When I meet prospective parents at Ocean View, I am always keen to find out what they are searching for in a school for their child. I try my very best to communicate the key aspects of Montessori philosophy in an authentic way and to explain the value of the approach to learning as aided by the Montessori materials. I take time to go through our prospectus and encourage parents to read it through more fully at their leisure. We then take a walk around to see classes and play in action, giving parents a snapshot of a day at Ocean View, often prompting questions and further discussion. For those with some background in Montessori the school tour is an affirming experience. For others, with only knowledge of traditional education it can be full of surprises. One of the biggest mental shifts for the uninitiated is the Montessori concept of multi aged classrooms, known as vertical grouping.

This is represented at Ocean View across three phases of development with our toddler group for children aged 18 months to three and a half, the pre-primary with children from 3 and a half – 6 years and our junior primary with children from 6 – 9 years. We have found it useful to group the pre-primary children according to age for planning, record keeping and reporting purposes, so each year class has a designated teacher, within the shared learning space.

Within each phase individual children demonstrate varying levels of maturity across their development. Some may be physically advanced yet in need of social and emotional guidance for example. This variance in development is complemented by a rich availability of role models and potential teachers. Younger pupils have older role models to follow, and the older pupils grow in confidence through their experience of helping their younger peers. Therefore, the teacher is not the primary focus as children not only learn “with” each other, but “from” each other. Children who are advanced in any area of their development can work ahead of their peers, and yet still receive the nurturing that they need.

What better life experience for any child than to learn a skill from a slightly older friend who has just mastered it, there are huge benefits for both the pupil and the mentor. We observe peer to peer learning daily. We recently had some heart-warming moments when we took the grade r group up to the primary class for two days when the year threes were away on their excursion. The year two pupils rolled up their sleeves, took out their work mats and gave some very thorough maths and language lessons to their visitors.

New parents may express concern that having younger children in the same class as older ones, will mean that the needs of all children will not be met effectively. Whilst understandable, this concern is misguided. Montessori teachers are trained to facilitate multi age learning and to capitalise on the benefits for all pupils in the group. The process can be likened to that of conducting an orchestra with each musician being guided to play their part in the symphony. A sense of collaboration develops within the group, with all members playing their vital part.

Children are very aware of their own development. In the vertically grouped Montessori classroom, they will compete with themselves building independence and confidence rather than watching over their shoulders to see what their peers are doing. In a single aged classroom, you find an intense level of development. For instance, three-year-olds copying their friends in a foot stomping moment or six-year-olds all completing the same stylized drawings and becoming competitive about the level of skill displayed. This becomes even more the case in single sex school. As a six-year-old girl in grade one at an all-girls school your acceptance can depend very much on the perceived beauty of your unicorn drawings!

Learning in a vertically grouped and co-ed environment has so much more ‘texture’ – a range of skills, interests, drives, personalities all feeding off each other. It is an atmosphere in which children learn at their own pace with careful guidance from the teacher. They compete against themselves, rather than each other and they learn to not be afraid of making mistakes. This promotes the development of a growth mindset, an essential outlook for ongoing development.

Montessori’s aim was to promote the human potential, through developing curiosity, independence and self-confidence, leading children to ask questions, think for themselves, explore, investigate, and discover. Vertical grouping plays a vital role in achieving this objective.

Lucy Cronje, September 2024