Sarah Rowledge wins Montessori Award

Hands on Learning Founder recognised at Awards Ceremony

In recognition of almost 20 years dedication to early years and primary education, unerring peer support across the country, and simple exemplary practice, last week, our very own Sarah Rowledge received the prestigious Outstanding Contribution to the Montessori Community Award.

Founder of Coggeshall-based Absolute Angels Montessori Nursery and principal of Soaring High Montessori Primary School, Sarah Rowledge said, “I am totally overwhelmed. To me, it’s simply what we do: put each individual child at the core of our work, promote self-motivation, independence and a love of learning. To be considered an inspiration to others is a genuine honour, and incredibly humbling.”

And inspirational, she is. In the late 90s, Sarah became ‘hooked’ on the educational ethos of Maria Montessori; to inspire young minds and set the foundations for life-long learning, and by April 1999, she opened the doors of Absolute Angels Montessori Nursery. In 2008, Sarah went on to establish Soaring High Primary School, offering Montessori Education in the heart of Essex to children up to the age of 11, with a Montessori primary curriculum that fully meets the requirements of Ofsted and the National Curriculum and, in many subjects, goes well beyond.

Sarah’s passion and expertise have been in constant demand, and back in 2005 she took on the challenge of managing and supporting the transition of a failing state primary school in Manchester, Gorton Mount, where she left her own thriving businesses and moved to Manchester for a year to train their teachers and establish what is now an outstanding Montessori-based primary academy.

Over the years she has inspired and trained hundreds of Montessori practitioners through her training company Hands On Learning’s early years and primary Montessori training courses. Trustee of the Montessori St Nicholas charity Sue Briggs said, “Sarah’s door is always open to visitors in the hope that just a little of the magic she has created will rub off and inspire practice elsewhere. She has offered us her passion, her time and her inspiration and she deserves our enormous thanks for the gifts she has shared with us over the years. Sarah has absolutely provided an outstanding contribution to the Montessori community.”

We couldn’t agree more!