Currambena School

Welcome to Currambena “….learning in a co-operative environment in which decision-making and authority are shared.”(David Cohen, Currambena founder and friend). We are a democratic school based on the North Shore of Sydney that offers truly child-centred education for both pre and primary school children.

Currambena School was founded in 1969, following a Public Meeting of parents, teachers academics from Macquarie University. With vision and determination, they pursued the possibility of a less formal school where children’s curiosity and love of learning could be stimulated, where children’s individuality was respected, and where parental input was valued. These were unusual ideas in the mainstream schools of the time.

Established over 40 years ago, we have long been recognised as a leader in innovative educational thinking. At Currambena we deliver a holistic approach to learning, with the help of a flexible curriculum, which focuses on developing a child’s skills for life as well as high academic standards.

We believe that every child has gifts and talents that can be recognised and developed at Currambena. Our curriculum – all the learning experiences of the child – develops from the view that children are adventurous in acquiring knowledge, intellectually curious, keen to find out and actively engaged in making sense of their world.

We make sure that the child is placed at the centre of his or her own education, for example:

• Topics in the classroom are decided by the children. The class teachers then draw upon the NSW curriculum to ensure that appropriate skills in all areas are acquired.
• Children’s progress in learning is facilitated by negotiation with the teachers; a process that reveals the options and choices available to the children.
• Our children are placed in classes according to social and academic maturity, friendships and age. They move to the next group when they are ready. Transition between classes can take place any time in the school year.
• Continuous individual assessment replaces formal testing.
• Children usually work as individuals or as members of a small group. Whole class teaching is not a significant part of the teaching arrangements. In this way we believe that the different talents and needs of each child can be addressed.
• The voices of the children are significant; their views are respected. They develop warm trusting relationships with their teachers.

The needs of the whole child include academic, social, emotional and physical needs. At Currambena many kinds of play become the medium through which development of the whole child takes place. Play enables the children to feel control and competence in their world with their things around them. So for example the time children spend building cubbies, climbing trees or in the sandpit is seen as valuable to their development.

In our experience the social bonds formed in play support collaboration on academic projects. In addition individual academic challenges arise naturally in play and are often resolved by research in the classroom. More formal academic studies based on the syllabus documents of the NSW Curriculum are implemented to suit the needs of individual children. The school places great value on balancing the academic curriculum with the needs of the whole child.

Children are encouraged to express their needs, stand up for themselves, take responsibility for their actions and make their own decisions through the use of conflict resolution skills. These skills are taught in preschool and throughout the school. Parents are also encouraged to use the same skills. Teachers also run conflict resolution workshops for adults in the wider community.

A very careful selection process ensures that teachers are well qualified to teach in our unique environment. They contribute a vital balance of academic qualifications and caring sensitivity to individual needs. Only motivated and committed teachers are chosen and they are expected to participate in continual professional development. They also critically evaluate the latest trends in education according to Currambena philosophy.