Our students expect to be treated with respect for their individual differences. They are able to pursue their own passions in learning within a challenging and engaging curriculum. They formulate their own ideas, are encouraged to question, to take risks and to make and learn from their mistakes.

“A school is a place for the education of students. But at a base level a school is a business, a business providing a service for its customers, the students. The way that a business improves its service is by gathering feedback, and how is this feedback collected? Through market research and surveys. I’ve always been passionate about student voice, ever since I moved to Preshil in year 5. I believe that it is extremely important for students to be heard and listened to by their school. If students are given a strong voice, they will feel that they can make a positive contribution to the world when they leave school. This is what motivated me to create a survey that gave students an anonymous, formal and official way of giving their feedback on their learning.
I hope in the future that students will have a much stronger voice in education so they will feel like they are able to make a difference.”

Katherine Williams

The following quotes from students were collected by former student Katherine Williams, in her work answering the question,

‘What is a school? How can we shape education for the future?’

Arlington Art

“I like it at Preshil we can do millions of hundreds of drawing.” Aged 3

“I like having buddies.  Sometimes we go to their class and sometimes they come here.” Aged 4

“You get to do art and play dress-ups.  You get to play your own games.” Aged 4

“I like making paper stuff, using paper and scissors and making details with pencils.” Aged 6

“I like story writing. You can share your imaginations and give ideas to other people.” Aged 7

“I have enjoyed building cubbies… it is fun nailing and repairing things that break.” Aged 7

“I like being read to. It’s fun to sit down and listen to a story, I can lay on the ground if I like.” Aged 8

“At school I liked estimating our guesses in maths and thinking about how maths fits in to real stuff that happens in life.” Aged 9

“At school I like that you can do things that other schools don’t allow like climbing a tree.” Aged 9

“To me Preshil represents freedom. The freedom to learn the way I want to learn, the freedom to talk to teachers without them being scary, the freedom to get a straight answer, the freedom to work in a friendly environment. At Preshil, freedom is a right. At Preshil, you are free to live the way YOU want, and no-one can take that away.” Aged 14

“What I love most about my school: I love that we have so much of a say in what happens around our school and that the teachers are more like friends to us.” Aged 16

“As a young child, Preshil encouraged me to be an individual and freely express myself. The school provided space for me to explore and discover who I was and identify my passions. The relationships I have with teachers are personal. They are able to pinpoint my headspace and learning style. Both teachers and students have a real communication style which is incredibly engaging and provides clarity with learning. What I like about Preshil is that it has provided both guidance and flexibility for me to follow my aspirations.”  Aged 17

“The small class sizes means that everyone has many chances to interact and learn from the teachers, which has made it so much better. I will definitely be remembering all of my friends & teachers from this great school.” Aged 18

“I am a semi-professional soccer player and have also found that Preshil helped me with my determination and that kids who want to make it in sport shouldn’t avoid Preshil because it has no competitive sport. They should come because it gives them that much needed rest time from it!” Aged 18

Preshil Students