← Back to the rankingChildren's Castle International
Rocca Di Papa, Italy · Private
Illustration · Rocca Di Papa
Children's Castle International is a small private international school in the Castelli Romani near Rome, in Rocca di Papa, for children aged 2 to 11: a kindergarten and a primary school. It is run by its directress Arji Roest, who trained in child development. The kindergarten follows the Montessori method, with classes equivalent to the British Nursery, Foundation Stage, Reception and Year 1; the primary school follows the Cambridge Primary curriculum. Teaching is in English, and Italian is taught so that children can also continue their studies in Italy. The school says it suits both expatriate and Italian families; it is a member of the Rome International Schools' Association (RISA) and recognised by the Italian Ministry of Education.
Key facts
Programmes
Cambridge · Primary · Montessori
Admits from
2 years · Pre-School
Languages of instruction
English
Admissions The school admits both expatriate and Italian families who want an international curriculum for their children. Enrolment is arranged with the directress by phone or email; the site gives no other admission conditions.
Stages and year groups Montessori kindergarten: class 1 (ages 2-3) is equivalent to UK Nursery, class 2 (ages 3-4) to Foundation Stage, class 3 (ages 4-5) to Reception, class 4 (ages 5-6) to primina and UK Year 1. The primary school follows the Cambridge Primary curriculum, combined with Italian lessons following the national curriculum so that children can move abroad or continue in Italy. Learning areas: phonetic literacy, mathematics, sensorial, practical life, creativity (art, drama, music), cultural studies (biology, geography, history, science) and outdoor activities.
Address Via delle Barozze 70, 00040 Rocca di Papa (RM)
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
Cambridge · Primary · authorised programmeThe Cambridge register names the school as its centre; it teaches Cambridge Primary. Primary school follows Cambridge Primary in English, with Italian taught to the national programme; the kindergarten is Montessori.
school is in an official registryconfirmed by a school document, by membership or by taking part in a networkclaimed by the school, no confirmation, not counted in the scoreGuide to all organisations → What stands behind each entry
CambridgeCambridge International Education
Part of the University of Cambridge. It allows a school to teach the Cambridge programmes and to enter pupils for the exams. There are four stages and they are authorised separately: primary, lower secondary, IGCSE and A Level. If the stages are known they are named in the line below; if that line is missing, the school does not publish them, and the Cambridge registry does not show stages either - it gives only the name of the centre, the country and whether private candidates are accepted. Cambridge calls what it does registration rather than accreditation, and the network holds about ten thousand schools.
What the badge means for this school. The school is allowed to run this programme and to award its certificate. This is a confirmation of the programme, not a judgement on the school as a whole. The entry stands in the organisation's public register - anyone can check it. At this school: Primary (ages 5-11). Primary is the primary stage, ages 5 to 11: English, mathematics and science to Cambridge syllabuses. At the end of the stage a school may run the optional Checkpoint test, which is marked in Cambridge.
Register to check for yourself, and the full guide →Montessori
The pedagogy of Maria Montessori: a child chooses the activity, works at their own pace with special materials, and mixed-age groups are arranged so that older children teach the younger ones. It is used most often in the nursery and primary stages.
What this means for this school. The name Montessori belongs to nobody: any school may call itself a Montessori school, and there is no single body that checks this. There are associations that train teachers and recognise schools, but membership of them is voluntary, and our entry means exactly that the school describes itself this way. This pedagogy has no leaving certificate, so what to look at is what the school finishes with.
Exams and destinations from the school's official website
The school publishes nothing about where its leavers go: no share going on to university, no exam results, no list of universities.
Facilities from the school's official website
·Swimming poolnot stated on the website
·Sports hallnot stated on the website
·Laboratoriesnot stated on the website
·Theatre or assembly hallnot stated on the website
·Librarynot stated on the website
·Cateringnot stated on the website
·School transportnot stated on the website
·Boardingnot stated on the website
Campus: The school occupies the ground floor of an elegant villa on a large compound overlooking Lake Albano, between Castel Gandolfo, Grottaferrata, Marino and Rocca di Papa, with lots of greenery, its own woodland and ample parking. There is an airy gym, spacious classrooms, a lunch room and child-sized toilets; outdoors children garden and play on equipment. It is a day school.
Teaching staff
The school publishes neither the number of its teachers nor their qualifications.
Safety and wellbeing from the school's official website
The school says nothing on its website about security, medical care or pupil support.
Reviews
No reviews yet. The community rating counts towards the score once a school has five verified reviews - until then we do not show a zero, so as not to mislead.
Criteria breakdown criterion weight in brackets
Academics and programmes (16%)72 Community rating (16%)no dataparent reviews are needed: the criterion switches on at the fifth verified one Exams and destinations (12%) scored on disclosed data55 Safety and wellbeing (12%) scored on disclosed data55 Accreditation and verifiability (10%)85 Teaching staff (10%) scored on disclosed data55 Facilities (10%) scored on disclosed data60 Clubs and activities (8%) scored on disclosed data55 Value for money (6%) scored at the median95 "Scored on disclosed data" stands where we count only what the school has written about itself on its own site: exams and destinations, safety and wellbeing, teaching staff, facilities, clubs and activities. A low score here means the school does not write about this, not that the school does not have it: a school with good security and a sparse site will score low. A school can fill in its profile, and the score will be counted again.
The score is counted from 7 of the 9 criteria.Only those with checkable data count: programmes and accreditations from official registers, the fee from a published price list. Where it says "scored on the median", the school has no data and the middle of the list is put in its place, so that a gap gives no advantage. Admissions, teaching staff and reviews come in as their data arrives.
The full methodology → Similar schools in the country