Singer says first school could open next year
CHARLOTTE Church says her plans to open a school are gathering pace and she hopes it will open “in or around Cardiff” as early as next September. The school, for no more than 25 pupils, which will give children more of a say in what and how they learn, will be non-fee-paying, and work with maintained schools to share ideas, she said.
The Cardiff-born musician and social activist, who home-educates her children Ruby, 10, and Dexter, nine, revealed in July that she wanted to open a secondary school as daughter Ruby approaches the age to go.
Since then plans have been moving fast, she told an audience at the Women of the World (WOW) Festival at Chapter Arts Centre in Cardiff yesterday.
After getting more than 1,000 emails offering help, including from headteachers, teachers and parents, Charlotte said she has a team of experts helping her including Gaynor Coley, former executive director of the Eden Project in Cornwall.
The musician, who lives in Dinas Powys, has visited schools in England and plans to visit schools in Wales, starting with Barry’s Cadoxton Primary, to get ideas and see how they work.
Describing plans for her school, Charlotte told the audience: “Hopefully it’s going to be open by next September for a small number of students, between 10 and 12 and no more than 25.
“I don’t want this school to be an island but to work in symbiosis with the state system and to learn from each other.”
Speaking in front of an audience in conversation with WOW founder Jude Kelly, the former child star said she loved her education on the road but realises she was privileged with her record label footing the bill for the best tutors.
She was also educated at St Mary’s Roman Catholic Primary in Cardiff and the private Cathedral School in Llandaff, where she said she was bullied.
Looking around locally for schools for her own children, the singer said nothing seemed right.
“I’m really interested in a democratic model of education. How can we expect people to be members of a democratic society who care and understand if you don’t embed it in their education?
“We have home-schooled our children for four years. Before then I never thought about education. Then the kids got to school age and we started looking at local schools and I was pretty sure I didn’t want them to go to a private school.
“I looked at local schools in the area and it just did not feel right. The kids were really reliant on the teachers and not interacting.
“I had this nagging feeling that our little girl Ruby was really young and it felt odd giving her over to strangers.
“There was a Steiner kindergarten they went to which was lovely, but the school was more formal and was not our thing.
“So we thought, ‘We’ve made a boo-boo here. What have we done? Let’s home-school for a year and get them up to speed and into mainstream.’
“Then we just really enjoyed it and two of our friends from Steiner came to join us and then we got a supply teacher two days a week.
“Then Ruby was getting to secondary school age and we thought, ‘As they’ve had a good grounding, they can go to a comp. Everyone is struggling and underfunded but it will be fine.’”
Still wondering what to do, Charlotte visited Sands School in Devon, founded by teachers from the nowclosed and radically progressive Dartington Hall School.
The musician said she returned fired up with enthusiasm to open her own school where children have a say in what, how and when they learn.
“I woke the next morning and said, ‘I’ve got to start a school.’”
She admitted her husband, singer, songwriter and producer Jonathan Powell, wasn’t overjoyed at first.
“My husband just looked at me and went, ‘No!.’ I have been going at 150mph ever since. One minute I was looking for a school and the next I was setting one up.”
Charlotte says she is “umbilically tied” to Wales and is encouraged by the new curriculum being designed here. On her plans for her own school, she added: “It’s still at the research phase, finding out how to find funding and a place.
“It might travel for the first year before deciding the location, but I don’t want it to be a private rural school for the most affluent people.” ■ Watch Charlotte’s speech at the WOW festival on our website at WalesOnline.co.uk
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