Our Learning Principles
The Silkwood Way is framed by eight Learning Principles. We are uncompromised on these fundamental values with our learning approach as they guide and align all educational decisions.
We value students learning time and know that when students feel they are ‘in charge’ of their learning, they experience improved outcomes. For this reason, each student at Silkwood works in partnership with their Advisor to design a personalised learning pathway around their interests and essential and core learning needs, whilst learning how to self-manage their progress.
As they mature, young people go through different stages of physical and psychological development. Understanding, considering and integrating these stages is important throughout our learning approach, to ensure students are affirmed through developmentally appropriate knowledge and strategies.
Silkwood uses a developmental scaffold that highlights appropriate strategies, contexts and approaches to learning that are relevant to students’ developmental stages. This supports student engagement and responsiveness – it says to the student we understand you and what is happening for you.
“We understand you and what is happening for you.”
To increase student engagement, create meaningful learning experiences and expand understanding about the world, we connect students to real-world mentors and learning experiences throughout their learning program. In a traditional schooling approach, the teachers and school facilities are the learning environment, at Silkwood, we see ‘the world as our campus’.
We take time to consider, plan and create deliberate moments on a student’s journey that is worth taking the time to acknowledge, celebrate, or take them on a journey of significance. We know that these times live on in a young person’s heart well beyond their Silkwood adventure, and we encourage the creation of peak memories for them to draw on as meaningful support throughout their life.
Students learn and work best when they are passionate about and interested in what they are doing. For this reason, all students from Prep to Year 12 spend time deeply exploring things they are interested in.
We also recognise that the ongoing development of a young person’s interests is an important part of their learning. The role of an Advisor (Teacher) is to continually seek out opportunities for their students to discover new interests. They balance the time needed to do other work, with a student’s need to explore and discover.
It takes a village to raise a child – learning is a partnership that involves our student, their family and the wider community. At Silkwood, parents and carers are essential members of our learning team, beginning with the application process and progressing through to developing the learning plan, exhibitions and graduations. We know that working together with shared goals, and in support of each other, enhances outcomes for the student and their community.
We value our students becoming learners for life. 'Learning to learn' helps strengthen this process by making how they learn visible.
The Silkwood Way adopts the well-researched ‘Habits of Mind’ and ‘Growth Mindset’ approaches for this process, these are habits that help learners to learn more effectively by developing their ability to:
- Pursue and persist in learning;
- Organise their own learning;
- Motivate themselves;
- Behave intelligently when they don’t know the answer;
- Have the self- confidence to succeed.
Every student at Silkwood has an interest, passion, or idea that they can turn into practical and meaningful real-world work.
Our role at Silkwood School is to equip them with the foundational capabilities to do just that. This is our message for every Silkwood student!
To do this our students are encouraged to ‘think entrepreneurially’.
It's a thinking process that leads to:
- Searching for and finding solutions that exist outside the norm;
- Being unafraid of taking considered risks;
- Being prepared with the mindset and real-world know-how to take on challenges.
These are the skills that set people on the path to leading a meaningful and fulfilling life.
“Being an entrepreneur isn’t about starting a business it’s a way of looking at the world: seeing opportunity where others see obstacles, taking risks when others take refuge”
— Michael Bloomberg