A Sligo school that allows its students to decide what they want to learn has more than doubled its numbers after just one year.

Pupils at the Sudbury School in Sligo make their own decisions about what to do and when.

It is now preparing to open for its second year, with its student base rising from 15 to 32.

The pupils are not divided by their ages and make their own choices about whether they want to study, play or work on projects.

The rulebook is based on votes taken at school meetings held every other week.

The pupils, aged between five and 18-years-old, each have a vote as does every teacher and staff-member.

Julie Meehan moved from Meath to Sligo so her five and eight-year-old girls could attend the school.

She told Newstalk that the system offers her children a wonderful opportunity to explore their own interests.

“Our five-year-old has spent a lot of time playing,” she said.

“I am a psychology and what we know about children is that play is their work.

“They learn so much through play.”

She said she is trying to step away from the traditional model of education and trust her children to find the right path.

“Children’s natural tendency is to learn and to seek out what they are interested in.

“Like my eight-year-old daughter has already expressed; she knows that she would like to learn how to do division let’s say.

“We are trusting her to find that interest and curiosity in herself and then initiate that.”

The school offers students the ability to choose whether to sit State exams like the Junior Cert and Leaving Cert – while also assisting them in accessing QQI further education courses if they are interested.

There is also a Sudbury school in Wicklow, with plans underway to open them in five other counties.

Gayle Nagle, co-founder of the Sligo school, talked to Pat Kenny about the project last month and you can listen back here.