Dear Parents,

Here is some important news about school policy, tuition fees and involvement with your school:

1. DEMOCRATIC LEADERSHIP TEAM

Our school and nursery setting are governed by a democratic leadership team made up of key individuals within the school. This group meets every two weeks. Some of the policy and decisions contained in this letter are a result of discussions held within the group.

2. RISING TO OUR PRIMARY SCHOOL: We have decided to alter our policy on entry to our primary school so that the normal age of entry will be more in line with the normal age of entry to other schools. From September '08, children will be invited to join the primary school in the term after their 5th birthday. Nevertheless, flexibility will remain for those children who would benefit from spending one or two terms longer in the pre-primary / nursery environment. If you are interested in exploring the primary school for your child please let us know and we will arrange a time to show you around.

3. A NEW APPROACH TO SCHOOL FEES

We aim to reduce tuition fees as children rise through the schools' nursery, elementary and senior school departments. The senior school will open with a single small class at Forest Farm in September '08. The fees have been set at £2000 per term with a potential reduction to £1500 per term in exchange for parent work. This is a new approach to structuring the school's finances which we believe will more effectively meet the needs of both parents and the school. We hope that parental involvement will help to strengthen the OMS community while at the same time contributing to the smooth running and cost effectiveness of the school. From September 2008 we will also offer potential reductions in primary school fees in exchange for parent work, to bring them more in line with arrangements made for the new senior school department.

The Falling Fee Scale

• In return for 5 hours (per family) each week we will reduce elementary school fees from £2300 per term to £1800 per term.
• Similarly, 5 hours (per family) of parent work each week will reduce Senior School fees from £2000 to £1500 per term.
  
• The work must be deemed by the school to be of value to its smooth running and development.
• Potential areas of activity include:

• Developing the grounds
  
• Developing the buildings (the new arts space and senior school area in particular)
• Accounts
• Administration
• Peripatetic Teaching in a specialist area
• Coordinating Sports Activities
  
• Catering
• Maintenance
  
• Deep cleaning
• (suggestions too!)
  

New Arrangements for Discounts

From September 2008 sibling, student and promotional discounts will cease. In place of these discounts we will offer credits. Credits will be offered to reduce the costs of

• Create Holiday Club Sessions
• Create After School Sessions
• Primary Tuition Fees for children rising from nursery to the primary school
• Senior School Tuition Fees for children rising from the primary to the senior school department

• Assisted places
• Each year a small number of assisted places are offered. These will continue but will be reviewed each term via a means test. We are keen to ensure that discounts reach families most in need.

Fees for September 08 to August 09:

• We have taken a decision not to increase fees for this period. However if there are unexpected increases in costs then we must reserve the right to increase fees to cover these. A terms notice will be given.
  

Overall, we are trying to build a new and fair scheme for contributions. Our falling scale for fees we believe is unique. The scheme, including Credits, will mean that more families have access to high quality progressive educational for their children from 2 to 16 years.

If you are interested in the ideas behind the new senior school department please take a look at our presentations at www.montessori.squarespace.com/senior-school-presentation. The next open evening takes place on Tuesday April 1st at 6pm. We hope to see you there!

Yours sincerely,


Daniel Ardizzone & Judith Walker

 

Read all about it!

The Senior School at Forest Farm is due to start in September 2008. There are now two presentations available to read. The first is a general introduction to the new school. The second is designed to answer the many questions you may have... please let us know what you think.

You can read the information HERE on our web site


If you have any direct questions please write to oms.school@btconnect.com

Daniel Ardizzone.

Mark Rowan Hull

On Wednesday 12th December we will receive a special presentation of art and music from Sue Lyn and Mark Rowan Hull. Mark's speciality uses music to inspire large scale painting. He will demonstrate and run a workshop from 10am to 12pm for the Elementary children and some of the older nursery aged children. We went to see Mark perform at the Royal Collage of music recently and found his work fascinating. We thought the children would really respond.... let's see. We can't wait to see what they create in response to what they hear. Mark is a Synaesthete artist who is 'fascinated with the interrelationship between visual art, music and poetry.'

Mark performing at the Royal Festival 2002

Figure 1: Dieu parmi nous


Mark at work.

For more information about Mark's work, please see http://www.rowan-hull.co.uk