Jacaranda Montessori Pre-School was established by Jo Labouchere and Kristina Nicholson in January 2010 and is one of the leading schools in Victoria Falls. We are registered as an Independent School with the Ministry of Social Welfare in Zimbabwe Registration No: SW10/119. In 2017 Jacaranda Montessori was taken over by new management. Courtney Connolly, with many years of experience in developing
and in the running of pre/primary schools is delighted to be the new director of Jacaranda Montessori. With a passion for working with children and a passion for education and the drive of a bigger force she endeavours to take it to new heights. Our aim at ‘Jacaranda Montessori’ in the pre school sector is to implement the Montessori philosophy of learning, which nurtures the child’s early development. Using specifically designed activities and equipment in a prepared environment, helps cultivate the child’s own natural desires to learn. We aim to help children develop an outgoing, confident approach to life, making learning a natural and exciting process. We try to help the children develop to their full potential, gain confidence and above all be happy, content and find out that learning is fun. The focus in the nursery classes is to make the child’s first school experience a happy, nurturing and safe one. Learning basic social skills; lots of vocabulary enrichment through conversations, songs and games; development of gross and fine motor skills and toilet training make up most of the nursery curriculum. The young children are encouraged to develop their senses, learn to share, develop hand control and start to gain both concentration and self-discipline. The formal Montessori three year curriculum begins with the three year old. The child explores the Practical Life, Sensorial, Language, Mathematics and Culture areas of the class. Learning takes place one-on-one and each child progresses at his/her own pace. In addition to the introduction of letters and numbers our timetable includes art, music, dance, nature study, simple geography, history, current events, singing, handicrafts, acting, cooking and storytime. Jacaranda Montessori developed a primary sector in 2014 out of the need for a good quality education for the growing number of young children in the Victoria Falls community. There is a strong focus on making learning fun, and working together in a supportive and caring way. Jacaranda Montessori has three core aims:
• To provide pupils with a top quality education.
• To furnish pupils with a rounded education; to prepare them for their
future as global citizens, whilst giving an appreciation of local
culture and history.
• To ensure that pupils are ready to move onto excellent mainstream
preparatory schools, either in Victoria Falls, other areas of
Zimbabwe or internationally. In the school we aim to provide a broad based curriculum, encompassing the core subjects of English, Mathematics and Science, together with History, Geography, Art, Music, Religious Studies, French and Environmental Science. All subjects are taught with a close reference to the Zimbabwe National Curriculum with the British curriculum incorporated. We will continue using the well established Wordworks prgramme. In 2011 Jacaranda Montessori implemented a new early literacy programme called “Wordworks”. “Wordworks” was started by Dr Shelley O’Carroll and it is widely used in South Africa. The programme continues to develop with the creation of new games and ideas to help the children. Each week two children work with one adult helping them to learn the letter sounds and acquiring the necessary skills to learn to read when going on to primary school. It is amazing the difference and the impact the programme has had with helping the children acquire the basic English literacy skills as well as enriching their vocabulary. Jacaranda Montessori is a happy and busy environment where each and every child is valued, cared-for and nurtured. Developing the whole child is very important to us and we pride ourselves on the way we nurture children in our care, both academically and pastorally. This is achieved largely through our team of dedicated, professional staff, our welcoming, safe environment, and the excellent student-teacher ratio.
