Voice of Real Australia is a regular newsletter from ACM, which has more than 100 mastheads across Australia. Today's is written by Lismore City News journalist Jon Fleetwood.
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The Living School is set to disrupt the world of education with its new campus in Lismore in northern NSW.
The new development will see the large Brown & Jolly historic CBD building - once used for cabinet-making and home furnishings - transform into a lush open plan facility that has its own rainforest.
The school's conductor, John Stewart, says they will plant everything from Tallowwood to Red Cedar - becoming Lismore's very own palimpsest of the Big Scrub.
"We are looking to have this operational in stages, but we want the front stage on Woodlark Street opened by the beginning of 2024 for our Years five to eight students," Mr Stewart said.
The development is part of a plan to have a school that is embedded within the community.
"It means we can move into the community and start to use public spaces that are not necessarily being utilised as much as they used to be. How do you get students and young people to actually want to be in the public library? You take them there. You establish the routine."
From Socrates to Albert Camus, John Dewey to Brian Eno, Rudolf Steiner to Maria Montessori, the ideas that shape the Living School's philosophy and pedagogical approach are interdisciplinary and far reaching.
There is one constant though. And that is providing an education that produces the best outcomes for students and prepares them for adulthood.
"It's about teaching kids about community, accountability, relationships and how to foster passions and skills," he said.
The decision to integrate philosophy throughout the learning process, stems back to the emphasis Mr Stewart places on thinking big.
"You can't think big if you haven't been made consciously aware that there is a bigger thought process out there," he said.
"If you think that learning is all about going into a classroom and you have been told that if you know this formula and if you get the answers correct you're smart - you're never going to think big."
Mr Stewart is certainly not afraid to think big.
A rainforest in a school may seem strange to some. When you find out that school is in a CBD, it may seem even stranger. But when you hear the educational approach that is giving this project life, it all makes sense.
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