The school of my dreams...

... Will hopefully become a reality one day.

My life ambition has evolved quite a bit in the past few months. I've gone from wanting to consult on creative education for gifted kids and possibly starting a very small "home" school to... playing a bit role in the evolution of education by developing my own educational method and setting up my own small-but-much-bigger-than-before school for exceptional children of mixed abilities (gifted and special needs).

As though that weren't ambitious enough, I want this school to pull quintuple duty. In addition to a school, the building will also host a cafe/bar, a dance studio that is also a performance venue, and flats for hire upstairs (plus one for me). I'm going to try and get a rough plan laid out in the not-too-terribly-distant future so I can better illustrate how it'll work.

In terms of my educational method, I'm conscious of the fact that I should probably be careful to protect my "intellectual property." Part of me wants to just trust that if someone makes use of my ideas, they will properly credit me (and hopefully let me know about it as well). But just in case, I'm going to play it safe and be somewhat vague. I have a LOT of work to do before I have this all figured out, anyway, so I couldn't actually offer many details at this stage even if I wanted to.

Essentially, I want to combine what I think are the best ideas from every educational method/system out there: mainstream, special needs, Montessori/Waldorf, homeschooling, dramatic education, you name it. Ideas from different countries and cultures, too.

There will be both primary and secondary levels, most likely broken into what England terms "key stages" (but with slightly different age ranges).

e.g. Key Stage 1 = 5-7
Key Stage 2 = 8-10
Key Stage 3 = 11-13
Key Stage 4 = 14-17

Each key stage will be comprised of one class.

The whole way through the system, learning will be holistic and will focus on life skills, both vocational and domestic. There will be a big emphasis on creativity and critical thinking and just about everything will be hands-on. Every morning will begin with a bit of physical activity designed to help calm the body and focus the mind. Everything in mainstream curriculum (and more!) will be covered... in a much more fun, useful, and meaningful way.

In the secondary stage, the majority of the students' studies will be centred around "thesis" projects. The projects will follow different themes and have different requirements and, along the way, they will learn the skills needed to complete their projects. Some of these projects will be solo, some will be small group, and some will involve the whole class. Teachers in this area will act mainly as mentors and advisors, but teach some group lessons as well.

I'd also like for there to be a strong emphasis on diversity and community. The older and younger children will interact continually, both socially and through structured programs. We will eat and play together, and the older children will have a chance to mentor the younger children. Also, since this will be a school for both special needs and gifted students, children of mixed abilities and talents will be working together. I also plan to set up a scholarship fund so that the school can be accessible regardless of ability to pay.

So there you have it: my life ambition in a nutshell. I've been thinking about it obsessively all day, for some reason, so I just had to get it out there.

PS - I've already been approached by a few people looking for jobs. Yes, I am willing to consider possible future candidates now! Keeping in mind that I don't know when or where this plan will unfold. I'm also interested in hearing from people who wish to help me brainstorm or talk to me about what their ideal school would look like. I will eventually be looking for people to challenge and criticise my plan, but not yet. I want to have it more fully developed first.