A fast changing world, and unprecedented environmental and socio-economic challenges require a fresh approach to learning. This is why we built the REAL School, a new English language, K-12 international school in Budapest, Hungary. The School opened its doors in August 2019.
As a KID, joining the REAL School means learning through real life projects, and following your curiosity. As a PARENT, you will be with like-minded people who give a damn about the world's challenges. And as an EDUCATOR, you will have the freedom to design engaging learning experiences and bring them to life, with a great purpose.
Join an event!
Stay informed!
REAL School empowers kids to discover what they love, to acquire skills that will be valuable in the future, and to learn to adapt.
We nurture our motivation to contribute to a sustainable, just and peaceful world.
Real life learning for a sustainable future
Educating creative, critical thinkers, collaborative problem solvers, and joyful members of society is much better done through emergent, authentic learning, arts and play than textbooks.
Download our brochure here!
“Real life learning” involves students in real-world activities to find their passions, develop their skills and to learn about our world and themselves. We believe that the best way to prepare for the real world is to be fully engaged with it now.
“For a sustainable world” stands for our ultimate ambition of helping our learners build a healthy future for themselves, their communities and the planet. Read more about our perspective on sustainability.
The founding team has spent years at Green School Bali, got completely heartwashed, and is now bringing this educational approach to Budapest, adapted to an urban and European cultural setting.
Student agency is at the heart of learning. It gives students voice and choice in how and what they learn. It results in activities that are meaningful and relevant to learners. It is driven by their interests, often self-initiated with appropriate guidance from teachers.
HOW we learn
is more important than what we learn
Learning is organized around how the students approach the material, the competencies and skills addressed, and how the learning journey is charted. We call these structures Learning Forms. They are flexible, adaptable and embody a diversity of learning styles. No more forced curricula. No more one size fits all.
Community - A time for building relationships, social-emotional engagement, and for rituals, such as gathering for song and music.
Excursions - A full day out in nature or in the city, exploring, playing and getting our hands dirty.
Foundations - Time to work through Maths, build stronger writing skills, discuss latest readings, and get exposed to key concepts in the Sciences.
Our World - A wholly integrated learning experience and exposure to our world and culture.
Entrepreneurship - Real life project work for 21st century skills development, following consistent design processes with real impact.
Extensions - Opportunity to continue project work, or join language, art and music experiences, or game clubs and sports.
Download the REAL School 2019/20 Calendar!
Download our brochure!
Lumiar-powered
REAL School is working with the Lumiar education network to change education worldwide. REAL School's project-based methodology is supported by the Lumiar Digital Mosaic, a platform that helps manage and make visible the learning in modern learning environments.
The difference
REAL SCHOOL challenges some of the fundamental premises of mainstream education.
Environment
Combining the best of what urban life and nature can offer, REAL School is located in Óbuda, right next to the Danube river, at the southern end of Graphisoft Park. This part of the Park has been built recently, providing us with a safe indoor space for learning, experimenting and having fun. We also have direct access to a huge outdoor space for free play and for our very own urban garden. The proximity of the Danube and the Óbudai Island is a major plus - just imagine kids building a water mill, testing water quality or canoeing.
Thanks to the openness and support of the management of the Park, we have turned this location into our dream home, inspiring kids and the whole community on a daily basis. The intention is for the campus to be both a demonstration and an experimentation ground for sustainable living.
We recognise that learning is innately human and happens everywhere and all the time: at school, at home, in the city, around the world. Our physical environment at the school plays a major role in how we feel, behave, and develop, and hence it is of utmost importance at the REAL School. The environment needs to support our social-emotional wellbeing, our pedagogical philosophy, and our approach to sustainability.
Wall-less-ness is also physical, not just philosophical at the REAL School. Most learning spaces will be open plan and change based on project needs, while much of the learning will happen outside of the campus. Using all the city and nature has to offer for everyday activities eliminates the walls between school and the world.
The school offers delicious plant-based food, with a school lunch menu created especially for REAL School. Our ambition is to have much of the veggies come from our own urban food gardens, which is designed and cared for by kids and adults together. Developing awareness of our relationship with food is crucial to both personal well-being, and that of our planet.
Our story
As with all good ideas, this project comes out of the personal frustration of our founding family. Having tried a number of private, public, international and national schools in Hungary, we wanted to have our kids in a community and environment that recognizes what a great deal of international research shows: 21st century kids need a completely different kind of education - one that focuses on skills, mindset and adaptability, rather than content.
So we packed up and moved to Bali, Indonesia, to the Green School, and expected lots of good influence for our kids. What we didn’t expect was that it would completely change our lives. We became part of a community that was obsessed with creating a better world through education. We haven’t been able to escape this calling ever since.
We also got professionally involved in Green School, with Barna leading a multi-year strategic-planning project that uncovered and developed the school’s blueprint, including its purpose, learning goals, school model and governance. This set the Green School on a path to becoming sustainable and shareable. Barna served on the School’s Board of Management and then as a Trustee.
We are now taking our four years of learnings, with the help of a professional crew from Green School and beyond, and transposing the model into an urban and European cultural setting in Budapest.
The team
Ultimately it's all about the people. REAL School kids are inspired and guided by a dynamic, diverse and progressive educator team from around the globe, who really care. The School is supported by a young admin crew, a wonderful architect, brand, communication, finance, legal and accreditation experts. We are still looking for amazing people who want to help create a better future, especially more great educators and a fundraiser.
Please join our Facebook Group or YouTube channel to watch videos with our educators.
Sustainability
“The possibility that human and other life will flourish on the planet forever”
John R. Ehrenfeld
We recognise that there is not yet a universally shared understanding of “sustainability,” and that some people find the term problematic for a variety of reasons. Still, it is clear that unintentionally educating for unsustainability makes no sense, if we want to flourish over time. Education for Sustainability as a pedagogy implies that we are intentional about preparing students to participate in the shift toward the future we want. Whether you prefer the word sustainable, restorative, regenerative, resilient or something else, we are recruiting educators who are united in their desire to cultivate individual and collective potential and to increase the possibility that humans and other life can flourish on Earth now and into the future. We hope that those of you who fit that description will join us on this journey [adopted from the Cloud Institute].
We refer to the UN Sustainable Development Goals when we consider challenges with which we engage.
We are recruiting!
Are you a REAL life learning educator?
At the moment all our roles are filled, but we are always on the lookout for great people.
Do you feel the urge to create great hands-on projects with kids to create real positive change? Do you practice co-creation with your students and believe in equitable relationships? Have you always felt you could build your own school, but never had the chance?
You are a brave educator with a Masters or Bachelor of Education degree. You feel a deep passion and responsibility for building a sustainable, equitable, peaceful world through education. Apply for the 2020/2021 academic year by sending us your CV and a 3-minute video about something you are passionate about.
“Let ours be a time remembered for the awakening of a new reverence for life, the firm resolve to achieve sustainability, the quickening of the struggle for justice and peace, and the joyful celebration of life.”
The Earth Charter
Interested?
Let's connect!
Call our Family Ambassador with any questions at
Monday to Friday between 10 a.m. -12 noon Central European Time,
or go ahead and send us an inquiry below:
REAL School Learning Nonprofit Ltd.
Ángel Sanz Briz út 13
1033 Budapest, Hungary