2026 Newsletter Term 03 | Issue 01

Upcoming events & Important Dates

Sep 7th – 18th Preschool Parent Observations
Sep 5th Farmhouse Montessori School Sports Day
Sep 17th Primary School Parent Information Evening
Sep 25th Term 3 Student End Date
Oct 12th Term 4 Student Start Date
Oct 27th & 29th Preschool Grandparent and Special Friend Day
Oct 29th Grandparent and Special Friend Day-NB-TBC

See more Important dates here

Principal’s Message

Dear Families,

Hope you are doing well.

It has been a busy and rewarding term so far, with lots of learning, growth and connection happening across our classrooms and wider community. In this newsletter, we wanted to share a little of what we see and practise throughout our days together at school — Grace and Courtesy.

Grace and Courtesy is an essential part of the Montessori curriculum. Through small, purposeful lessons, children are supported to adapt to life within a community and to develop the knowledge and skills they need to participate respectfully in the world around them. In a world that increasingly asks us to navigate difference, complexity and constant connection, these simple lessons remain profoundly important. They help children build independence and to use that independence with care, respect and responsibility towards others.

As children grow up in an increasingly fast-paced, digitally connected and socially complex world, the ability to relate thoughtfully to others matters more than ever. Children need opportunities to learn how to listen, wait, communicate clearly, manage frustration, navigate differences, and consider the experiences and needs of those around them.

Montessori recognised that these qualities are not simply taught through rules or correction; they develop through experience, modelling, practice, and meaningful participation in a community. In this issue of the newsletter, we will explore how Grace and Courtesy unfolds across each cycle in our school.

We are looking forward to welcoming families to the classroom observations scheduled this term. We cherish the opportunity to share a glimpse of what happens in our classrooms each day. We are also looking forward to Father’s Day events at both campuses.

Warm regards,

Harshitha Ravikumar  |  Principal

 

PRESCHOOL COORDINATOR’S MESSAGE

Grace and Courtesy is often thought of as something we teach children, but in a Montessori environment, it begins with the adults.

As educators, we understand that children learn far more from what they experience and observe, than from what they are simply told. From the way our wonderful educators greet every child at the door, the way they actively listen when they speak, the way they move through the classrooms, respond to mistakes, manage conflict and speak to one another provides a model for how we hope children will interact with the people around them.

This is the work of the prepared adult.

Our educators are continually observing, reflecting and considering when to step in and when to step back. Sometimes Grace and Courtesy means offering a child the language they need to navigate a difficult interaction. At other times, it means allowing children enough time and space to work through a problem independently. It means getting down to a child’s level, listening carefully, modelling calm communication and treating each child with dignity and respect.

Importantly, this extends to how we work together as a team. Children notice adults cooperating, helping one another, communicating respectfully and caring for our school. A strong and respectful team of educators creates the social environment in which children learn what it means to belong to a community.

We are very fortunate to have a wonderful team of educators who bring patience, consistency, knowledge and genuine care to their work each day. Grace and Courtesy is not an isolated lesson in our classrooms. It is embedded in the everyday interactions between children and adults and in the way our educators work alongside one another.

Kind Regards,

– Merrill Tilwani
Preschool Co-coordinator

ELOUERA | Infant Community

Grace and Courtesy is a fundamental part of the Elouera classroom and is woven into our daily experiences. Children learn these important social skills by observing the prepared adults around them and through meaningful opportunities to practise kindness, respect, patience, and consideration for others. As educators, we intentionally role model respectful language, gentle interactions, and thoughtful behaviour, knowing that children learn best by watching and participating in a caring community.

Throughout the day, the children naturally practise Grace and Courtesy as they set the table for their friends, share fruit at mealtimes, help a peer with a challenging piece of work, assist a friend with putting on their shoes, or patiently offer another child a turn with a favourite material. We also encourage our older children to become gentle guides for the younger ones, fostering a sense of responsibility, leadership, and empathy. These everyday moments help build confidence, independence, and a strong sense of belonging, while nurturing the respectful relationships that are at the heart of our classroom community

Warm regards,

— Nina, Karen, Yuko, Annabelle, Alison.

BURBANGANA | Cycle 1

Grace and Courtesy: Building a Respectful Classroom Community

 One of the very first lessons children receive when they join our Montessori classroom is not with a puzzle, a language activity, or a mathematics material. Instead, it is a Grace and Courtesy lesson. These simple, purposeful lessons introduce children to the routines and social skills that help our classroom become a calm, respectful, and welcoming community where everyone can learn successfully together.

Before children begin working with classroom materials, they learn how to carefully roll and unroll a work mat. The mat creates a defined workspace, helping children organise their work while also showing others that the space is being used. They are shown how to roll the mat neatly, ensuring the edges are aligned, and how to carry and place it with care. Children also learn to walk around a mat rather than across it, demonstrating respect for a friend’s work and recognising the effort they have invested in their activity. These lessons are introduced slowly, modelled by educators, and revisited throughout the year as children grow in confidence and independence.

Although these routines may appear simple, they lay the foundation for important life skills such as self-control, patience, awareness of others, and respect for shared spaces. Families can reinforce Grace and Courtesy at home by modelling calm, respectful language, encouraging children to greet others, wait for a turn, carry belongings carefully, and help restore spaces after use. Consistent expectations between home and preschool help these behaviours become natural habits that children carry into their relationships and daily lives.

