Anitra – Director of Montessori Sustainability & Director Cycle 1 Bougainvillea
Personal Background: I was born and raised in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. I have lived in Malaysia, Thailand, United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia before settling permanently in Australia. I am married and have 4 daughters, two of whom were previous students of PMS.
Education and Work Experience: My love of Montessori began with a train journey! A magazine had been left behind on one of the seats and one of the articles was about Maria Montessori and her philosophy. This led me to decline a place to study Speech Therapy for children at the University College of London and enrol at The London Montessori Centre instead. After graduating from there, I worked for a Montessori school in Holland Park, London. I then made the move to Bangkok, Thailand, where my father was working for the UN. I was lucky enough to work for The Children’s House, a Montessori 3 -6 year old school, which catered predominantly for expatriate children. Another move sent me to Dhahran, Saudi Arabia where I set up a Montessori classroom in the British School. Falling in love and getting married does all sorts of things!! For me, it meant moving continents and settling here in Perth, where I found Perth Montessori School. This is the second time around here for me. My first stint at PMS ended when our fourth baby arrived. My second stint started 7 years ago and I can honestly say that I have never been as happy teaching as I am here at PMS.
Philosophy of Teaching: “Establishing lasting peace is the work of education; all politics can do is keep us out of war.” Maria Montessori Education comes in various guises. For me, a well educated person is one who not only can converse and work intelligently, but one who can think and feel for others. Compassion, virtuous behaviour and positive deeds are what the children of today need to have instilled in order to become useful members of tomorrows society. A Montessori education does this in abundance!!
Vianny - Teaching Assistant