The Silkwood Way Distance Education Program
Silkwood@home is our distance education program, available to Years 4 - 12.
Over time we have come to realise that our vision for The Silkwood Way can grow in many ways. Whilst we love educating our students in person, we also understand that this may not always be possible for every family or child, so we began to explore a vision for The Silkwood Way distance learning experience.
Guided by this vision came the development of our distance education program, Silkwood@Home, to allow our innovative 21st-century educational design to reach more young people throughout Australia and the world.
Our program provides the opportunity for students across Australia, and the world, to connect with The Silkwood Way.
Our learning program is unique, one you won't find anywhere else. We value young people's learning time. We value them as individuals, and we want to make a difference in their lives by offering a meaningful learning adventure relevant to the world they are growing into.
The Silkwood Way gives each child a personalised way of learning. One that sets them up for success in the 21st century.
We look forward to supporting you on your Silkwood journey so that you can discover firsthand what makes The Silkwood Way unique.
Our Points of Difference
Our Distance Education Learning Program is facilitated and resourced by our experienced team of dedicated Silkwood teachers. Walking beside our families, they do all the heavy lifting so you don't have to.
Students learn using our innovative learning design. The Silkwood Way is a transformative educational model that places the student, rather than a standardised curriculum with test scores, at the centre of decision making.
Unlike other distance learning programs, our students are part of a small class of only 12 – 15 students. As a result, teachers develop a deep connection and understanding of each student, enabling them to best support your child on their Silkwood Distance Education journey.
As part of their learning program, students actively participate in daily ZOOM lessons with their Teacher and class group. Creating a sense of community connection, the group becomes a great support system for students and their families.
Each student works in partnership with their Teacher and parents/carers to design a dynamic Individual Learning Plan (ILP) that outlines their learning goals and how they will achieve them using Silkwood's learning design. Students develop the skills to self-manage their progress using their ILP.
Every student designs their own interest-based project as part of their ILP. Each student is allocated time to work on their personal interest project each week. This work can be done solo or with other students in their class.
Students progress towards their goals mapped out in their Personal Learning Plan through a daily timetable structured around our Learning Program. These include goals in language, numeracy, 21st century knowledge & skills and personal project work exploring interests and passions.
Each semester, our students lead an exhibition to present their portfolio of learning to their families, peers, and teachers. They share their progress and receive relevant feedback. These exhibitions create an authentic connection to their learning progress.
Each student actively participates in weekly one-on-one ZOOM sessions with their Teacher. These sessions allow time for progress discussions, goal setting, relationship building and to identify challenges & celebrate achievements.
Fostering links with real-world learning is an expected part of the project planning process. This link is vital for developing students' entrepreneurial spirit and creating a meaningful connection to real-life through their work.
Students will be provided opportunities to connect with our school campuses at Mt Nathan and Robina, as well as attend school camps. Camps are an integral part of our exploring and discovery learning, and essential to supporting the achievement of our ten 21st-century aims.
During school hours, families will have easy access to Teacher support, ICT assistance, and learning enrichment support to assist those requiring help with their learning program, and technology.
In Short......
Silkwood@Home distance learning offers the same learning program as those attending on-site education at our Silkwood campuses.
Delivered and managed by qualified Teachers, our program includes a structured timetable of activities and check-ins. Unlike most distance learning programs, we do not use a standardised year-level online learning program for students to work through from home. At Silkwood, each student’s unique learning plan drives the learning program.
