I can approach

Inspiring School Leaders with a Design-Led approach to build cultures of empowerment where Every Child graduates with Content and Character.

Learn More

Let's dive in

THE RIVERSIDE I CAN APPROACH

Empowering Every Child with the I CAN Mindset

It is becoming increasingly clear that the needs of the twenty-first century ‘learner’ demands new approaches to ‘learning’. The lack of student agency and values in their learning has meant that schools around the world still take a largely standardised, one-size-fits-all approach, valuing compliance over creativity, content over character. This narrow approach doesn’t set children up well to thrive in the twenty-first century.

Today, student success requires skills for collaboration, creativity, compassion, and problem solving. There is an urgent need to prepare our young people to both navigate an unknown and complex future and in-still in them the belief that they can shape a more desirable, sustainable future. To meet this need, it is even more imperative that teachers and school leaders tap into their own creativity and build this same belief in their own capacity to develop and drive change within education.

The Riverside I CAN Approach addresses this need. Built on the principles of design, it focuses on increasing student agency and empowerment through a ‘both and’ approach, instead of an ‘either or’ approach; Graduating students with content and character, passion and compassion, doing well and doing good.

The Riverside School’s 25 year journey is proof that our unique set of processes, frameworks and pedagogical practices, codified under our six pillars, graduates students with the I CAN mindset; Children who are aware of the world around them, enabled with skills and knowledge and empowered to design a more just and equitable future.

Our schools must be places where children grow, thrive and graduate as empowered citizens. Doing so, creates a better world for all of us.

Not by chance. By Design.

WHAT IS THE I CAN APPROACH TO EDUCATION?

At RLC, we use the power of Design Thinking—FIDS (Feel, Imagine, Do, Share)—to help schools design with intention. The I CAN Approach aligns vision, values, processes, and timetabling into a living, breathing ecosystem where agency and character aren’t left to chance—they’re designed, scheduled, practiced, and made visible.

VISION

The Vision defines why a school exists: the shared purpose that guides every decision. At RLC, we believe that a strong vision:

Clearly states the fundamental beliefs about learning and development.
Unifies leaders, teachers, students, parents, and community around a common aspiration.
Acts as the reference point for what the school prioritises in curriculum, relationships, and culture.

In an I CAN school, the Vision is not a statement on a slide deck — it is a shared understanding that every stakeholder uses to make daily choices that consistently support learner agency.

VALUE

Values define how the school community works together and what it honours in daily practice. In the I CAN Approach:

Values aren’t theoretical ideals — they are patterns of behaviour that are visible in how people relate, how decisions are made, and how conflict is resolved.
They provide coherence across classrooms, leadership interactions, and community partnerships.
Values shape expectations, inform rubrics of quality and guide what is celebrated and reflected upon.

When values are clearly articulated and consistently practiced, they become the foundation for trust, collaboration, and reflection across the learning ecosystem.

PROCESSES

Processes are the specific routines and practices that make Vision and Values actionable. Rather than add administrative burden or complexity, they:

Translate values into predictable and repeatable actions.
Provide structure for reflection, dialogue, planning, and student engagement.
Ensure that key cultural outcomes (e.g., agency, relevance, relationships, reflection) are systematically and sustainably developed.

Examples of these processes include structured classroom protocols, planning rhythms, stakeholder conversations, and routines that make learning visible. They serve as the connective tissue between intent and impact in everyday school life.

THE LEARNING PROGRAM

A learning program must serve the deeper vision of a school. At Riverside, our integrated model of Academic Core, Service, and the I CAN mindset is not an add-on — it is the daily lived curriculum that brings our vision to life. Every lesson, project, and reflection is designed to grow children into humane, confident, and capable citizens who believe they can shape the world around them. This is how we stay true to our purpose: to graduate young people with the courage, compassion, and competence to design a more just and beautiful world.

TIMETABLE

The timetable is more than a sequence of subjects — it is the design of time itself. In the I CAN Approach, the timetable:

Maps essential processes, learning sequences, and dedicated spaces for reflection, collaboration, and agency development.
Ensures that key cultural and pedagogical priorities are not optional add-ons but are integrated into weekly and yearly rhythms.
Balances academic focus with opportunities for character building and community engagements so that learning is paced for depth and meaning.

By intentionally placing processes and programme priorities onto the calendar, schools ensure that what matters most is enacted consistently — not sporadically.

Access all the processes within our 6-pillar
framework on the I Can Platform.

Want to know more about how you
can partner with us to create impact?

Get In Touch