This April 2019, our school of the month is Arcadia Montessori School. LagosMums loves to introduce detailed insights on schools around Lagos. Read what makes Arcadia Montessori School an outstanding school for parents to consider while looking for a good school for their children.
What is the name of your school?
Arcadia Montessori School & Kids Club. It was founded in 2016.
Where is the school located?
240a Kofo Abayomi, Victoria Island
Please give details of your staff/ administration?
The head of school is Mrs Enimien Etomi Inegbedion. She is a Computer Information Systems graduate and has an MBA. She is also an MCI London certified Early Childhood Montessori practitioner and has worked extensively with children. Our directresses are Montessori trained and the teaching assistants all have experience working with children. All go through the necessary medical and background checks.
[Read: Tips on how to choose the best school for your child ]
What is the ratio of kids to teachers?
0 months – 18 months: 1:2
18 months – 3 yrs: 1:4
3yrs – 5yrs: 1:8
What is the number of children in the school and its capacity?
The School has a capacity for 45 students.
What is the curriculum/ Teaching methodology?
At Arcadia, we believe that the foundation of a good education fosters a love of learning and the ability to adapt to change. Our broad-based curriculum encompasses the very best of the Early Years Foundation Stage as well as the highly successful Montessori programme. The result is a rigorous yet innovative hybrid curriculum that goes beyond traditional programmes of education. Our course of study is an integrated thematic approach that ties the separate disciplines of both curricula together.
At Arcadia, we introduce lessons simply and concretely in the early years and are re-introduce several times during the following years at increasing degrees of abstraction and complexity.
What are your School Hours?
Classes run from 7am – 7pm for a full day with half day options to suit working and non-working parents.
Do you offer any after-school services?
Arcadia Kids Club also accepts children from other schools from 1.30 till 7 pm for an after-school enrichment programme.
Children from other schools are welcome to participate in various extracurricular activities as well as finish their homework or have extra lessons. There is a broad range of activities for the after school club.
What is the admission process?
Visit us or call us to set up a school tour. Seeing is believing; this is why we invite you to tour our school before you complete an application.
- Taster Day. On your school visit, we will invite you and your child to make an appointment for a taster day. This will give you and your child the opportunity to you spend the morning with us, meet the teachers and children.
- Complete an application. At your tour or taster day, we will give you an admission form to complete. We can also send you an admission form beforehand, should you want to have this form ahead of time.
- Register your child. If we jointly agree that Arcadia is a good fit for your child, you can complete the registration by paying a non-refundable registration fee in addition to a non-refundable deposit. We will apply the deposit to the annual fee upon commencing nursery. You will complete the admission form, which indicates your child’s start date and schedule of fees. If we do not have space available for your chosen start date, or if you will rather enrol your child in the future (e.g, once he becomes old enough, or once you move, or for the next school year), you can place your child on our waiting list. We will note your requested start date and contact you when a suitable opening becomes available.
- Place secured. After registering your child, we will provide you with our parent handbook, which contains a number of policies (e.g. mission statement, general information, illness policy, staff, and more). We also require certain forms from you that we collect before we admit your child into Arcadia. Please return these forms, along with the payments outlined in your copy of the schedule of fees, prior to your child’s start date. Follow this link: Arcadia schools
Tuition – Is there a payment plan for the pupils?
There are monthly and termly payment plans available.
How do you access students progress?
Each child’s learning requirement is supported appropriately within the classroom. Children benefit, particularly in the early years, from the multi-sensory approach employed by the Montessori method of education. Staff work closely with parents and where necessary, liaise with external advisors such as educational psychologists. Each child has a record card where we record and monitor achievements.
What Disciplinary methods do you adopt?
Part of the Montessori approach is to redirect energy from destructive to constructive. Maria Montessori said, “don’t correct; teach”. Another catch phrase is, “consequences, not punishment”. Montessori teachers are not punitive nor coercive. Expectations and boundaries are clear. The expectations for small kids are not taught by correcting, but by directly teaching, and also by the example older kids provide in the classroom.
This is one of the big advantages of having mixed age classrooms. One way we teach behaviour is by “grace and courtesy lessons”, in which we practise and act it out. For instance, the teacher and an older student or assistant teacher will act out what a child can do and say when another child takes something of theirs. Then the children take turns playing the different parts of the little drama. If a child is being dangerous or in danger, they will be removed from the situation. You can learn more here
Do you offer a school bus service?
Currently, we do not provide a school bus service but will look into it for the future
What should parents be looking for to decide if your school would work for them/their children?
Arcadia Montessori nurtures the different stages of development a child goes through. We will encourage children to initiate deeper learning by providing an ordered environment for creativity and curiosity. The materials for the classroom are specifically chosen to help students explore new things with all five senses.
Maria Montessori, the founder of the Montessori method describes certain windows of opportunity in a child’s educational development. Our classroom tools are specially designed to help children fully embrace these special periods of cognitive, social, and spiritual growth. We will also be focusing on Kindergarten readiness for the children, with special emphasis on the 4 and 5 year-olds.
How is your school preparing children for learning and operating in the 21st century?
The top five types of knowledge and skills employers are looking for in the 21st Century were listed by a Gallup poll in this order and are all skills deeply embedded in the Montessori method:
- Critical thinking and problem solving,
- information technology application,
- teamwork and collaboration,
- creativity and innovation,
- and diversity training.
Montessori education prepares children for the 21st Century “real world.”
Any other information you would like to share
Arcadia has exciting news!! We are opening in Lekki Phase 1 in July! Our first session will be Summer School Term!
Our waiting list for ages 18months – 5 years are not open and filling up. All children who wish to enter the School will undergo an assessment appropriate to their age. For children entering Early Years (Playgroup, Nursery and Reception) this will take the form of a taster session during the summer term from July – August for an informal assessment by a teacher and a discussion with the parent(s).
We usually inform parents of the results of the entry assessment on the next working day. Where a place is to be offered, an invoice will accompany the offer letter and entry cannot take place until the invoice has been settled in full. Where a place is not offered, the Director is always ready to meet parents in person to explain why it is not possible to admit their child. In certain cases, conditions may be attached to the offer of a place, and these will be set out in the offer letter.
Please fill out the form here to join the taster sessions or to join the waiting list.
How do we contact you for more information or to schedule a visit to the school?
Address: 240a Kofo Abayomi, Victoria Island, Lagos
Tel: 0809 067 5327
Instagram: @arcadiamontessorischool
E-mail: d[email protected]
Thank you for reading through. We hope you loved what you read and saw.
Arcadia School: Where independent learning begins.
