Primary

The primary school, which opened in September 2007, educates children from Foundation Stage through to Year Six. It is situated in attractive, modern buildings in Barnsbury, Islington. The site was originally converted from a former journalists training college and was further extended with a roof extension and annex into the neighbouring building in 2010, winning British Council Best Teaching and Learning Environment (Independent School) Award 2011. All areas are resourced to the highest standard with a wide range of Montessori educational materials as well as traditional learning activities and a wide range of ICT. 

Healthy eating has always been fundamental to our ethos; we cater for special diets, and our menu is fully vegetarian, with all foods freshly prepared on the premises by our chef, using as much organic produce as possible. We believe in encouraging independence and a sense of being a useful member of of the school community; the school kitchen at Cynthia Street has been designed to enable children to help prepare meals as part of their day.

In response to government initiatives in childcare and early years education we are used regularly by BBC and ITV to gain our views and to observe our ways of working. The school has featured in a Sainsbury's magazine article about cooking healthy foods with children, and as the largest UK Montessori school, frequently appears in the Montessori international press.

There is an emphasis on music and the arts, and there are many performances and productions as part of school life. There is a well attended school choir and theatre club, as well as a range of out of school activities including dance and Chinese Mandarin. Many children play a musical instrument and all children from Year 1 upwards participate in a weekly small group recorder lesson. The school has recently developed a PE & Games department, which has significantly increased the sporting opportunities for all children, both within the school day and after hours. We have also recently introduced a school House System, with all children belonging to one of three houses, named after local figures of historical importance. 

Possibly due to our connections with the City of London, the school has a high number of children who are bilingual French English, or who speak French as an additional language. We teach French to all children as part of the school curriculum, and offer classes at higher level both during the school day and after school for native speakers.

We focus on the greater community and build on our social responsibility to promote awareness of the world through good citizenship to our children, staff and parents.

We regularly fundraise, mostly, but not exclusively for children's charities, building this into the curriculum, and we aim to be the greenest school anywhere. The new school site has been designed and built to be as sustainable as possible.

In December 2008 both schools sites were accredited as Montessori Schools through the Montessori Schools Association MEAB programme- as such the school is one of the first in the country to have this independent Montessori school accreditation. The school is currently going through the process of being re-accredited.