Interview - Dr Stephen Tommis, Chief executive, Montessori St Nicholas
Monday, January 26, 2015
The new chief executive of Montessori St Nicholas took up his post on 5 January.
What is your background?
My background is almost entirely in education, for the past 23 years. I've taught geography and economics, and been head of a department, a deputy head and a head. I was at Sherborne boys' school, deputy head at King's School and head at Abbotsholme school in Staffordshire - all independent schools.
Then I moved out of schools and headed the National Association for Gifted Children (UK), now called Potential Plus, and ran that for five years. Its main purpose was to support the parents of high-ability children. I was then the founding executive director of the Hong Kong Academy for Gifted Education, where I stayed for six years. The remit of the academy was to support up to 20,000 children in Hong Kong. I came back to the UK in 2014.
What are your key priorities?
My main priority is to make sure I understand the organisation and people's roles. I need a little bit of time to understand the lie of the land. Then I'll produce a strategic plan.
I was first introduced to Montessori during my PGCE and I've always been interested in it. Maria Montessori was very concerned about the whole child. I think personal, social and emotional development is very important as well.
I think the profile of Montessori could be improved. We need to get the Montessori method out to more schools.
We started the accreditation system (Montessori Evaluation Accreditation Board) and I would like to get that developed. There are 700 Montessori schools, but only about 25 per cent of them are accredited. I would like there to be more.
What are your thoughts on education policy generally?
Education is a bit of a Cinderella subject. There have been a lot of changes, but we need a period of relative stability. One of the heartening things in the past ten years has been the better understanding of early years' needs.
What are your plans to develop training? For example, you've recently launched the Early Years Educator Diploma in Montessori Pedagogy (birth to seven, Level 3 and Level 4).
I think our courses are one of the jewels in the Montessori crown and I would like to see them expanded and bring in more candidates. I would like to expand the virtual learning environment. I'm an advocate of blended learning - online and face-to-face. There is great potential there.
