We are so blessed to be situated in a truly beautiful, diverse, natural environment that offers us bush walks, beaches, oodles of nature, and more learning opportunities than we could count, right in our own backyard! We are proud of our environment and what it can offer the children. We are also immensely grateful for it!

Dr. Montessori understood the importance of taking children outside. When the child is outside, all of their senses are stimulated. Surrounded by the big outdoors, children can explore by touching, seeing, hearing, and when safe, even tasting. This awakens the senses and calls the child to come explore, creating a sense of awe and wonder that will be important throughout her life. By developing an appreciation at such a young age, children will naturally grow to be respectful stewards and caretakers of the earth.

Maria Montessori placed a great emphasis on nature and nature education. Dr. Montessori also felt that the outdoor environment should be an extension of the classroom. We include sustainability, caring for Papatuanuku, a part of our everyday. How do we do this?

You won’t find any plastic bags at Athenree Montessori. We have recycled several sets of thermal lined curtains and turned them into wetbags.
We rescue bees. Sometimes bees get very excited about getting a drink from our water trough. The children have developed a kind and gentle rescue plan that they have put into action twice. We are also in the process of developing a ‘Bee drinking station’.
We compost! This is not something that the children are just an active part of, they take the lead, learning what can go into the compost bin and what can go in to our worm farms.
We have worm farms! Again these are child lead. Although always supervised, it is the children that feed and care for our worms. They can tell you what the worms like to eat and what will make the sick.
We garden. The children have been a huge part of developing our outdoor environment, and have been a part of all of the planting. The children have been growing flowers and vegetables from seed and have been an integral part of the care and upkeep of our gardens. One of our favourite activities is making and watering with worm tea.
We only bake with free-range eggs. The children bake/cook every morning for morning tea. We feel strongly about being respectful and only use eggs from happy chickens.