The team
At Unity Montessori, all the friendly and warm teachers hold either an International Diploma in Montessori Pedagogy or a Diploma in Montessori Pedagogy (Early Years Educator Level 4). The team has been carefully selected to ensure a wide range of skills and experience, and all the teachers are very enthusiastic and highly motivated. At Unity, we are committed to creating a nurturing, happy and safe learning environment for the children, teachers and families alike. We are educators, first and foremost, and we are proud to have a very high staff to children ratios. This allows us to focus on every child, tailor learning around individual needs, and create strong and meaningful relationships with children, their families and their key workers.
Alex, Unity Montessori Owner & Principal
Alex’s first career was in marketing, a field in which she worked for five years. Education, however, has always been her true lifelong passion. After birth of first child, while researching alternative methods of education she discovered Montessori and started learning about it. In 2011 she enrolled for a teaching course at Montessori Centre International (MCI), and the years since have been the most fulfilling of her professional life. Helping children develop their skills and understanding of the world is a humbling experience, one that she treasures and feels fortunate to have.
Alena, Unity Montessori Deputy Manager & SEN Lead
After 12 years of training and competing as a Rhythmic Gymnast, Alena became a coach of young and talented girls aged 4-6, while studying English Language and Physical Education to become a teacher. She taught English as a foreign language to children and adults, and continued her education by gaining an Economics degree. After graduation, Alena worked in a Finance and Legal Department for 10 years, until her first child was born. This is when her interest deepened and drew her to the theories, values and key principles of Independence, Observation, Following the Child, Prepared Environment and Absorbent Mind, developed by Maria Montessori.
Since qualifying as a Montessori Educator at MCI, she has been working not only directly in Montessori settings, but has managed to apply the Montessori method of teaching at a mainstream school, working with children of 6-7 years with learning difficulties, the Autistic Spectrum and ADHD.
Hannah, Montessori Practitioner
Hannah worked as a Director for an Investment Bank for 10 years. After having her own children, she left The City to pursue a career working with children. Hannah has set up and run local toddler groups and drop-ins for pre-school children, before training as a teaching assistant at Association Montessori Internationale (AMI). She then acquired the International Diploma in Montessori Pedagogy at MCI and worked as a teacher in a Montessori nursery school with a strong creative ethos. Hannah moved to teacher training, and worked at MCI as a lecturer, and group tutor for the Foundation Degree in Montessori Early Childhood Practice, CERT HE and Diploma Course (Early Years Educator). More recently, she has written a CPD course for practitioners and enjoys working as an occasional IQA too. Hannah is passionate about the outdoor environment and works part time with us, where she can often be found in the school garden.