testimonials

The reputation of Child Side School, based on high expectations that everyone can thrive not just survive the school years, is highly regarded by professionals, practitioners and parents who understand the principles, practices and philosophy of Child Side and its long-term cohesive approach to living and learning.
Child Side School is an intentionally designed place where aligned staff, children and families can flourish and make true contributions to their own lives and the common good.

With a very active 3 year old the thought of sending him to a mainstream Kindy was a great worry. I could envision him sat in the ‘Naughty Corner” and his curious, friendly and busy personality being squashed out of him. As a teacher in early childhood I had seen this happen in the classrooms around me. I considered home schooling him, then heard about Child Side through the grapevine. We attended the school’s playgroup to ‘test the waters’. It was the first place I had been where I felt he was truly accepted for who he was. Needless to say, we came back the following week, month, year … My son is just about to finish Year 10 and set off into the big wide world, fully prepared to face it’s opportunities and challenges. There will be bumps and bruises along the way with a good measure of success and fun. With the firm foundations he has gained at Child Side as he has made his way along the journey of childhood, his resilience and life skills will see him through. We have received support from a community who care about him and his future, as well as us as a family. Luckily, we still have a few years left here as his younger brother follows him through on his own journey.

The opportunity for our child to be in a school where, over ten years, she has only had a couple of different teachers has been incredible. This has allowed the educators to establish real connection and rapport, ensuring that they have a deep understanding of our child’s optimal learning style, strengths and weakness. With this connection they have been able to continually build our child’s confidence and ability across all curriculum areas, in addition to life skills. We have particularly liked the schools’ methods of making use of well-balanced mix of theoretical knowledge and practical application; not separating curriculum areas into silos but covering a broad range of areas using real life experiences; and providing and actively encouraging opportunities to incorporate work experience as part of our child’s education. The only downside of being at Child Side school has been how hard it has been to get our child to want to get in the car and leave school at the end of the day!