Education is so important to a child’s development, and while reading, writing, and arithmetic are important, knowing one’s self and how one can make a difference in their community is equally important. A school in West Yorkshire that is set to open this fall ,understands this and is introducing some very progressive thinking ideas into it’s curriculum.
Check out the following article to see what this school is planning to do:
Hebden Bridge school, a private secondary, promises to “foster optimum receptivity to learning through yoga and meditation, democratic decision making, cross-subject learning and community service”.
“We don’t want to use a traditional structure with a headteacher dictating from top-down how the school should be run,” said its founder, Anil Sarna, who has given himself the title of “lead teacher”.
A qualified shiatsu therapist, yogi and meditation instructor, Sarna has spent the past seven years teaching Spanish and Italian at a school in Rutland but has long dreamed of running a “truly progressive” institution.
Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire. The school is scheduled to open in September 2016. Photograph: Alamy
“Yoga and meditation is non-negotiable and so is the idea of cross-subject learning, where pupils are encouraged to make connections between the theoretical and the practical, between one subject and another,” said Sarna.He gives sugar as an example of a topic that can be studied across multiple disciplines, including science (what it contains and its effect on the digestive system), history (the slave trade), music (the music of slaves and its connection to rock and roll, soul, gospel, jazz and R&B).
Sarna will initially teach all the humanities, with the only other full-time staff member taking on science and maths. There will also be a part-time art teacher. When full, the school will have up to 100 pupils, and will start with a year-seven cohort in September working out of rooms at the Birchcliffe centre, a converted baptist church run by Pennine Heritage. Fees are likely to be about £2,670 per term.
He knows critics will mock the school as a hippy playground, but says it will also offer qualifications. “The key to our school will be getting the best possible results at GCSE. Other alternative schools are very good at ethos and creating a creative environment but not that great at getting kids through exams.
