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How One Small School in Goa is Winning Top Awards Across India
As long as we get the learning outcomes, we don’t dictate what goes on in the classroom. Teaching is not prescribed, it’s discovered.
Paradise School Goa, a SOLE Cambridge International School from Grades 1 to 12, is making a mark in the world of education by winning major national awards. Three of its learners have recently received prestigious awards from Cambridge Assessment International Education to acknowledge their outstanding performance in the June 2022 Cambridge examination series.
The ‘Outstanding Cambridge Learner Awards’ programme celebrates the success of learners taking Cambridge examinations in over 40 countries around the world. The awards ceremony took place in Hyderabad on 21st January. Ram Huyssen from Paradise School won Best in India for Enterprise IGCSE (10th). Anishka Tewari won High Achievement for her AS Level in Digital Media and Design (11th). Ula Huyssen has won High Achievement for Marine Science A Level(12th). Last year, Paradise School was recognised as one of the top sixteen ‘Exceptional Schools of India’ at the Scoonews Global Educators Festival. This was for demonstrating ‘high quality collaborative and progressive practices across the domains of learning, teaching and leadership’. Basically innovating on every level.
So how has a boutique school of less than 150 children founded in 2016 managed to win national accolades in such a short space of time? For a start, its unique pedagogy and choice of subjects. Paradise School has taken on board the most progressive and exciting subjects available from the Cambridge curriculum and combined them with SOLE, Dr Sugata Mitra’s method of Self-Organised Learning.
Enterprise, Environmental Management, Global Perspectives, Digital Media and Design, Computer Sciences, Psychology, Sociology, Marine Sciences to name but a few are offered at the IGCSE and AS and A Level (10th and 12th). These are internationally recognised qualifications which gain access to universities and colleges in India and all over the world including the USA, UK and Australia.
Founder and Director Shilpa Mehta says, ‘we pride ourselves on keeping up-to-speed with Cambridge and their latest educational thinking. They are right on point when it comes to making curriculum more relevant and pertinent to this day and age and for our young learners’. Added to which, Paradise School has a predominantly young faculty who are given the freedom to teach using their own methods and vision.
‘As long as we get the learning outcomes, we don’t dictate what goes on in the classroom. Teaching is not prescribed, it’s discovered’, says Head of School Harmeett Saini. This is what keeps young learners engaged. A vibrant modern culture, a centralised and shared powerbase rather than top-heavy management and a willingness to push the boat out is what makes Paradise unique.
Meaningful collaboration is the engine of the school borne from the SOLE method of learning. ‘Our school might be small, but we are punching way above our weight. We never set out to win awards. We just wanted to break the mould of traditional education and empower our learners. Give them wings, not anchors’, says Shilpa. And judging by these results, this adventure in educational possibility seems to be paying off.