What We Believe
We believe every child is born curious, capable and whole. Children learn in different ways and at their own pace, and they learn best when they are free to explore, play and follow what fascinates them. A child is not an empty vessel to be filled, but a person to be listened to. Learning should never be driven by fear or comparison. It grows from relationships, from real experiences, and from a deep connection to the people, the land and the world around us. School should widen a child’s world and prepare them to be confident, joyful learners for life.
These beliefs are shared by some of the thinkers we admire most. J. Krishnamurti asked for an education free of fear, where children come to understand themselves. The schools of Reggio Emilia in Italy see the child as strong and capable, with a hundred ways of expressing what they know. John Dewey showed that children learn by doing, and that a school can be a small democracy.
India’s National Education Policy 2020 now calls for the same kind of early education: play-based, experiential, multilingual and rooted in Indian culture. We take that vision seriously. We also look to Finland, whose education system is built on research-based policy and practice, long-term investment in equality, and highly trained teachers.
We believe India needs the same commitment to research in school education and we hold ourselves to it: we observe, document, reflect and keep improving how we teach.
How a Child Learns Here
Play is at the heart of everything we do. For young children, play is not a break from learning; it is how learning happens. Through play, children form ideas, test theories, build relationships and make sense of their world. Every approach below grows out of play and returns to it.
INQUIRY-BASED LEARNING
Children are natural researchers. We treat their questions as the starting point for learning rather than a distraction from it. Facilitators listen for what children are curious about, then help them investigate: making predictions, gathering evidence, testing ideas and drawing their own conclusions. Children learn not only answers, but how to find them.
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EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING
Children learn most deeply from what they experience firsthand. Drawing on the work of John Dewey and David Kolb, we see learning as a cycle. Children take part in a real experience, reflect on it, make sense of what they noticed, and apply that understanding to the next experience. A seed is not a picture in a book. It is something children plant, tend, observe and talk about over many weeks. Understanding grows from experience, not the other way round.
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PROJECT-BASED LEARNING
Projects are where every part of our approach comes together. Each project begins with a question the children choose, and it unfolds over weeks or months. Along the way, facilitators weave in mathematics, language and science learning outcomes, so that skills are learned in a context that matters to the children.
Last year, while the children were discussing ideas for their next project, they proposed several real problems from their own lives. After much debate, they settled on one: If there is a fire, how will we keep ourselves safe?
The Fire Project ran for about five months. Children measured the entire school, first in non-standard units and then in standard ones, and turned their measurements into a blueprint of the building. They created tables, signs, posters and lists, meeting their literacy outcomes through work that had a real purpose. Through our Community Volunteer Programme, the local fire department and a fire engineering college joined the children as partners in their research. The project culminated in a fire escape plan based on the children’s own blueprint, and a jingle they wrote to help everyone remember what to do.
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MOVEMENT-BASED LEARNING
Movement-based learning is not sport or outdoor time. It is the practice of teaching the curriculum through the body. Muscles have memory and learning with the whole body is what movement based learning is.
When children study the life cycle of a butterfly, they become it. Each child takes on a stage, from egg to butterfly and together children form a tableaus of the different stages. A tableau, or “living picture,” is a still scene created with the body to show an idea or a part of a story. In mathematics, facilitators might mark three boxes on the floor, with a plus sign between the first two and an equals sign before the third. Three children step into the first box and three into the second, then all six move across the equals sign into the third. The equation 3 + 3 = 6 is lived, not just learnt on paper.
The great outdoors
Every morning begins with an hour outdoors. Children play football and basketball, and practise boxing, yoga, gymnastics, army-style training and a wide range of games. Many children today spend most of their day indoors, often in air-conditioned rooms, with little access to sunlight or open space. We believe a daily hour of morning sun, fresh air and real physical challenge is essential. It builds strength, coordination and stamina, supports emotional wellbeing, and gives every child a confident, energised start to the day.
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Learning from the land
Agriculture and sustainability are woven into daily life, not offered as a club or an extra. Children prepare soil, sow seeds, compost, water, harvest and cook what they grow. We teach science through soil and seasons, mathematics through measuring and patience through waiting for a seed to
sprout. Children also learn to reduce waste, repair before they replace, care for plants and animals, and leave every space more alive than they found it. Along the way they understand that they are part of nature, not separate
from it.
The Role of the Facilitator
Our adults are facilitators, not instructors. They don’t hand children answers. They observe closely, listen carefully and ask questions that open up thinking. They notice what a child is drawn to and build on it, offering the right material, challenge or conversation at the right moment.
Facilitators learn alongside the children. They document what children say and do, reflect on it with colleagues, and use what they find to plan what comes next. They respect each child as a decision-maker, keep communication open with children and families, and model the values we hope children will carry: honesty, kindness, curiosity and care. They also hold the boundaries that keep children safe, so that freedom has a secure place to grow.
The Environment as the Third Teacher
Alongside parents and facilitators, the environment is a child’s third teacher. Every space here is designed to invite curiosity, independence and discovery.
Our rooms are calm, light-filled and uncluttered with furniture. There is an abundance of natural and open-ended materials children can use in endless ways. Materials are within reach, so children can choose and tidy up for themselves. Children’s work is displayed thoughtfully, so they see their ideas valued.
Outdoors, the garden, soil and plants are part of the classroom. Children are taught to take healthy risks. Indoors and out, the environment changes with the children’s interests and with the seasons, so the space keeps growing along with them.
