For my partner however, his experience of school and its systems was one of a lack of fit. His creativity and identity found its home in other organisations like Scouts or art and it was through those outside activities that his love of learning in the world found its home. All these factors were endlessly discussed as we read, researched and learnt from others journeys in un-schooling, home-schooling, forest and private schools. We had moments of feeling that for us, in the now, we had no choice – our options limited by location and the pressing commitments of work and finances against the family life we endeavour to hold space for. But, believing that these early years are so important, these memories and the stories of others reached deep down. Our love for the wildscapes we are lucky enough to frequent inspired us to consider what we could do in the now. And so, we approached the Head of our son’s school with our proposal …. ….and the idea of one vital day was born. One vital day is quite simply one (just one) day a week that we are taking our son out of school to spend exploring and learning in an ancient woodland. At first glance we proposed a very simple experiment. In other ways it is fraught with complexity. We argued that we wanted this day to be situated within the school week so that it wasn’t viewed as an extended weekend. We thought long and hard about the rhythm of the day and why this was something more than being outdoors as a family during the weekends. The option for flexi-schooling in this manner is not easily accommodated within current British education policy. While not illegal, it is allowed at the discretion of the Head, but brings with it many headaches over what code to note the absence from school as and the corresponding issues for funding, Ofsted ratings, and national curriculum priorities. Our journey has not been smooth. While we have been overwhelmed by the support of friends old and new since launching this experiment, many telling us that they are ‘watching with interest’, there are reasons more of us don’t do this. There are more meetings to be had and we are expecting our Head to ask us to stop. We believe that the current priorities of the national curriculum and state school system require more innovative and maverick experiments in order to displace the unimaginative approach we are currently seeing in education. More research needs to be done to justify the whats and whys of this practice and how it can sit effectively vis-à-vis current policy. More research needs to be done so that community schools are not penalized for supporting flexi-schooling initiatives. Having said that, we remain reflexive rather than religious about its practice. As we have watched our son take charge of his own firepit (an important central location from which he explores those woods in ever expanding circles); help the local farmer muster and care for his sheep and lambs; identify birds, bugs, butterflies, animal trails, trees; and create his ‘ancient study’ in which he writes and draws about his explorations and observations at the end of the day, we have already seen a revitalization of our boy. He is able to nurture those interests dear to him. He is able to play. He is enjoying school. He is able to stand up for what is important to him and show that to other people. The Harris hawk feather from his teacher bears witness to that.
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