Cobham Montessori School

Newsletter W/C 27th April 2026

Dear Parents and Carers,

NOTICES

School Calendar 2026-27

We are delighted to share our dates for the next academic year. Please find the calendar attached.

Autumn Term: Monday 7th September 2026 – Wednesday 16th December 2026 (half day)

Half Term: 26th-30th October 2026

Spring Term: Wednesday 6th January 2027 – Thursday 25th March 2027 (half day)

Half Term: 15th-19th February 2027

Summer Term: Wednesday 14th April 2027 – Wednesday 15th July 2027 (half day)

Half Term: 31st May- 4th June 2027

Upcoming Events

Coffee Morning Friday 8th May- Building Community

We have a coffee morning scheduled for Friday 8th May 2026 at 9am. We thought it would be interesting to visit the topic of what it takes to create a modern-day village when it comes to raising children; the importance of community in children's lives and how parents, grandparents, friends, school, extended and chosen family all have an influence. We hope as many of our Montessori community can join us to discuss how we can help one another raise confident, well-rounded, happy human beings!Please will you let us know if you can join us as the topic will only work well if we have a wide range of views.

Open Morning Saturday 9th May

For anyone interested in how we deliver a Montessori education to children from ages 2.5-12. Existing parents are very welcome to come along and revisit the Montessori pedagogy.

School Photos Wednesday 13th May

All children are invited to attend, please drop your child off at the usual time to ensure they are included in the whole-school photo. The photographer will take individual photos as well as sibling groups as well as the class photos.

Whole School Trip Friday 22nd May

All children are welcome to attend, we have planned an action filled day-trip to Sayers Croft. More details to follow but for your planning purposes the children can be dropped at normal time and we intend to be back by 3.15pm. No doubt the highlight for all will be rice-cakes on the coach!

Music Recital- Wednesday 1st July

Sports Day- Friday 10th July

THE WEEK IN SCHOOL

Children's House

This week in the Children’s House, the children have settled back into their routine.

As Miss Hayley has not yet returned, we stepped in! Using the classroom yoga mats, we created a story and practised different animal poses.

This week we also focused on the song Hickory Dickory Dock. Some children kept the beat by pretending to be the clock (“tick tock, tick tock”), while the rest joined in singing. Soon we heard, “Can I be the clock now?” We also listened to a different rhyming version called Hickory Dickory Dong, helping to develop rhyming skills and encouraging the children to play with words.

On Thursday, we baked gluten-free cupcakes. We talked about what “gluten-free” means. Just like dairy-free means no milk, and nut-free means no nuts, gluten-free means no gluten. We looked together at the ingredients we needed and discussed dry ingredients and wet ingredients. The children worked together to make the batter, and we made some extra cupcakes for Elementary too. As it was Saint George’s Day, the children painted a red cross on top of their cupcakes using red food colouring. One child shared, “Do you know the red cross in the flag is blood?”

We placed a new art activity on the shelf, inviting the children to create their own cherry blossom trees using tissue paper. Our own cherry tree inspired this work, especially after one child said last week, “It feels like it’s snowing. All the petals are falling down.”

On Friday at a very sunny sports session, the children practised throwing balls at a length, the length increasing as they mastered each level by hitting the target. They also had great fun in a game of dodgeball, in which everyone had a turn to throw and to dodge, even Coach Phil!

Snapshot

Working with Sandpaper Letters

Miss: “v. This letter makes the sound v.”

Child: “v for viper. Look! This letter” (while tracing it) “looks like a viper!”

Great News

Child: “Miss, we have great news! Do you know our big cherry tree? We found some shoots. A new tree is growing!”

Elementary

In our mini-week last week the children were launched into a quick project to start their term off. They covered some of the major religions and each pair was asked to gather some information and present it on Monday this week. It's a great way to kick-start their learning and get everyone back into the swing of working. We were all surprised at how much can be achieved in such a short time and again at the variety of presentations: posters, models and there was even suggestion of a food component! As the research was presented we noticed may similarities in the beliefs and rules of all religions, with a strong emphasis on living a good life.

This week we have been encouraging the children to focus on an aspect of the Dimensions of Observable Growth or 'DOG' for short. We use this matrix as a framework to help children notice the development of their character over the years they spend with us. Specifically this week, we have been looking atcheerful obedience; that is to say that we do something that is (reasonably) asked of us without grumbling or having to be asked repeatedly. There are four stages to the DOG and we encourage the children to consider which stage they are at and also how they might consciously move themselves to the next stage. For cheerful obedience the stages are as follows:

1. I'm often resistant, resentful or defiant of instructions given by legitimate and fair authority figures.
   
2. I sometimes cooperate with instructions given by legitimate and fair authority figures, but I often need urging, prodding or an explanation to do so.
   
3. I cooperate with instructions or restrictions given by legitimate and fair authority figures
   
4. I reliably and cheerfully cooperate with instructions or restrictions given by legitimate and fair authority figures. I encourage others to do the same.
   

When asked 'What do you do when your parents ask you to stop doing something?' a typical response was 'I do it a few more times, then I stop!' Let's see if you notice an improvement!

In sports the children are learning volleyball techniques, with this week practising throwing further and harder. As always the children loved the pac-man running game and we finished the lesson with a game of dodge-ball.

On Monday, as part of our Outdoor Learning curriculum we have planned a trip to RHS Wisley. We will be going by public transport and will be back within the school day. Please ensure that your children are dropped of promptly in the morning. The children need to ensure they have suitable clothing for the weather, as well as a full water bottle and a lunch suitable for eating at a picnic table outdoors!

We hope you have a lovely weekend.

Kind regards,

Yvonne