The founders of the PARED Schools have introduced into Australia a system of education that was developed in Europe in the 1950s for the parents to exercise greater responsibility in the education of their children. PARED is associated with the Institute of Family Studies of the University of Navarre in Pamplona, Spain.[2]
There are now many such schools in operation on five continents.[3] As of 1993, there were over 150 such schools.[4] PARED maintains contact with many of these schools.
PARED founded Tangara School for Girls in 1982.[4] The school initially had two full-time teachers and 17 students.[4] Since then several other schools and campuses have been established in Sydney's metropolitan region (in Cherrybrook, Dural, Wahroonga, Belfield, Orchard Hills, and Werrington), and in the Melbourne suburb of Narre Warren North.[1]
The Schools in Sydney include Redfield College in Dural,[5] Montgrove College in Orchard Hills, and Wollemi College in Werrington.[6] The schools have chaplains who are priests of Opus Dei, a personal prelature of the Catholic Church.[2]
In the schools' Mentoring system, each student is allocated a mentor who meets the student regularly (ideally fortnightly) to check on the student's advancement academically, socially, spiritually etc. The mentor tends to guide their mentee over a period of years, often all through their schooling life. The parent-mentor meeting replaces numerous parent-teacher interviews throughout the year, with the mentor working closely with the students' teachers to ensure meetings provide practical and current feedback.[5]
