Woodmere: Changing the face of Plett academics
Brand-new Plettenberg Bay study centre Woodmere Academy was created with two main goals in mind: a "different learning" approach and flexibility for student-athletes aiming for a pro career. There are no standard students, all have a talent, or a passion and the potential to be amazing.
The founder of Woodmere, Gina Loughran-Mostert, is a mom and an entrepreneur. She moved to Plett 28 years ago but has travelled extensively with her family in the past nine years and her son attended a lot of schools. During these years, especially the high school years, she noticed that focus seems to be a major problem among teens and recognised a universal need for alternative ways to learn and study.
With traditional education, children are expected to sit and listen for 45 minutes at a time, for between six and eight lessons a day. Most kids are not capable of doing this. Studies show a 14-year-old has an average focus span of 28 minutes and a 16-year-old an attention span of 32 minutes. In the light of this it seems unfair that, when kids come home with marks in the 30s, 40s or 50s, parents tell them that they are lazy and need to make more effort.
Most kids are struggling to focus for those extended periods. They end up learning half of what they should and experience an incredible amount of stress every day trying to do better. This is why the American GED curriculum through the MyOnLineSchool platform (Grade 8 to 10) and PassGed platform (Grade 12) is so successful and children are achieving great results with reduced stress levels.
Lessons are given in short fun tutorials that
hold their focus long enough to absorb all the information.
The students are then encouraged to read the duplicate of the tutorial before answering the lesson quiz. Students need to achieve 80% before the next lesson opens.
They can re-watch the tutorial as many times as they like before they take or retake the quiz. All attempts, marks etc. are recorded and the facilitators monitor this progress daily.
The programmes are incredibly flexible and therefore any lessons missed can be caught up, either at home or when back in class. Exams are flexible depending on the student's progress and speed. Woodmere puts a lot of focus on students aiming for professional sport careers, in particular golf. One of their sport partners is Hilltop Golf Academy. Woodmere equally supports all athletic disciplines as well as art and drama. Woodmere Academy will officially open its doors in January 2024. For further information you can contact Gina Loughran-Mostert on 082 323 4365.