At Silkwood School, our vision is to:
"Empower young people to be inspired, get connected and make a difference!"
Central to our vision is The Silkwood Way, our transformative educational model that focuses on achieving our unique Aims by placing personalised learning at the centre of our student’s teaching and learning plan.
This design has been influenced by Big Picture Education, 21st-century learning models and is continually progressed through action research.
It is framed by eight Learning Principles. These are the fundamental values that guide and align our educational decision making.
To support the delivery of our AIMS we developed our own unique style of curriculum, which we call our Learning Continua.
In small classes of 18 students (named Advisories) students work in partnership with their Advisor (Teacher) to create a Personalised Learning Plan. This plan sets goals that progress them along the learning continua using three Learning Programs:
- A Personal Learning Program focused on the student's interests and passions;
- A Core Learning Program focused on mastering foundational English and Maths skills and laying down the building blocks for healthy brain development;
- An Essential Learning Program focused on developing useful real-world knowledge, skills and capabilities that support them to understand more about themselves, others, and our world.
In simple terms, The Silkwood Way offers students a personalised learning pathway to support the development of 21st-century life skills to enable them to go on to live an empowered and meaningful life.
"We work in partnership with our students to personalise their learning, continually discussing their progress, making adjustments, growing their possibilities and stretching them to ensure that their Learning Plan is meaningful to them."
— Cynthia, Silkwood Advisor