After close to an 11 month battle to resolve a grievance where my Autistic daughter was physically grabbed by an educator at Brisbane Montessori, I sit in the floor of my kitchen in tears (again) because our families complaints have yet again been dismissed and trivialised, first by the school principal, and now again by head of the board when we attempted to escalate the matter. This is the second time now that our grievance has been dismissed, without giving our family a voice in the matter. Via phone, I was advised by the principal, he had closed the matter on the grounds that the educator had involved the union, my daughter has a disability and is situationally mute so her statement could not be heard and it seemed perfectly acceptable for an educator to physically put her hands on my child (without consent). I stated that I disagreed with this and asked Chris to please provide me with a written statement of his investigation into the matter so I could review this with my partner and we could formally respond. No written statement was ever provided to our family. When I requested a meeting with the school principal to find a resolution this matter as we had still not received a written response, months later, I was granted the opportunity of a meeting only to experience the below; - When requesting for written statement to be provided so we could close the matter, Chris responded and told me I was being ridiculous. When I addressed being called ridiculous he replied with ‘I didn’t call you ridiculous, I said you were being ridiculous’. I was also accused of attempting to get this teacher fired (I have never asked for this) by requesting a written statement so we could finalise matter. - After addressing poor communication around staff changes, I requested additional support with communicating future staff changes as Autistic children struggle greatly with sudden change and in order to support and prepare my child for this, I needed improved communication from the school. (My child had now been unable to attend school for over a full term at this stage due to lack of support and trauma over the incident) Chris responded with asking me if I would like to be principal of the school. - When I expressed my concerns about my child finding out about staff changes by another parent calling out ‘OMG (teachers name omitted) isn’t going to be here’ and how distressing this was for an Autistic child to receive information this way, I was asked why I did not “get control’ of the other parents on the playground and later accused of ‘conspiring’ with other parents when I shared that majority of the class was upset with the way this was handled. Being Autistic myself, I spent the remainder of this meeting in complete shutdown and masking. After leaving the meeting I broke down in the car park sobbing, and had another neurodivergent parent drive by and see the state I was in and pick me up from the road. I spent the entire afternoon and subsequent days coughing up stomach acid from stress following this meeting. When raising this issue with the board, I have been advised that this had been handled in accordance with school policy and the matter has been closed. How has this matter been closed TWICE now, without our family having the opportunity to respond. Where is OUR voice in this matter? Where are the safe pathways for Autistic families to seek support at Brisbane Montessori? It would seem from other reviews that our family is not isolated in our experience when seeking support for ND children. As a proud Autistic advocate and a long term family at BMS I am utterly heartbroken and in a state of grief to now be looking at having to remove our children from this school due to your complete inability to acknowledge our families very valid concerns. Again, my question stands, where are the safe pathways for Autistic families to seek support at BMS? Everyone has the right to an education. - Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Montessori in name but not in method Whilst we acknowledge that many families have had positive experiences at BMS, ours was not and we would encourage those looking at the school to do their due diligence particularly about the school’s capacity to cope with kids with any degree of learning or developmental challenges. Our 6 year old had some anxiety around attending school, the classroom team (a teacher, teacher aide and part time learning support person) seemed incapable of showing any sustained empathy to make him welcome – they would ignore him when entering the class in significant distress and were non-responsive when this concern was raised formally. His anxiety began to result in behavioural problems which led to us having him see a counsellor who provided resources for the school which the school provided no feedback about having been used. After one term with no contact from anyone outside the classroom teacher and the learning support coordinator, we were called to a meeting with the principal (first time we met him) who told us to withdraw our son as he was ‘not suited to a Montessori environment’, he told us other parents had complained about our child’s behaviour which was clearly the motivation for them doing so – the Chair of the Board later directly referred to this in justifying their conduct. That same week we spoke with the head of junior school who stated that if we kept our child at their school they would be treating the matter as a disciplinary issue and, essentially, would start excluding him from class. The same week we raised concerns about other children demonstrably ostracising ours (and saying that their parents told them to do so) and seeing other kids baiting ours into acting out – leading to disciplinary consequences for him; the teacher and school never responded to this. We wrote to the principal setting out a number of concerns about their conduct and approach. The principal eventually invited us to a further meeting to discuss it, however when asked if he would respond to our concerns he said he would not be doing so. We then withdrew our child and raised the matter with the chair of the school board, who essentially said that no policy had been breached and no remedial action would be taken. We have heard (from the school’s learning support team amongst others) and read online of other families having similar experiences to ours with children who may have learning or developmental challenges, the expression ‘weeding them out’ is seen a bit and our experience was consistent with this. The great irony of this for us is that Montessori schools were established to cater specifically for kids with learning/developmental challenges, we sent our child to BMS hoping they would provide a gentle and supportive environment for our child to commence his schooling with this in mind, sadly the school does not appear well equipped to provide this. Note: posted under a pseudonym to provide anonymity for our child. Edit - in response to school response: - With respect, your apologies' are insincere when you declined to provide one to us at any stage of the process we sought to engage in with you. - Your assertion that you 'do everything to cater to students of all abilities' was simply not true in the case of us and our child, a matter we expressly and repeatedly raised with you before and after your request for us to leave your school, you declined to respond to this. - If you were taking our claims seriously, we would be very keen to hear what action you have taken in response to them - I am very confident you know who we are and have our contact information. I undertake to update my review immediately should you be willing to provide us privately with any meaningful information to this effect.

