Atelier 21 is intentionally different from other schools.
Young people are going to need different skills to thrive than they might have needed thirty years ago, so schools need to be different. Generally mainstream schooling, private or state schooling, hasn’t changed a great deal in the last few decades, while the rest of the world has changed unrecognisably.
We are attempting to address that gap by offering Atelier 21’s revolutionary approach to school. At Atelier 21 young people are taught how to think, not what to think. Pupils at Atelier 21 learn how to be resourceful, resilient and reflective people whom assume responsibility for their place in the world.
We use Montessori materials as aids to teach maths and English as the resources are really intuitive and self correcting, which helps us to help learners help themselves. Otherwise, we are not a Montessori School, although many of our values are synonymous with the Montessori Approach.
We advocate for the rights of children and the protection of the culture of childhood as an important time for rich connection with nature, other people and the wider world, as they embark on the life-long journey of self-discovery.
We replace the pressurised, test driven culture to pass exams, with a totally unique, personal responsibility model that aims to encourage children to develop a rigorous attitude towards mastering academics and developing skills and attitudes over time in order to thrive in life (and pass exams when they need to!).
We are a pioneering Future School which means children learn through a multitude of ways: part academic workshops, part project based learning and part self-directed learning. These are all underpinned by our quest to give children a voice in the running of their school through our democratic school circles.
