Saturday, November 24, 2007

AMI Assistants Certificate Courses Offered in 2008


Welcome to our final newsletter of the year, it has been a busy and productive 2007 for MMEF!

Our focus this year, apart from Cheryl's visit in July, has been the processing of NZQA documentation. We were jubilant to complete the PTE application in September and are now anticipating an NZQA site visit to the training environment in December!

We are also in the final stages of completing the Course Approval and Accreditation application too. This has been an enormously lengthy process that we hadn't planned on starting until after the training course had commenced, however the benchmark for allowing International students to study in New Zealand was raised late this year therefore, the completion of this application became essential.

As the end of the year is drawing closer and International students are currently unable to proceed with their student visas until the NZQA processes are complete - a decision had to be made to defer the start date of the course. In consultation with AMI and their preference to keep training in line with a country's academic year, the course will now commence in February 2009.

This now gives MMEF additional time to prepare the training environment, and plans are afoot for Cheryl Ferreira to run AMI Assistants Certificate Courses around New Zealand over 2008. Cheryl, the Director of Training for the 2009 course, will be a regular visitor to New Zealand throughout 2008, not least as a keynote speaker at both the MANZ Conference in April and the ECC Conference in Wellington in May.

MMEF Advisory Team holds its inaugural meeting...


This team of experienced practitioners from various professional and educational backgrounds meet twice annually to strategically advise the MMEF Management Team on future directions.

Chensa Clarkson (AMI Montessori teacher), Warren Shephard (QED Consultant), Claire Winiana (Bi-cultural advisor), Tia Wooller (MMEF Trustee), Teresa Durrant with Owen! (the former - Montessori School Owner) and Carol Potts (MMEF Trustee). Absent was Margaret O'Meara & Cheryl Ferreira.

AMI Assistant Certificate Courses
Cheryl will be in New Zealand in 2008 to facilitate several professional development opportunities, including an AMI Assistants Certificate Course which will be available to all including parents, ECE teachers and those working in Montessori schools -- this would be ideal for anyone working in a Montessori environment without an existing Montessori diploma, even Montessori school owners!

These intensive 6-7 day courses are internationally recognised, and are the perfect introduction for anyone wishing to study towards the AMI 3-6 Diploma in 2009. MMEF would like to be able to offer these in several locations in the July school holidays, so for all of you in the South Island especially, please let us know if this would be of interest to you and we will make it happen! The locations planned to date are the Upper North Island and the South Island - further details will be out early in the new year. Both will be subject to interest - and places will be limited.

Keep watching this space.

Workshops
Following the huge success and numerous comments of support for Cheryl's Language and Mathematics workshop held in Auckland last July, we will also offer a follow up workshop later next year, in October.

Centenary Conference in China
AMI training is also soon to start in China, where things are developing on a huge scale. Conference papers will be published in the coming weeks on AMI's website - http://montessori-ami.org.

26th International Montessori Congress January 5-8, 2009 in Chennai, India.
Other exciting developments for you to keep an eye on are plans for the next International Montessori Congress, to be held in Chennai, India. Start saving now!

The Congress theme is ' Sadhana', meaning 'The mind and body coming together to perform complex multi-level tasks initially with awareness but eventually lived and carried out without effort'

I would encourage you all to visit the Congress website - this beautiful quote encapsulates the feeling that will surely pervade the Congress...

"As the child develops in harmony, the actions of the body and mind are knitted together in creating the fabric of the self. Practitioners, young and old, must engage in the thoughtful practice of central Montessori principles in everyday life. Through our every conscious action we must seek to live our theory."
And another thing...
Visit our main website www.mmef.org.nz to download your application forms, and for up to date news about all the courses, or email mmef@ihug.co.nz. And to subscribe to MMEF News – a complimentary MMEF newsletter- please email us at mmef@ihug.co.nz.

Best wishes,
Carol, Tia, Anna, Shirley, Lynne

TRUSTEES, MMEF

PS: Please feel free to forward our news to everyone you've ever met. Let's get our good news out there!