Highly dysfunctional and discriminatory school. In the time my child was at the school I saw parents pulling their children out en mass. One family withdrew all 6 of their children in one go. Every single child with learning/behavioural problems was slowly removed from my child's class and weeded out of the school. Other children were removed as soon as they found out they had a particularly unprofessional teacher whom bullies his children and practices extreme control measures such as a zero tolerance on talking in class during the inside snack time and/or insists the children remain by his side during lunch rather than free play (by way of example). The teacher's unprofessional measures are fully supported by the principal. Children have a single small outside break each day and this can be taken away, even for the entire week or term with the child being kept indoors all day from drop off to pick up as a form of punishment. This flies in the face all current research and best practice of allowing increased outside breaks in the best interests of the child. There are so many odd things that occurred during my time at the school it's impossible to list them all. I have been lead to believe that the current level of dysfunctionalism and clearly very unhappy staff, began with the current principal. My advice would be to stay well away from this school until the current problems have been thoroughly investigated by an independent body and there has been a change of principal.

This school is not for everyone. It's not mainstream. You need to attend information night open days and very useful to do class room observations which they let you. Remember, it's 3 grades thus different ages in the same classes. Good for scaffolding. The teacher directs learning rather than stand in front of class. 2hrs on subject modules a.m. then p.m. which is segmented to different grades. The classrooms are (eerily?) quiet. OSC and after school activities (options free and costs) are offered and I rate this highly. Unlike public schools Monti is not well resourced when it comes to specialist staffing (public primary schools in Qld. have psychologist, Chaplains, Speech therapist and OT even if waitlisted). Different courses for horses.... teachers are all different just like us humans so some may be perceived as lovely and nice whilst others anxious or stressed or overly pedantic. It's about personality and whether it matches the child's character. Relationship is important as they stay with each other for three years thus this neefs to be explored. Facilities are good. Although library often inaccessible so far (2018). No uniform but seems casual and earthy the girls are asked not to wear short shorts (agreed). Overall a lovely school but if you can find small public primary schools they are excellent. Enoggera, Payne rd, Milton, Wilsdon to name a few...

After moving to Brisbane from overseas in 2017 our two children started school at BMS. They immediately felt at home since they were previously in a Montessori school. When they started here they were in the 15 months - 3 year old group and the 3-6 year old group. The level of care they that the teachers and staff provide is excellent. The school grounds are beautiful and the classroom materials all have a purpose and a place. You will not find this level of care, serenity, or attention to detail at a normal childcare facility, or primary school. My children have now both moved to the next age groups. We were so happy with the education our eldest child received in the 3-6 age group, we kept her here for prep and year 1. She is now in the 6-9 age group and her independence and critical thinking have really taken off. BMS also has a wonderful community, parents are encouraged to get to know each other and be involved with school activities. We can’t wait to see where our children’s Montessori journeys take them.

