History of Titoki Montessori

Titoki Montessori School was established in 1989 as an Incorporated Society, administered by a dedicated committee of parents whose children would attend the school. The school is governed by a Council, and adheres to the School Constitution, the School Charter, and the Policies Handbook as required by the Ministry of Education.

The school began in the basement of a house of one of the parents. Initially there was very little equipment and the council couldn’t afford to order any from Holland; at that time the only place to source specialised Montessori equipment. A generous parent loaned the money, which enabled the founding families to purchase the first lot of equipment. 

Shortly after opening, the school ‘graduated’ to a tired and dismal community hall called "The Hut". The building itself has a notable history on the North Shore as it was originally the Catholic Church situated in Browns Bay. Once the building had been re-sited to Stredwick Drive beside the lush Awaruku wetland reserve, the Titoki Montessori Incorporated Society applied to the North Shore City Council securing a ten year lease on a "Peppercorn Rental". With a committed and hard-working parent community "The Hut" was amazingly transformed into the warm, caring and visually pleasing environment it is today.  

The Titoki tree planted in the playground commemorated the opening of the school. The name of the school, 'Titoki', comes from the native Titoki tree, commonly referred to as the New Zealand Oak, which was chosen as a symbol to encourage our children’s growth, inner strength and independence.

Our young Titoki sapling has been given a lot of care and dedication to allow it to grow and prosper to what it is today. However, we are only part way there, as the Society’s founding vision and ultimate goal was to develop into a Montessori School for the first and second plane 3-6 and 6-12 year old students.

In 1996 the Incorporated Society Council (often referred to as "the Parent Committee") and community voted to take out a small loan to build an extension at the rear of the building. This added a small amount of classroom space, necessary storage, and a mezzanine office and teacher retreat space, but did not allow for an increase in enrolment due to restricted outdoor space.

The exterior environment (garden and playground) was designed and built by John Allen, with the aid of parent working bees, in 2003.

A new Head of School was appointed in 2008, bringing a fresh view and determination to explore the vision for the school. In March 2008 the school underwent the three-yearly Educational Review Office (ERO) inspection; the outcome (delivered in writing in July 2008) was an exemplary review in all areas of operations, with a recommendation that the Council undergoes and documents their own self-reviews to show greater consensus planning within the community. 

At the beginning of 2009 the Head of School challenged the Council to undertake self-review and to reflect on the founding documents (Constitution and Charter) to define their Vision for the next 20 years. One astute Council member stated, 

"We stand on the shoulders of those parents who have gone before us, and have an obligation to ensure this programme not just lasts, but thrives so it is here for children to attend in the next 20 years".