MONTEsSORI SCHOOL, kINGSLEY

Montessori classrooms need to be carefully designed to encourage children to move about freely and choose their own working space. Internal and external working environments are both important with students encouraged to sit outside.

The Montessori School in Kingsley is located on site with a diverse ecosystem, home to over 100 native flora species in the bushland zone. The school is fortunate to be nestled in natural bushland and overlooks Lake Goollelal.

The upper-level classrooms offer a high level of flexibility with operable walls. It is part of their school ethos to allow children to move freely around and work where they feel most comfortable. It was important that the design of each classroom facilitate a Montessori method education based on self-directed learning and collaboration.

Playful spaces typically use levels, materials, heights, and access routes that suggest but do not dictate how they should be used. They often link spaces either physically or visually and direct participants towards other spaces of exploration. There are five main ways we have attempted to introduce playfulness, these are: levels, geometry, routes, materials, and edges.