Our children have thrived at Brisbane Montessori School. They moved from a main stream school and were significantly behind their Montessori peers academically when they arrived. Under the direction of highly qualified passionate educators and their classmates they have leapt ahead and we are constantly in awe of their love of learning, their inquisitive minds, their willingness to work things out for themselves and the practical application of what they are learning, nothing is ever arbitrary at Montessori. Our seven year old was soon teaching us long division without ever having any home work set, our reluctant nine year old reader had his nose in novels in no time without irrelevant sight words and our five year old was counting in threes. This is real learning with real tangible results and it is a beautiful thing to be a part of. In almost two years my children have never said they didn't want to go to school, we all love it.

As a school we were very disappointed to read your experience of our school, especially as we had worked together so diligently over the past months in trying to develop a positive learning outcome for your children. Our focus is always on the development of the child, aiding them to become their best self and we had certainly all made every effort to do this. We will continue to reflect on our own endeavours to assist children and keep the beautiful Montessori philosophy and culture to which we aspire available to all students. We wish you all the best on this continued educational journey. “An education capable of saving humanity is no small undertaking; it involves the spiritual development of man, the enhancement of his value as an individual, and the preparation of young people to understand the times in which they live.” (Maria Montessori Education and Peace)

After discussing with the class teacher that my son is not ready with potty training. I was reassured they will try and train him, so I send my 3 year old to the school, only to stop after day 4. Due to my working hours my child was left in aftercare. Everyday he was sent home not only with the soiled clothes but with his faeces still packed in the undies. Worse still it was packed into his rucksack. I was shocked and horrified and took him out of the school immediately. I find the rules and regulations applied to teach children manners as they say appears too restrictive and takes the beauty out of learning by playing and enjoying being an individual child, the very principle of Maria Montessori! I'm a doctor and my husband is a lawyer by profession...... we should take them to court Guys pls think twice before you send them Aaron

The Montessori school started with excitement and ended with disappointment. The system outdated and not applicable for 21 century. Teachers educate 3 different years together and students lack practice, accountability and attention. We were told that our boy performs on his limit. We didn’t trust them and moved him to the local state school. His performance increased significantly. Don’t waste your time and money. Out of school care is nice, plenty of space for kids to play.

We moved from Sydney at the start of 2020. Our boys felt immediately at home at BMS. The care taken to craft lessons that incorporate multiple subjects such as science, history and art is extraordinary. The responsibility children are taught combined with multi year groups helps to develop self aware, thoughtful and community minded young people. The community is very welcoming and our boys are thriving. I couldn’t speak highly enough about BMS, very happy.

As a former student, i have to say i am disgusted at how the school treated my younger brother, he has autism and because for that reason they didn't let him go outside and play with the other kids. They put him in a tiny room with sound proof head phones, when my parents found out about this they pulled him out of the school and filled a complaint due to the abuse they causes my little brother.

Our children love their school. They love to learn, come home regularly with stories about work they've done which is fun, interesting, and teaches them academic fundamentals without them noticing! They are encouraged to follow their interests. The grounds are beautiful, the teachers are kind and passionate. We love the Montessori philosophy.

Love this school. I must admit I was skeptical about the Montessori way, but after doing my own research, and seeing our daughter blossoming I couldn't be happier. Amazing teachers, beautiful grounds. I find myself talking a lot about BMS (and Montessori in general). I highly recommend BMS.

We have been at BMS for 10 years so far. Our three children have had a great experience, forming lifelong friendships and achieving excellent personal and academic outcomes in a beautiful community environment. I would not hesitate to recommend BMS.

I have been to Montessori schools and we were hoping to see successful alternative education but this school felt very average. The younger children who were crying were looked after by a staff member but she looked like she needed more

My son went there years ago. He's never forgotten, and never found a place where he felt so connected. For anyone wanting something more than the usual manner of education for their child.... This is the place.

My son, 5, loves going to BMS and he has two great teachers. The Montersorri teaching method I believe really helps the kids develop in to thinkers rather than text book regurgitators.

My child broke their tooth at school when they were doing PE, and the school fully recovered for the payment. Thank you so much ☺

One of the very best schools around with a unique teaching method that makes pupils love learning.

A well run school with an amazing philosophy led by passionate staff in a beautiful setting.

They just provide a different box for your child to fit. (Literally, locked in a room)

We enjoyed Montessori, but it really depends on the child. It may not suit everyone.

Not an inclusive school.