Warm wishes,

—Vanessa, Merrill, Zaneta, Teresa.

COOINDA | Cycle 1

A child learns by what they live.” This simple thought beautifully reflects the Montessori philosophy that children absorb not only knowledge, but also the values they experience every day.

Grace and courtesy are not old-fashioned values; they are timeless ones. In a world that often moves quickly and speaks loudly, teaching our children to be kind, respectful and compassionate gives them the confidence to build positive relationships and contribute meaningfully to their communities.

At Farmhouse, kindness is nurtured through everyday moments—offering to help a friend learn how to finger knit, patiently waiting for a turn, caring for our environment in the garden and classroom, greeting others warmly and using gentle words to solve problems. These small acts help children develop empathy, respect and a genuine sense of belonging. By modelling kindness, patience and courtesy ourselves, we show our children that these are not simply good manners, but a way of living that strengthens our community.

— Dawn, Yuko, Claire.

ORANA | Cycle 2

Grace and Courtesy: The Heart of Our Everyday Classroom

Dear Orana Families,

Grace and Courtesy is at the heart of everything we do in Orana — far more than saying “please” and “thank you.” Through daily routines, purposeful jobs, modelling and gentle reminders, children learn to care for themselves, one another and their environment.

From arrival to home time, the day is full of small moments to practise independence and respect. Children greet their teachers, settle into work, and learn courtesies like placing a hand on a teacher’s shoulder and waiting their turn rather than interrupting.

Caring for the classroom is a shared responsibility — children return materials, push in chairs, tend to our plants, and help with jobs like laminating or resetting the room. In their Montessori work, they learn to prepare, protect and restore a workspace: rolling out a mat, gathering what they need, and returning everything carefully when finished.

At snack and lunch, children take on real jobs — ringing the bell, wiping tables, refilling water bottles — experiencing the satisfaction of contributing meaningfully to their community.

Grace and Courtesy also shapes how we move and relate to one another: respecting personal space in line, holding doors for friends, and walking safely and calmly indoors.

When conflicts arise, we help children find the words — using our Golden Rules, Wheel of Choice and Talk It Out strategies to express feelings and listen to one another, rather than relying immediately on an adult to solve every disagreement.

At the heart of it all are three simple principles we return to often:

Everyone is happy. Everyone is safe. Everyone can learn.

These skills take time, repetition and plenty of reminders — but our goal isn’t just a tidy, quiet classroom. It’s helping children grow in independence, empathy and respect for themselves, others and the world around them. Grace and Courtesy isn’t a lesson we teach once a week — it’s simply how we live together, every day.

Warm regards,

Larissa, Chris

AIKYA | Cycle 2

Grace and Courtesy: more than manners

In Montessori education, Grace and Courtesy is much more than manners. It is the social work of the classroom: learning how to move through a shared space with care, how to use freedom responsibly, and how to understand that our choices affect the people around us. In Cycle 2, this work becomes especially important as children’s social worlds expand. Friendships deepen, fairness matters intensely, independence grows, and children begin to reason not only about their own needs, but about their place within a community.

In Aikya, we return to this work often and explicitly. We practise the language of connection, repair, and boundaries: how to say what we need, how to listen, how to disagree without escalating, how to repair after a mistake, and how to rejoin the group with dignity. We also talk honestly about words and actions that can escalate a situation, and how different choices can either strengthen or weaken trust. Adults play an important role here by setting clear standards, modelling calm language, caring for the environment, and showing children that routines, materials, and shared spaces deserve respect.

This is one of the important balances of Montessori education. We follow the child, but the child is also learning to become a responsible member of a community. Freedom does not mean simply doing whatever we want; it means learning to make choices with awareness of others. In the classroom, we begin with trust, and we help children learn how to care for that trust through their actions. Over time, Grace and Courtesy helps children understand that independence and interdependence grow together: we become more capable as individuals when we also learn how to care for the people, materials, and community around us.

Warm regards,

—Toby, Bruno, Nicole.

YANI | Cycle 3

Grace and courtesy can sound a little old-fashioned – sit nicely, say please, remember your manners. But in a Montessori environment, it asks something far more demanding: how do you choose to exist alongside other people? In Yani, our students are increasingly old enough to know the rules. The more interesting work is learning to read the room – recognising when someone needs space, when humour has gone too far, when to speak up, when to listen, and when repairing a situation matters more than proving you were right. Grace and courtesy at this age is less about being polite and more about developing social awareness, self-control and, occasionally, the remarkable ability to stop talking.

This is particularly important in Cycle 3, where friendships deepen, opinions strengthen and the social world becomes wonderfully complicated. Our role is not to remove every awkward interaction or solve every disagreement before it develops. Children need opportunities to misread situations, reflect, repair and try again – with adults nearby to guide when needed, rather than referee every exchange. Perhaps grace and courtesy asks something of us as adults too: can we give children enough space to practise these skills imperfectly? After all, learning to live well with others is messy work – and arguably some of the most important work happening in the classroom.

— Thomas, Ella, Nicole.

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Farmhouse Montessori School

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