Ivy School, a boutique sustainability school proposed for the Margaret River-Busselton Region of Western Australia, aims to become Australia’s first ‘Schools of the Future’.
Construction of Ivy School is earmarked for 2025, with the first intake of student enrolments slated for 2026, which is expected to peak at approximately 800 by 2030.
Ivy School seeks to cultivate future skills in students through its pioneering five-pillar philosophy of academic excellence, sustainability, pastoral wellbeing, entrepreneurship, and global citizenship – whilst also aligning to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4), which will shape the building blocks of a holistic educational offering that prepares students for the workplaces of the future.
Educational innovator, global citizen and Ivy School founder, Sabrina Liu, said that there was a clear gap between the current educational models offered to students in Australia and the skills required by the workplaces of the future. The World Economic Forum ‘Schools of the Future’ White Paper identified 16 schools as Schools of the Future, but none of these schools were in Australia.
“The ‘Schools of the Future’ White Paper’ stressed the need for a new education framework to shape the learning content and experiences required for the workplaces of the future,” Liu said.
“Australia’s education system must prepare students for a workplace where many of the job roles do not yet exist. A key goal of Ivy School is to ensure our students are well-equipped for the future".
Liu said the kind of education we choose for our children will play a determining factor in the kind of future they will enjoy.
“It is my hope that Ivy School becomes a pioneer and driver of innovation for the whole education system in Australia,” she said.
Ivy School’s holistic approach to education will offer an innovative approach for K-12 students that focuses on the cultivation of future skills including global citizenship, cultural competency, and sustainability. The School will adopt immersive education experiences and embrace the environment as the third teacher.
Liu said that her passion for nurturing the ecological-human connection is reflected in the name ‘Ivy’.
“We chose Ivy because we want people to associate us with the academic excellence of an Ivy League school, whilst picturing the beautiful surroundings of the South-West,” she said.
“When we looked at ‘Schools of the Future’ around the world we felt something was missing in the local curriculum and pedagogy. We want to promote a balanced education which promotes a quality academic experience, whilst embracing a self-directed approach to learning that inspires students to become lifelong learners.”