Home Ed At Play (HEAP)
Our close-knit regular home ed crew (kids and their adults) meets weekly in term time – in a large, wild garden (Mondays) and in a scout hall (Thursdays). Our sessions are emergent and collaborative, balancing structure with the expansiveness of possibility.
This page gives an overview, and you can find notes and stories on the reflections page of the website.
Our ethos is play. This means:
- we prioritise attunement, consent, self-direction, trust, and ownership and leadership by the children, with the support of engaged adults – where each child is known well, and their autonomy is held – doing the least we can, with the lightest touch, following their lead;
- we are intentional about nurturing and navigating relationships, building emotional fluidity and interpersonal skills, befriending our nervous systems, and meeting everyone’s needs, so that our individual and communal experiences are healthy and whole;
- we are joyful, curious, open and ambitious about living and learning – provisioning the conditions for growth; pursuing bold ideas, growing our competence and doing hard things; and trusting and supporting each other to unfurl in our own time and our own way;
- we are looking for resonance, within ourselves and with our context.
Kids are empowered to take the lead, in a consistent community that cares for them and their needs, and supports them in their work and their social/emotional experiences.
We are intentionally intergenerational for various reasons, but one of these is so that we are accessible to children who want to attend a setting supported by their particular adult. Children are trusted to know what support they need, and given the opportunity (at their own pace) to branch out. We also provide a place for the adults – supporting whole families; nourishing each other (for our own sake and so we are better resourced to support the kids); building relationships across the generations; and offering mentorship and inspiration.
We are very much enjoying exploring what education and community can be!
We get up to all sorts of things – we value process (the roots and mycelia that feed what blooms), and we are not focused on a particular product or outcome. We are ambitious about learning and growing (personally and intellectually), and at the same time, we are relaxed and trusting about it.
Projects may last a few minutes, or may develop week by week. The bench in the picture above was a work in progress, inspired by ideas of a woodland theatre. Another flash of inspiration resulted in weeks spent designing, salvaging supplies and building our own cob oven. Inevitably, there will be an elaborate game of imagination in a tree, or an opportunity to offer moral support or practise tricky skills like problem-solving or decision-making. We might spend hours collecting and admiring an amazing array of different worms, or we might have an impromptu, rich conversation about Pythagoras (which is also about shapes and making creative connections and feeling able to share our ideas and stick with solving a difficult challenge). We play with stories and improvisation. We might read together, cook and eat together, light fires together, investigate the mysteries of the garden together. We might play chess or debate philosophy.
We are growing strong, long-lasting bonds; and building our skills in communication (including conflict), advocacy, and working with and supporting each other. There is space for the kids to unfurl in a supportive and nurturing environment that trusts them and takes them seriously; supporting their journey to understanding and integrating their whole selves; and scaffolding with the opportunities, information and affirming, incisive support they need to learn and grow.
We feel the satisfaction of effort and of real, good work, and we build confidence by doing things (on our own time, in our own way). We let our imaginations – and our bodies – move freely. We are mindful of the wider world and reach out to it. We are curious. We are excited and ambitious about learning, and positive about all the ways it emerges. We understand that we build personal skills best by exercising those skills (and making mistakes) again and again. We trust ourselves and support each other to find and build on our own learning edges; to develop our creativity, capability and agency. Our support is offered with humility and curiosity, mindful of each person’s own integrity, and is mapped to their own interests, drives, temperaments and ways of being.
We have an eye on the future, including AI and the implications it might have for our lives and for the skills we need.
We are all invited to show up as our full selves. We are conscious of where power is held and how it is used, and we facilitate and scaffold for each other when we are equipped to do so. We are learning to lead ourselves, with compassion.
This is real life!
Joining the crew:
The kids are currently of primary school age, but we are already building the foundations for an adventurous, nurturing, ambitious place for tweens and teens.
We are welcoming to all, but we are very protective of the principles that hold the space.
We are conscious of the importance of consistent time together and commitment to each other – and (importantly) we also affirm and welcome in those whose personal capacity might not always allow regular attendance. We therefore respect people’s limits and trust them to decide where those are, and ask that this group is a priority within your capacity – by which we mean, to the extent you have a choice of how to allocate your time and/or energy, attendance at HEAP is towards the top of your list. We also ask that communication about these topics is open and straightforward. We are happy to discuss further what this looks like in practice.
We welcome all enquiries. We will explore together whether this feels like a good fit all round, and discuss an initial trial period to allow everyone to feel their way. You can email us on atplayheap@gmail.com.
-At-Play- 