"In real life, this is what you have to do. When you have a job, your boss isn't going to say, "There is a kid stuck in a tree, write down how you think they'll get down."
At Summit Point School, we don’t ‘do projects.’
We do it better with Passion Project-Based Learning (PPBL), where the project is the vehicle for teaching the important knowledge and skills our kids need to learn. And because each project is driven by each child’s passion, they connect to our concept-based curriculum, and frame our instruction and assessment.
- Imagine your child loves plants and gardens. So our concept of ‘Consciousness Rising’ could see them growing urban green spaces for their community.
- Imagine your child loves food and cooking. So our concept of ‘Look after All’ could see them creating their own pickles and preserves...and selling them.
- Imagine your child loves building and Lego. So our concept of ‘How do Parts make a Whole?’ could see them constructing homes and cities that are composed of sustainable blocks.
- Imagine your child loves coding and game design. So our concept of ‘Man in Conflict’ could see them designing innovative interactive role-playing games based on classic novels or films.
PPBL requires higher-order thinking skills like critical thinking, problem solving, collaboration, and various forms of communication and team work. By posing a driving question or problem, and seeking to answer or solve it, students need to do much more than remember information. And they explode with passion and curiosity and authenticity.
To learn how to do something, we need something real to focus on - not a task assigned by someone else, but something we want to create, something we want to understand...not an empty exercise but a meaningful, self-chosen undertaking.
At the end of each term, we host a PPBL Expo for family and friends, where our students can showcase the work they have been investigating, making and writing about. They choose how they present, or exhibit their work, which could be: performances, movies, hands-on activities, simulations and presentations.
Students own their learning in meaningful ways throughout the process, which is even more important than the end product. And isn’t that we want for our children? For the future of our world? At Summit Point, we say “YES.”
Testimonials
"We were desperate to help our son’s self-esteem and confidence. Enrolling him at Summit Point restored his belief in himself."
"Being encouraged to demonstrate his knowledge using educational technology has helped remove barriers to my child’s learning and made him less anxious about tests and assessment."
"The teachers at Summit Point go above and beyond to nurture the different learning styles of students."
"Rebecca supported us to understand our child’s strengths and challenges and find a way to foster his love of learning."
"We have been working with Summit for almost a term and my word, our daughter has come a long way since she started at the school."
"It’s a hard decision sending your child to a ‘special’ school, but now we’re out the other side, we realise how much our daughter needed the attention and environment that Summit Point offers."
"Her time at Summit gave our daughter the space and time to learn at her own pace, be recognised for her talents and participate in the running of the school."
"Graduating from Summit, our child is a confident learner and has a range of strategies which have helped her transition to high school."