ACADEMIC PROGRAMS

At TLC, small multi-age group classes and individual, tailor-made programs are designed by teachers dedicated to rigorous intellectual and expressive excellence. Students aged 5-20 are challenged by a stimulating range of creative opportunities to learn. Our groups are small societies where the individual path is nurtured, and all participants are encouraged to assume appropriate responsibility within their circle. The combination of individual and intensely shared tasks is particular to TLC.

TAMWORTH LEARNING CIRCLES offers a comprehensive curriculum in the arts, humanities and sciences. Much of the work is conceived in terms of open-ended tasks, with ramifying opportunities for older and more advanced students. Particular emphasis is placed on world history and the nature of the world today, poetry, dramatic production and performance (which includes much work in art and music), creative writing, astronomy, biology and ecology. All these specialties feature in the curriculum each year, alongside standard school subjects such as English Language and Mathematics. Great emphasis is placed on the acquisition of research skills and effective oral and written communication. Course outlines and retrospective descriptions are included in annual curricula, period plans and reports.

TLC looks to the wider world, and its international focus is reflected in annual student trips abroad, and in students learning modern foreign languages such as Spanish and French. Latin is also offered as an extra subject.

To distinguish and analyze the different areas of student growth and learning, TLC uses the following categories:

1. THE SOCIAL SELF

Our aim is to nurture the social awareness, confidence and skills necessary for the individual to function effectively and happily in society. At TLC the staff and community address the questions, problems and learning processes involved in the socialization of children and adolescents. It is our belief that intellectual growth needs to keep in step with social growth as much as possible.

Questions of morality are on our agenda; the rights and responsibilities of the individual feature largely in our discussions. Each individual member of TLC is expected to serve the wider community by volunteering or taking on unpaid tasks for others. There will be a formula for recording such service based on hours, which are required for graduation.

Some people seem to be naturally blessed with outgoing personalities and easy articulateness. Even the person for whom these skills do not come easily can be helped to become adequately proficient at them. At TLC we work at the arts of conversation, discussion, persuasion, debate and dialogue. All are important in a democratic, cooperative society.

The issues of competition in a competitive world are also frequently discussed and debated. While recognizing that there may be competitive aspects of an individual’s life, and that in some areas competition may be a matter of survival, we regard it as a hazard to be faced, rather than a desirable model for the conduct of human affairs. Our aim is to encourage a drive to excellence within the person, not one imposed from the outside. If competition is to be faced, we regard it as our task to prepare our students by nurturing a strong self with a positive self-image and a highly-motivated attitude to work. To elevate competition to the status of an end in itself is a grave mistake, which can stunt the overall growth of the person.

2. THE CREATIVE AND EXPRESSIVE SELF

Developing the means and skills of self-expression and creativity should be a prime aim of education. Group means of expression such as dance or drama are as important, in our belief, as individual modes of expression. “The Arts” are too limiting a label for these vital channels between self, others and the world. Of these channels, the central and most important is:

3. LANGUAGE

Developing the means, range and effectiveness of linguistic communication involves many complementary areas of competence and endeavour: a high level of reading ability; speaking and writing clearly and effectively; learning different modes of writing ; broadening the range of vocabulary and language employed; exploring, reading, responding to, analyzing and writing about literature; reading and writing poetry and fiction; learning at least one foreign language; using language as a central component of acquiring a Voice in the world.

4. THE WORLD AS IT IS

Current Events circles, long a feature of TLC life, are one part of our examination and formulation of opinion concerning what is happening and what is the present state of the world. Knowing the world entails knowing its physical and human/political geography, and the whole diversity of human societies and cultures. Our website will contain the TLC response to the World As It Is as an important channel for the individual as well as the group.

5. THE WORLD AS IT WAS

It is said that History is safely behind us, but of course it is not - it is with us. We cannot understand the World As It Is without studying the World As It Was. One way we study this is by History Backwards - taking the present and working back into the past to understand the origins of the World Now. This applies to the local level of our world as well as to the nation and the whole planet.

