• Intentionally small and personal learning environment

• Child friendly rhythms of the day

• High adult - child ratio

Child Side School is an intentionally small and personal, not-for-profit independent school.  We are a fully registered member of the Association of Independent Schools of Western Australia (AISWA).

Our school was founded by parents who are also teachers.  They wanted to offer their own children and others an authentic childhood through positive learning conditions.  Learning is connected and based upon knowledge about the developing brain.

We are unique in the area with our approach to learning and parenting, with the whole school and playgroup following the philosophy “it takes a whole village to raise a child well”.  We have been inspired by the principles and practices of the schools of Reggio Emilia and draw on some aspects of the Steiner approach; in particular their respect and reverence of the child and the importance of the learning environment.  The “village”:

• must remain personal, involved and proactive so we have small classes with a high adult to child ratio;

• is encouraged to learn about how the brain develops;

• offers children a low-stress environment free of commercial and popular pressures and

• provides daily rhythms that are suited to the developmental needs of children.

We "walk the talk" as parents and teachers and lead by example; we want our children to be accountable, responsible, constructive and happy.  We feel that the way to stay connected to our children is to stay actively involved with their education and not hand-ball it over to the educators.