A school with a very different approach to education for children aged 5-18 is set to open in Sligo this September.

According to one of the school's founders, Maura Duignan, the Sligo Sudbury School aims to provide a democratic educational environment where learning and personal development can be pursued in the way that best meets the individual student’s needs.

Children who attend the school will be free from curricula and timetabled lessons and will have the freedom to explore self-chosen pursuits.

Lessons, at the request of the students, will range in style and format and may include one to one tutorials, whole school seminars and everything in between.

The school opening hours are Monday to Friday from 8:30am - 4:30pm although students are free to arrive anytime outside the compulsory core hours which are from 10:30am to 2:30pm.

Students will also be given a democratic voice through the School Meeting, where collective decisions will be made and each individual can participate in and take ownership of the school community and work towards attending to the needs of the self whilst conscientiously taking care of the needs of the whole.

Sligo Sudbury School is based on 3 fundamental values – Trust, Freedom, and Responsibility.

Sligo Sudbury School is an Independent School and will register as such with Tusla, the Child and Family Agency.

As the school does not follow the State Curriculum, they do not receive any State funding. The school will instead be financed by donations, fundraising and individual membership contributions.

The school was founded by a small group of homeschooling parents with the ideal of providing a stimulating community learning environment while continuing to foster the freedom enjoyed in homeschooling.

Inspired by writers such as A.S. Neill, John Holt, and Peter Gray, and through their experiences in the homeschooling community, they came to see the value of personal autonomy in children’s learning, and to understand that children learn most passionately when they are in control of their learning.

Sligo Sudbury School plans to open in September 2018. The school year will run from September to June.

To learn more about the Sligo Sudbury School, visit their website here.

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