“Our child isn’t school-shaped”

Even where there is the will, there isn’t the way.

Big dreams, once the fuel, are now just fumes.

Where is hasn’t already collapsed, it is collapsing.

Kids don’t fit, teachers want out, families are at their wits end.

School is the wrong shape. One size fits no-one.

But “Remember,” they say, “that the darkest hour of all is the hour before day.”

Well, let’s squeeze in one final dream and conjure up a new shape. It’s not just our dawn we’d be dreaming for.

Greentech Commons

My school is taking shape.

Admittedly, it is just words at the moment, but I’m okay with that: words are powerful things that can shift a weight many times their own when deployed precisely.

I’ve finally settled on a name for the new school. It’ll be called Greentech Commons.

For me this covers everything.

The curriculum will be called 100Voices - a curriculum for flourishing and survival.

I mean, just image what could be happening in the space between these two points; between survival and flourishing; from the very basics needed to just keep going through to the rich nourishment needed to thrive…

And our work will be underpinned by three guiding principles:

• purpose-driven learning

• mutualism

• communal knowledge

These will be the line we hold when times are as tough as they surely will be. They will be the sword and shield, as needed.

Our child-shaped school

I would expect the faculty to be talking all the time about the shape of the child. And the shape of us, as well - I mean, we are also part of the puzzle. We need to know where our perimeters fit snugly, and cleanly, and crisply, and where they do not. And where they do not we don’t reach for the mastic filler but we redraw the shape with adjustments on all touching sides. Our child-shaped school is really a person-shaped school and it is a different shape everyday.

Folded in from the edges

Those with the strongest edge face outwards, marking the threshold, creating the frame. As with any puzzle, the more interesting lines are always shared on the inside, locked together in a beautiful picture. No-one that cannot bear it is given an outer edge. Never. We are absolutely clear about this.

No-one’s left at the edges; everyone’s in.

At Greentech Commons we know that our picture is made of 200 beautiful and delicate pieces, so we build our puzzle carefully. While we do sort for outer edges first, we never rush the puzzle, and we absolutely never force pieces together. This damages the edges. Where we see what we believe is a corresponding shape or colour or detail between two or more pieces we gently lay them side by side and make absolutely sure before we press down. We may need to swap them out so we cannot risk damage: this will only ruin the picture and the piece.

And, of course, we need every piece in place if we are to make sense. A couple missing and while you can still see the big picture, gaps are felt keenly so we work tirelessly to prevent this from ever happening. We have an irresistible picture and we want everyone to see it completely.

Welcome to Greentech Commons