Blogs
Spring term review by SML College student, Ro Frederick
This term has been very busy for us and lots of interesting things have happened over the last few weeks. At the beginning of term James held a rhetoric speech workshop where we learnt about how to use different types of language features and we wrote...
My internship at SML College
by Hannah Laura Bernard, our colleague from Germany who spent time with us earlier this term In the context of my bachelor in pedagogy and educational science, I made a five-week-long internship at SML College this autumn. I wanted to know what school might look like when there is no curriculum, no classroom structure and no one who tells students what...
Learning, not education
This title may seem a bit bizarre. After all, most people in authority believe education is a good thing and there are organisations attempting to create compulsory education worldwide. The basis for this is the idea that there is an entitlement to education for young people. So I have to explain what I mean by ‘learning, not education’. My...
Excellent outcome from Ofsted visit
One morning last October we had an impromptu visit from two Ofsted inspectors at SML College, Brighton. The lead inspector spent some time quizzing most of the students on an individual basis. He asked about what they did and how the college ran including the times which they attended. The Chair of Governors in the College, Dr Ian Cunningham, explained...
Career direction
It’s best to know where you’re going - and why Some years ago I was working in a school running a Self Managed Learning project. In the group with which I was working there was a talented 13-year-old girl musician. She said that she would like to have a career as an orchestra musician. We looked at the life of...
The Twelve Days of Christmas at SMLC
On the first day of Christmas, the students gave to SMLC Unlimited super-fast broadband for free On the second day of Christmas, the students gave to SMLC Aira’s kitchen checklist and unlimited super-fast broadband for free On the third day of Christmas, the students gave to SMLC A Unity game from Lily, Aira’s kitchen checklist and unlimited super-fast broadband for free On the fourth day of Christmas, the...
Letter published in the Observer
Sonia Sodha in her article “Is the state sometimes wiser than parents?” (6 Nov 2016) goes too far. She proposes banning home education and suggests; “Some may be getting an adequate education – we just don’t know”. The reality is we do know because there has been plenty of research showing that such education is largely very effective. Her...
Taking the long view
Once upon a time there was a boy in Bolton with no interest in his schoolwork. He tended to spend time with his mates or watched comedy VHS tapes that he had recorded. He gained one GCSE then after school did a series of seemingly dead-end jobs such as in the bingo hall and at the local cinema. Because he...