The last few years have shown us just how quickly everything can change. “Upskilling” is not just a buzzword in corporate, it is a critical approach to keeping up in a shifting world.

Sending your child to school is no longer just to prepare them for an office job, but to equip them for life in a world we cannot predict. What does schooling look like when the future is so uncertain?

At thrive we know that your child will face challenges that we cannot yet even comprehend and that is why we place intentional focus on upskilling our students in social, essential and life skills along with their academic progression.

Transferable soft skills will become even more valuable in the coming years. We teach children how to respectfully and confidently get a teacher's attention and ask for help in ways other than just putting up their hands. One day in a work environment, their bosses are not necessarily going to be making the rounds and young people will need to know how to speak up.

We practice natural consequences and encourage students to understand when they have made a mistake and how it impacts those around them. Taking responsibility for their actions leads to more thoughtful and considerate young people. This ties in with our whole-child approach to actively equipping our students with coping skills and self awareness of how they can take care of their mental wellness.

At thrive we do not have set grades, but rather mixed aged classrooms. This emulates real life and allows students to make connections with those both younger and older than themselves. Setting up our dynamics for interaction in this way creates natural opportunities for older students to take on leadership roles and younger students to learn from their examples.

All of our curriculum tracks culminate in an American high school diploma, opening doors not just in South Africa, but internationally. Along with this high standard of individualized academics, we also consciously expose them to opportunities beyond their curriculums, cultivating a love for learning in organic ways that spark curiosity. We believe that there are many skills that are left out of the mainstream curriculum and aim to address these. This is proactively addressed in our LifeSchool program, with hands on and explorative activities, as well as extra murals.

Examples of LifeSchool projects include a crash course on entrepreneurship with everything from how to make a pitch deck to budgeting and product photography — empowering our students to see the raw opportunities they have in their own abilities and networks to be able to thrive in the real world one day.

Students are also exposed to dynamic and diverse skill areas such as baking, stop motion videography, organizing charity drives, community volunteering, engineering, photography, sewing... any areas thrive educators see become or remain relevant and functional. However, LifeSchool doesn’t stop there. The teachers at thrive continually seek out opportunities for holistic development in and around the classroom and hub. We engage with organic opportunities to guide in social skills, and take our students on interesting adventures and outings. We make time for fun learning opportunities outside of school wherever we can.

thrive students are perpetually equipping themselves with tools for creative, balanced and engaged lifestyles. The biggest lesson we can teach future generations is that everything is a learning opportunity. Cultivating this mindset will help them to adapt to change and tackle problems with critical thinking and an open mind.