Children learn best when they are feeling safe, well challenged, and curious. In a world full of distractions, education today needs to engage students and draw them in, to have a hunger for learning and a commitment and focus to finding out more through all their senses. The leaders of tomorrow will be thinkers, problem solvers and innovators. Today’s education is moving beyond fact filling and information front loading, and instead expanding into cutting-edge thinking, making learning connections, and importantly, developing the capacity to collaborate with others.

For the past 30 years, I have been educating children and leading teams to create free thinkers who have a love for learning and approach the world through confident and curious question asking in a quest for answers that are not always obvious. A highlight for me is when children pose questions that I have not yet considered. Not only does this create exciting learning but it also expands my own thinking and problem-solving process.

Our early years programs allow children to explore and develop their thinking, in a transdisciplinary environment at their own pace. Their student voice is heard, and interests are catered for while educators consider ways to support and extend the whole child.

A big part of a student’s love for learning comes from feeling safe and connected to their community.

As Head of Early Learning at Sholem Aleichem College, I echo the school value that says, “…students not only achieve academic excellence but also develop a strong sense of self and community.” The immersive and transdisciplinary approach to Jewish identity, language and secular curriculum is an exciting and engaging way to introduce students to their lifelong love of learning.

The school values and Jewish values allow students to develop into global citizens with care and kindness for the world and for others. The founding members of Sholem Aleichem who valued ‘di goldene keyt’ (the golden chain of Jewish tradition) is as relevant today as it was back in the 1970s. It is essential that we develop our younger community members with their sense of pride and connection with their Jewish identity.

We surround our students with a community of caring, supportive and inclusive educators who extend their learning and nurture their interests. This ethos extends throughout the school and echoes in how we interact with each other and continue to raise standards in everything we do.

Community in education is more than just people and spaces, it is a philosophy of learning, a way of caring and an unwavering support to be the best version you can be.

My approach to education is aligned with unlocking a person’s greater capacity to contribute, trust in themselves and excel. Whilst this may sometimes require struggle and challenge, it also creates a perfect environment for growth, self-efficacy and confidence. We are not simply educating young people, we are creating environments to develop confident and future ready contributors to community who are also ‘mentshn’ and upstanding citizens.


Robyn Licenblat
Head of Early Years
Sholem Aleichem College