Little school has big future

Broadacres Academy will be opening a Tutor Centre for registered homeschoolers of all ages in January 2017.

“What we’ve noticed during our decades in education is that niche tutoring is becoming more and more popular,” explained Dylan Cavanagh, principal of operations at Broadacres Academy. “It really helps kids who have their natural urge to learn killed by standardised learning, or who don’t quite fit into traditional schools.

“What we want to do is create a school that isn’t a school – somewhere that doesn’t look, feel or smell like a regular school.”

Broadacres Academy has been established as a farm nursery school for over 30 years, but when Cavanagh and André de Coning (principal of education) took over at the beginning of this year, they felt it was time to extend. Renovations on an old farmhouse on the school’s campus began in April, and the building will be turned into the new centre, with six learning centres, which will accommodate no more than 60 students. Cavanagh said they will be nothing like classrooms. “There will be an instructor for each subject, who will be able to help each child go through their syllabus at their own pace.”

The Tutor Centre pupils will also have access to animals such as horses and rabbits which live on the property. They are currently used to facilitate daily nature interactions for children at the nursery school.

The new centre is not the only change coming to Broadacres Academy. This was the first year the school offered a Grade 1 class and Cavanagh hopes the school will have a fully functional primary school phase by 2020.

He believes his school taps into what drives children to learn. “A school like this is not for everyone,” he conceded.

“But, those who do come here are happy, because we help our kids do what comes naturally to them.”