monthly salary if you are sick for 1 week...as I was. There is no safety net to cover sickness in most Montessori's. Also lots of the settings will only have a few qualified Montessori teachers...and lots of nursery nurses who have little or no interest in Montessori. What happens is that the Montessori philosophy is not carried out....unless the teacher is strong enough to ensure that they understand the Montessori philosophy and put it into practice. Otherwise its like hitting your head against a brick wall in those situations. Also pay is often low ...about 18K...as these are small and private organisations. If you can find a good Montessori setting where all the staff really take the philosophy on board ...and there is sick pay cover....or you have a second income...and the management are fair and supportive...then it can work.
It is a lovely philosophy.

Hi Janni. I am late onto this thread, and unfortunately there is a lot of incorrect information/opinions being given to you. I run an accredited Montessori School. Firstly there are 2 main training centres. Montessori Centre International in Balderton street. I would say this is most popular. The second is AMI in Hampstead, I hear that the training here is very expensive. Check out both and see which suits you better. As far as your qualification, yes it is ofsted recognised. With my qualification I have worked in london prep schools, nursery schools and montessori schools. It is not recognised in the state sector. Unfortunately the salary is not good at all, it is something you do for the love of the job rather than the money! You could probably expect around 17-18k full time, term time in London. If you are interested I suggest you contact montessori centre international and also make contact with an accredited school to do an observation. Ps. We dont use brasso with the children, this is dangerous and outdated. We use vaseline or vinegar for polishing!!

And just to add, please make sure you look at accedited montessori schools. There are some settings out there who claim to be montessori and are clearly not, the accreditation prcess has been set up to stop this.