Hatfield Montessori Pre-School is located in Pretoria. Hatfield Montessori Preschool holds Conditional Full level membership, conveniently situated close to the University of Pretoria, which was established is 1986. Children between the ages of 2.5 and 6 years will benefit by attending our preschool. Our environment consists of indoor and outdoor areas providing many opportunities for your child’s development.

We view education as a cooperative endeavour between our children, our staff and our parent body. We emphasize the importance of fostering values and aspects of character.

These include:

• respect for oneself , others and our environment
• taking ownership (at an age appropriate level) of one’s own education rather than just engaging in a series of teacher-driven activities
• learning to be compassionate and appreciative of those different to ourselves
• developing creative thinking and problem solving, on an individual level but also within the context of being part of the school community of children and adults
• learning to be self motivated, self disciplined and self confident
• a sense of social responsibility

We consider these aspects to be more foundational than academic achievement at this stage of child development; we do however encourage the children towards academic competence at developmentally-appropriate levels in the Montessori Prepared Environment.

Furthermore, we encourage the development of the above through including nature as an integral part of the educational setting. Thus the outside environment is considered part of the daily educational workspace of the child.

We believe our responsibility as staff is to model a worldview consistent with the above in all our relationships. We further promote this through our Peace Programme.

We also aim to respond appropriately to new challenges emerging in society but without compromising the integrity of the approach of the school as described herein.