Who am I?*
*Not an existential question! ;)
Hello! For those of you who don’t know me, or perhaps we haven’t connected in a while, I wanted to extend a warm welcome and to share genuine gratitude with you for tuning into these newsletters.
I’d like to share a bit about my personal story.
I believe it will give you all a sense of clarity as to what brought me to the journey of creating ThriveNow and the 4 pillars of education in the first place. And it will reveal “my why” behind my work to ensure that the mainstream education system becomes an inclusive and meaningful place for every child.
For 17 years, I was working at the King Alfred School, an INCREDIBLE, progressive, independent school. I eventually went part time and started Holistic Learning, my consultancy, and was balancing being a mum of 3 and my outreach work.
Then, in April, I left my job completely.
Why did I leave?
Don’t get me wrong, I loved my work and I felt well-respected doing it. I was able to actively practise the most up to date pedagogies and curriculum; and enquire how our teaching met the needs of our community.
But it got me thinking, ALL children, no matter their socioeconomic background, should be receiving this type of “independent” education. Children should have access to schooling that nurtures them and it should be a place where they learn who they are, how they relate to others, and how they can design a better world into being. ALL children deserve an education that is innovative and teaches them to think critically and creatively about subjects and their futures, rather than being recipients of an exam-factory.
This became even clearer to me when I welcomed my own three children.
I wanted this type of education to be available to everyone’s children; which meant change had to come to the mainstream education system, rather than waiting for the system to change. Therefore, despite the risks, I was prepared to sacrifice a well paying job to be a part of that change.
What’s currently going on in mainstream education?
About 10 years ago, I started feeling uneasiness towards the current, mainstream education system. In my Masters of Education, I started to explore and research this system to see where and why there were challenges to evolve and grow.
To caveat, I believe the teachers and leaders within mainstream education are amazing! My work as a teacher and as an education consultant has further proven to me that despite the odds, they continue to dedicate themselves and make sacrifices within this system to desperately drive the change they want to see.
Despite these teachers and leaders' efforts, I’ve witnessed that change is either non-existent or very slow.
The questions I was constantly up against, and ones that may interest you to reflect on were:
What was stopping it from evolving?
What was happening to the students?
How did various students from differing schools integrate within society and the workforce once they had left school or university?
What does this kind of education cost per student?
Through all my research I came to a shocking conclusion:
The mainstream education system was designed for a world that no longer exists. While subject knowledge is still vital, the way we deliver education and the values that underpin it, needs to evolve. Education should serve people and communities, and when it falls short, we all feel impacted, socially and economically.
It was through this research and understanding that ThriveNow and the 4 Pillars of education were born.
A personal tragedy
The willingness to take action to create ThriveNow and the 4 pillars actually came after a sudden and great tragedy. I don’t share these personal tragedies lightly because it doesn’t just affect me, it also affects my whole family. However, it had a profound effect on my personal journey and my work.
My father, a phenomenal human in every sense, fell ill suddenly, was induced into a coma, and became paralysed from the shoulders down. This significantly fueled my drive to take action on the things that I believed in, i.e. wanting to make a positive impact on the mainstream education system. After all, education is the entry-point for every individual in the UK, providing a foundation for a potentially thriving life.
Today…
At ThriveNow, we’re ensuring we’re building a community focused, inclusive, and open-sourced model for education. ThriveNow and the 4 pillars are meant to equip children with the skills they need to succeed in a world that is and will be.
We’ve taken the leap to start gathering a team of experts in their field to build this new model of education and we invite you to join us. Our upcoming goals are:
To create the 4 pillars so that they are accessible freely;
To create a secondary school in Kingston to apply and integrate these 4 pillars locally, to demonstrate their effectiveness and the ease in which it can be brought to the wider UK education model; and
Support those who wish to integrate the 4 pillars into their schools across the UK
Interested in getting involved?
Let’s work together to create the education system our children deserve!
I would love to hear your educational story and your thoughts on what the focus of our secondary education system should be.
I would also love for you to reflect on some of the questions I raised and:
What do you think is the point of school?
Do you believe our mainstream education system is providing that?
What position are you in to make a positive difference in the education sector?
Join the conversation by commenting below, connecting on Linkedin or message me directly on kimberley@thrive-now.org.