Sixteen in a class
We do not make classes bigger to fill places. Sixteen is the number at which a teacher can talk with every child every day.
A small school
Four classes, four workshops and sixty-four children in a two-storey building with a garden. We built every corner of it together with the children.
Our four decisions
Two teachers in every class
The class teacher and the co-teacher plan and teach together. The group can split in two; no child is left waiting.
Each term begins with a question
Project-based learning is not an extra, it is the lesson itself. Turkish, maths, science and art meet around one question.
Hands learn too
Wood, kitchen, music and garden workshops are part of the weekly timetable. Children measure, saw, knead and sow.
A school day at Ada
Times are for a sample Tuesday. Study hour and clubs are optional.
- Welcome at the doorThe class teacher is at the door; children change shoes and read the question of the day on the board.
- Morning circleTen minutes: what happened yesterday, what are we doing today?
- Turkish and mathsThe first two lessons; the two teachers split the group when needed.
- Garden break and snackOutside whatever the weather. Raincoats hang by the door.
- Project timeWorking on the term's question: reading, measuring, making.
- LunchAt the same table as teachers; food cooked in our own kitchen.
- Workshop or scienceWood, kitchen, music or garden.
- Home timeBuses at the gate; parents collect from the garden gate.
- Study hour and clubsHomework support, chess, reading club. Optional.
A letter to parents
I taught in crowded classrooms for twenty-two years. We founded Ada so that it would be a school where I can call every child by name at least once a day.
In a class of thirty-four, the quietest child sometimes went a whole term without asking a single question, and I only noticed on report day. At Ada classes have sixteen children and two teachers, and no child goes unseen.
Each term begins with one question: Why does bread rise? How does the Nilüfer stream pass through our neighbourhood? Children look at that question for weeks; they read, measure, visit, make and, at the end of term, explain it to their families. Turkish and maths run through all of it, with nothing left out.
Our door is open. Come and sit in a class one morning, and have lunch with us.
Before you register at Ada we want you to really know us. The pre-registration form is only a request to meet; we invite you for a school visit and walk the classes together.
Selma ErginFounder and head · Uludağ University, Primary Education; MA in Educational Leadership
Building and garden
The school is in a renovated two-storey building on a quiet street in Özlüce. Every class has a large window onto the garden and its own board.
The back garden has raised vegetable beds, a small greenhouse and a compost box. The woodshop and kitchen are on the ground floor; the music room and library upstairs.
- 1,400 m² garden, 6 vegetable beds, greenhouse
- Woodshop and a teaching kitchen with child-height worktops
- Library: 3,200 books, weekly lending
- Entry control and cameras; visitor log
Documents and permits
We show the originals during a school visit. The details below are sample content; replace them with your school's details in the admin panel.
- Institution licenceMinistry of National Education, Bursa Provincial Directorate approval
- Business licenceNilüfer Municipality
- Fire and earthquake safety reportBursa Metropolitan Fire Department
- Food business registrationProvincial Directorate of Agriculture (school kitchen)
- Personal accident insuranceProvided by the school for all pupils
- School busesVehicles and escort staff compliant with school bus regulations
Come and sit in one of our classes one morning.
A school visit takes 45 minutes; you see the classes, workshops and garden while lessons are on.