The Eco School we are building in Pendoylan

This is a school built around real life. Children will learn through: • growing food and understanding seasons • soil, compost, and ecology • practical land skills and stewardship • simple building skills and working safely • community, responsibility, and contribution It is not about sitting still. It is about becoming capable.

This hub will also host: • workshops (growing, cooking, wood, land skills) • talks and learning evenings • community events and seasonal gatherings • volunteer days and build days • local producer collaboration A place you can come back to, not a one-off event.

A round main building with a clear entrance and reception. A large open central space that can also host community events. A sloped roof with wide overhangs so children can work outside in all weather. Built into a banked slope to sit naturally in the landscape. Large arched glazing at the front with double doors.

I didn’t arrive at this idea from theory or policy. It came from lived experience, over many years, and through my own healing. For a long time I’ve been drawn to land, food, and community. Not as hobbies, but as something deeper. A feeling that modern life has lost some very basic truths about how we learn, how we heal, and how we belong. In 2015 I started holding a vision for land that could support more than just production. A place where people could learn again by doing. Where children weren’t separated from real life. Where adults weren’t expected to already have everything figured out. Along the way I went through periods of burnout, physical injury, and deep questioning. A serious back injury forced me to stop, slow down, and listen to my body properly for the first time. Recovery wasn’t just medical. It was about grounding, being outside, walking barefoot on the land every day, and reconnecting with simple rhythms. That period changed how I see education. We ask children to sit still and absorb information, while many adults are struggling themselves. We separate learning from life, food from land, skills from purpose. And then we’re surprised when people feel disconnected. This eco school is my response to that. Not a reaction. Not a protest. A practical alternative. A place where learning happens through growing food, caring for soil, building things, sharing meals, working together, and being useful. Where children build confidence through competence. Where adults are welcome to learn alongside them. Where the community becomes part of the education, not something outside of it. This is not about creating something perfect or fast. It’s about creating something honest, slow, and real. I don’t have all the answers. But I know this: when people are given land, trust, responsibility, and time, something good happens. Skills return. Confidence grows. And community stops being a word and becomes a lived experience again. That’s what this project is holding space for.