Setting up a Small School or Learning Community

This full-day workshop led by Rosalyn Spencer and Jen Altamirano Smith will give participants a greater insight into what is involved in setting up a small school or learning community based on human scale values.

Rosalyn has an MA based on her research of small schools around England and Scotland; has written about small schools in various publications including Nursery World, Natural Parent, The Green Parent, HSE publication ’15 Small Schools’, and her book ‘Why I Started a Small School’. In September 2022 Rosalyn completed another tour of small schools and learning communities including small schools that have survived the test of time such as Park School and Sands School – both in Devon; and newer learning communities such as Charlotte Church’s Awen Project in South Wales, Hove Micro School, and East Kent Sudbury.

Jen is Founder and Educator at Little Forest, a small learning community in West Sussex. She is a qualified teacher who also has an MA in Transformative Leadership (Distinction) focussed on the leadership of small, green, inclusive schools. Jen is Trustee and Coordinator at Human Scale Education, a small charity which believes that education designed for human flourishing should be accessible to all. Jen has whole school leadership experience in mainstream primary schools; extensive experience of working with local authorities and has recent relevant experience of how to set up a small school or learning community.

‘The input was really good – both prepared and in response to arising needs and interests. It was great to chat to like-minded people in the breakout room. The session was run very flexibly according to what the group wanted and everyone’s needs were met eg. explaining terminology.’

- Recent participant.