Learn

“Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.” (Benjamin Franklin)

No two children in the room learn the same way, so we don't try to teach them the same way either. Some children think out loud through talking and storytelling; others need to build it, paint it, dance it or get their hands into clay and sand before it makes sense. Educators call this “the hundred languages of children”: the idea that a child has dozens of ways to express an idea beyond words on a page, and every one of them is worth taking seriously.

Our day is built around interactive, play-based learning rather than worksheets, because play is how young children actually process the world, physically, socially and emotionally all at once. Children who are trusted to lead their own investigations tend to develop the traits that matter most later on: curiosity, confidence, cooperation and a genuine enthusiasm for finding things out.

Just as importantly, we treat children as capable of resourcing their own learning, through the people around them, the space they're in, and the natural and everyday materials we put in front of them.

The outdoor space is designed as what educators call a “third educator”: alongside the room's teachers and the child's peers, the environment itself does some of the teaching. Every log, sandpit and garden bed is placed to invite collaboration and conversation, and the plants, water and natural textures are there so children can discover things for themselves rather than being told.