The classrooms don’t have walls, there are no grades, the children feel no pressure - instead, there’s an incredible sense of community, say the parents of pupils Green School in Ubud, Bali
give a Ted-style talk to 300 people about a project on which they’ve worked. Last year, one student made surfboards from mushroom mycelium, another started Dungbeetle, a company bringing transparency to climate funding, while others helped redesign the adult co-working space at the school.
So they rented out their West Hampstead home to pay for the move and enrolled their children at Green School, where fees range from £5,929 annually for kindergarten up to £15,187 for sixth form, significantly lower than many leading UK private schools . The family took a gap year while George worked out his next career move; he now works mainly UK hours from Bali.
Jackie Easthope, from New Zealand, moved to Mali in 2020. She has three children, Mila, 15, in high school, Kingston, 13, in middle school and Indi, nine, in primary. “Mila is, as am I,” she says. “She wasn’t enjoying New Zealand school: she tried hard and found it so disheartening. I didn’t want her going through what I had – I know how unenjoyable mainstream school can be – and I was prepared to go anywhere for an alternate way of learning,” she explains.
Students also follow a passion project, known as Jalan-Jalan – which roughly translates as Walkabout – for half a day a week. Electives include surfing, coral restoration, helping at orphanages, eco-entrepreneurship and architectural design. Mads Hedergaard, admissions and marketing director, says: “Most importantly, Green School asks students to find their passion, then helps them explore it in ways relevant to learning.