The Start of a New Academic Year

The school is entering its 5th year of existence, and its 4th year of delivering the Advanced Diploma. This is going to be a very busy and important year as we are progressing through our accreditation journey, and we hope to get external verification at Level 6. This will mean that we are officially judged to be degree standard. We also want to change our status from an LLP to an Educational Charity, and our accountant is working on that as we speak…

The students have had an intense examination period [we like to work them hard], but we also like to make sure they get plenty of social interaction and practical experience. We still eat a main meal together at lunchtimes where the different year groups can chat and ask each other questions. We get out in the fresh air on field trips and foraging expeditions. This year we have a special Lichen Day with Pat Wolesley.

Because we have more students we now outsource the food to a caterer rather than making it ourselves [although we do hope one of our students will continue to bring in his homemade sourdough bread.] We will be hiring more classrooms will probably see the end of hosting some classes in our homes. We have said from the beginning that we want to keep costs down and only hire rooms when necessary, and it is now becoming more necessary. We are nomads at the moment with no permanent home, but the school is where the students are and that’s fine.

These are just a few pics from the last 4 years…