Montessori stands test of time in the dales

Central to the premise of Montessori education is the avoidance of testing, yet idyllic Bolton Abbey-based Wharfedale Montessori School in North Yorkshire has chalked up 25 years of star pupils to show it passes the ultimate examination with flying colours.

At a special ball this autumn former pupils returned to mark the school’s 25^th birthday and celebrate successes which they attribute to their happy early years at the school. Young professionals with promising careers, they attest that the school has “given them the edge”, a sentiment which echoes that of entrepreneurial icons across the world who also had a Montessori education, among them Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Amazon’s Jeff Bezoz and Wikipedia’s Jimmy Wales.

Among the former pupils who joined in the birthday ball celebrations were Flora Mewies who is practising law, Yvette Levine who dances with the National Youth Ballet and has a full scholarship to the Classical Ballet Academy at Tring, Max Heaton who plays with the National Youth Orchestra and Elliot Jackson developing software for an Apple subsidiary.

When Jane and Graham Lord first approached the estate of the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire to found the school in 1990 it was the first of its kind in Yorkshire. It remains the only one true to original Montessori philosophy with pupils not given any tests until their final year of primary school in preparation for moving on to secondary education.

Jane explains “Children are naturally competitive but enforced testing tends to flatten their enthusiasm and it is certainly not good for more sensitive children.”

The more holistic approach eschewed by the school means the teachers educate each child individually, working with their strengths, unlike most schools which are geared to regimental benchmarking.

The result is well-rounded children who are consistently gaining scholarships and grammar school places. Feedback from the schools that go on to teach these pupils observes that they are markedly articulate, well organised, confident and self-motivated.

From opening with just 9 pre-school pupils in 1990, Wharfedale Montessori School has grown over the years, spilling out of the main building, gaining new Montessori teachers from as far away as New Zealand and in 2006 opening a new nursery at Barden, Wharfedale Babies, for little ones as young as six months up to 2½. 

When the main school at Strid Cottage was bursting at the seams, the Lords applied and were eventually gained consent from the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority for a cabin classroom.  Arriving all the way from Finland as a giant kit, during the 2008 summer holidays it was assembled by friends, family, parents and pupils, a testament to the team spirit of the school.

Nestled as it is, quite magically, in beautiful ancient woodland alongside the River Wharfe, a visit to the school imparts a sense of something really special.  The children here are surrounded by an environment completely in tune with the philosophies of the Montessori education, where – put simply – children learn through hands-on activities and exploration.  From the occasional deer on the lawn to the pupil’s active and practical involvement in the daily running of the school – laying and clearing places at mealtimes, sweeping the yard and so forth – it is pretty unique and almost pastoral, but it is in no way anachronistic in its teaching. Computers are playing a part alongside an array of other apparatus and exercises to encourage maximum independent functioning at all levels among the children. Many of the activities have a self-corrective element which allows the child to see easily when something is not right and to master a skill without adult intervention. Needless to say, the school has a glowing Offsted report.

Jane and Graham still live on-site and it’s clear they live and breathe for the school. In 2014 they were awarded National Montessorians of the Year at the Institute of Education in London. 

Founded as a practice and philosophy in the early 20^th century by Dr Maria Montessori, the education method has been widely adopted in developed countries across the world with the UK being unusually slow to realise its potential.  Professor Timothy Taylor who’s children were educated at  Wharfedale Montessory School observed in an article “I have come to realise that Montessori’s method operationalises a powerful tradition to which Jean Paiget, Lev Vygotsky and John Dewey belonged; in short, an intellectual mainstream.  What surprises me is why a poorly conceived, frankly medieval, system should persist outside Montessori, and continue to be supported by successive governments”.

Jane Lord takes some heart in the knowledge that there is a growing respect for the Montessori principles and that some methods are being adopted within mainstream practice, but her dream is that she would like the school not to be fee-paying, saying

“One of the things that really bugs me is that we have to be an independent school. I hate it because it’s so far against the philosophy of Maria Montessori. She started out by taking children off the streets in Rome. We say we are a democratic society but in fact we only have one system of education that parents can choose if they don’t want to go private. Monetssori is so highly respected in other places and yet in this country we have to fight so hard to get recognition.”

As the school celebrates its 25 year milestone, inevitably thoughts turn to the future.  Jane and Graham’s daughter, Imogen Hardy is also a Montessori teacher. Headmistress of Wharfedale Montessori School from 2005-2010 and having worked in the Cayman Islands and Munich, she is now heading St Wilfred’s School nursery in Exeter. Whether she will eventually return to take up the reins of her parents’ school again remains in question, but there is no shortage of interested parties, former pupils and teachers among them who want to see the legacy of the Lords’ inspirational school carried forward for future generations of fortunate children. For the time-being, however, the Lords have no intention of going anywhere; and why would they?