Nurturing the future leaders

“You can teach a student a lesson for a day; but if you can teach him to learn by creating curiosity, he will continue the learning process as long as he lives.”

–– Clay P. Bedford

Education is every individual’s right. An educated individual contributes towards a progressive and enlightened nation. Education is the basic right of each and every child, be it a girl or a boy. It starts right at the beginning and it is at the initial stages that maximum development takes place. Scientific research of past 30 years has shown that development of cognitive skills, emotional well-being, social competence and sound physical and mental health builds a strong foundation for success well into the adult years. Although learning takes place throughout life, in early childhood, learning is taking place at a speed that will never be equalled. Hence, educational institutes play a major role in shaping a child’s personality. A good institute is one where children are given an opportunity to explore and learn. Founded by Soha Deshmukh, Silverdale is a step in that direction. It is a school that provides a strong base to the young learners for a better future.

Having completed her Master’s in Globalisation and Multinational Corporations from SOAS, University of London with a Distinction in International Economics, Soha has been working in the field of education in various capacities including teaching at a school for less privileged, teaching English at an orphanage, serving as Deputy Chief of Staff and Coordinator of Special Projects at Cedar College, and has worked with children with special needs. “I gained communication skills training from the BBC in London and have chaired student sessions at the United Nations in Geneva. I completed training in early childhood education from Harvard Graduate School of Education, the British Council, and from IBA Karachi,” she informs.

Education is really a field meant for those who want to make a difference in the world. And, education has always been Soha’s passion because of the impact that you can have on a person’s life. After working with young people of different ages for the last few years, Soha began noticing that how much of ‘who’ we are is shaped by our early childhood experiences. “It was during this time that I was also expecting my child when I began researching day and night about babies, and how their brains develop the most between ages 0 – 5. It soon became apparent that many of the problems the older students faced, often boiled down to the experiences they had when they were young - for example, students who were ‘bad’ at math often quoted a teacher in their early years who had negatively labelled them, or children who were low in socio-emotional intelligence also had fewer childhood experiences in soft skills development. And so, the idea of Silverdale came about! A place where children would learn in a loving and secure environment, free of labelling and full of positive childhood experiences,” she shares.

According to a study by UNICEF, play is one of the most important ways in which young children gain essential knowledge and skills. Children play to make sense of the world around them, and to find meaning in an experience by connecting it to something already known. Through play, children express and expand their understanding of their experiences.

This institute commits to providing children an education at par with international standards while learning through play. Everything here has been designed in a way that children look forward to coming to school and learning. As children progress through the years, education at senior levels has become increasingly intense. However, this school commits to creating lifelong learners - inculcating a love for learning from a very young age. This will make studying much easier for children as they progress ahead.

Soha believes, children are born curious - in order to prepare their minds for the future, a good institute fosters this creativity and allows them to learn freely without unnecessary restrictions. For example, at the school, the playgroup classes consist of three connected rooms, all serving different purposes. The first room is a Tiny Toddler Town which encourages imaginative role-play as children enter a little city fitted with a restaurant, houses, a corner store, and much more.

The second connected room is the vibrant Soft Play Room which encourages gross motor skills development as well as creates an introduction towards colours and shapes. The third connected room maintains the more traditional classroom elements such as puzzles, soft toys, and art activities. In this way, the students are moving from one room to another and developing different skills as they go along.

“We also have a huge grassy playground where children engage in mindfulness activities. Every piece of our campus is designed to promote collaboration, critical thinking, problem solving, and communication skills - these are some of the core skills children will need in the future,” says Soha. “Our graduates are respected all around the world because of how rigorous our education system is. It gives us a lot of pride to be able to open a school in Pakistan itself and add ingredients of our own to the mix - a place where we develop high achievers in a play based environment, full of love and support!”

When asked about taking this initiative forward, Soha highlights, “Future plans for Silverdale include creating an even better elementary school and introducing new and unique ways of learning all the way up to O Levels.” Soha’s biggest aim for the future is to spread quality education and making it accessible to everyone.

We need many such institutes if we are to become an informed and enlightened nation. It’s heartening to see the response of parents who initially thought their kids were misfits. Today, they refuse to go to any other school. Such dedication towards education is the need of times.