6. WORLD OF SCIENCE AND MATH

One of the seemingly unique qualities of being human is that we have the capacity for rational, logical and analytical thought. Our reasoning approach to the world is manifest in the areas of Philosophy and Science. In Science, this reasoning takes the form of careful observation, meticulous measurement, the testing of ideas, the judicious review of these tests, and adjusting the ideas to fit the evidence created by such careful observation and review. In short, it is a way of looking at and interpreting our world. It is by no means the only way, but it is a powerful tool of inquiry and has long been embraced by our culture as a cornerstone of our enlightenment. Science is a process, and at TLC we are committed to teaching each student the intricacies of the scientific method, offering opportunities to put that method into practice through laboratory and field research, and assisting them in honing the intellectual tools needed to interpret what they have found. This is what makes science exciting, and such a worthwhile human endeavor.

GRADING STUDENT WORK

TLC awards internal letter grades for work. These are: O- Outstanding; VG - Very Good; S - Satisfactory; NI - Needs Improvement ; - Unsatisfactory (Rarely used)

It is important to recognize that each student’s work is a “work in progress.” All work evaluated as less than “O”can be reworked and improved by the student and returned to the teacher for an improved valuation.

These grades will be awarded to the individual in terms of their own personal development. Written comment will be added on matters such as effort and individual improvement. This system of evaluation and comment is designed to discourage meaningless competitiveness. It is not for external reference.

REPORTS, GRADES, CREDITS

The prime method of keeping the record of achievement at TLC is the individual portfolio of work, which has been found to be a powerful vehicle of individuality, achievement, skills and abilities in approaching tertiary institutions.

In addition to oral reports at meetings with parents, each student will receive an annual written individual report, with other interim reports on the semester and/or period.

Annual reports will be accompanied by letter grades, aligned to State and National standards - A,B,C,D and F. Incomplete work will normally be automatically be assigned to the workload of the following year.

CREDITS AND GRADUATION FROM TLC

High School credits are awarded for high school-level work. Credits are not tied to grade age. In a multi-age setting, each student’s work is evaluated on its merits, and its level.

A credit is awarded for a notional FIFTY hours’ satisfactory work. The work may take place in class, partly in class and partly elsewhere, or wholly outside formal class, for example in a Period Seven project. Credit is not assessed on “seat time”, hours of classroom instruction, but on monitored work. Hours are only one measurement - the material of a course or project must be satisfactorily completed for a credit to be awarded. In some subjects it will be possible to earn extra credit by completing pre-planned and agreed extra work. Extra credit will not be awarded by simply counting extra hours.

CREDITS REQUIRED FOR FINAL HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION:

MATH 9

SCIENCE 16

FOREIGN LANGUAGE 8

VOLUNTARY COMMUNITY SERVICE 4

COMPUTER SKILLS 2

PHYSICAL EDUCATION AND HEALTH 6

WORLD AND UNITED STATES

HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY 9

ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND WRITING SKILLS 4

POETRY 4

CREATIVE WRITING 4

LITERATURE STUDY AND APPRECIATION 4

DRAMA 6

OTHER CREATIVE AND EXPRESSIVE ARTS INCLUDING MUSIC 6

CURRENT EVENTS AND CURRENT WORLD KNOWLEDGE,

PARTICIPATION IN GROUP WEBSITE AND RELATED PROJECTS 8

TOTAL: 90 CREDITS

INTERIM PERIOD FOR CREDITS 2007-9

The new system of credits is designed for students who will graduate from 2009 onwards. Before then, the credits we previously awarded under the Maine system will apply. A full Maine credit signifies 80 hours classroom time. Transcripts created before 2009 will carry a note to explain these credits.

NOTE: Each academic year, a plan of the year’s curriculum is published. The year of classes is divided into six periods, for each of which a more detailed plan is published. The following is an outline of the credited subjects at TLC. For Period Seven, there may be other individually planned subjects.

CLICK HERE To Access Course Catalogue for more specific descriptions of courses offered by TLC.

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