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493 Educators providing Courses

Clair Anderson

clair anderson

Warrington

Hi 😊😊 I’m Clair. Founder of be your own kind of beautiful - community local well-being hub fb page of inspiration reiki training academy Also.. A human being - or rather a spiritual Being having a human experience 😊 A mum - of 3 beautiful ones A nannie- of 2 gorgeous little ones A wife of the less conventional kind… we don’t live together but we do life together as a team❤️ ( Dave lives above be your own kind of beautiful😊) A cat owner that is in fact totally owned by her cat🤪🤪 A daughter who’s parents have supported me so much through the years I am totally Blessed 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻 A woman, with a mission to be my own kind of beautiful regardless of what society says I ‘should be’ Or should do. On a mission to inspire you to be your own kind of beautiful too. I’m Obsessed with self help self development self healing and reiki 😊🙏🏻 I have been an avid implementer of ‘do what you can with where you are at and with what you got’ I have many chronic physical health Conditions that slow me Down, but never hold Me Back. I’ve endured & overcome- Crippling anxiety & depression, PTSD x4!!! Agoraphobia A Mega negative mindset!! An emotionally abusive soul destroying marriage Thyroid cancer Chronic illness A decade of undiagnosed illness The Food banks & Pinch loo roll kinda poverty I could be an agony aunt lol !! I’m not. I’m a Reiki & Meditation Teacher. NLP Life Coach and my full time job is Uber ing my kids about 🤪 But all of this is what drives me to help others take their power back and help themselves to help themselves. Reiki allows me to live well despite my health issues. Infact being on a constant self healing and rising back mission - my health issues are the driving force behind everything I do! I am dedicated to my Path, I’m here to serve, so much so I actually Married the universe at crosby beach a couple Of years ago 😊🙏🏻 with my little people and a statue As my witnesses 😊😊 Be your own kind of beautiful, was a dream I had of ‘passionate about your well-being’ teachers and therapists all available In one place so that you can explore and experiment and find the well-being magic that works for you. Right on your doorstep. But also as a platform for new passionate teachers and therapists to find their feet. And get their magic out to the world. Supporting with a space to work from. advertising, marketing, and any advice I can help with in getting started in business. I teach Reiki in the studio- group classes and one2one training. This year imy first ever online Reiki Training adventure 😍 I’m in the therapy room Tuesdays for Reiki & Relaxation sessions and one2one training. You can join me for all things Reiki in my free fb group 👇👇👇 Be Reiki

HG Beauty Academy

hg beauty academy

Ellesmere Port,

Meet Amanda Flewitt, Owner & Trainer: As my 45th birthday is coming up, it got me thinking about how lucky I am to be doing a job I love. I have come a long way, literally, as I was born in New Zealand and moved to the Wirral when I was 2 years old! I’ve always been creative. I gained my Graphic Design degree from Newcastle University, then I worked in the advertising and design industry up and down the country, in Liverpool, Edinburgh, London, and Manchester. But, as it often does in life, fate intervened. I was made redundant 3 times before I was 3- years old and I decided to retrain while looking for another job. I learned how to do nails, and I carried on doing them part-time when I got a job as an Art Director in Manchester. Once I had completed my nail qualifications, I built up a client base in my spare time, carrying out treatments after work and evenings, and eventually renting a small room in a hairdresser’s. My small business grew and I decided to take the plunge to rent a larger premises and even employ staff. On the day I picked up the salon shop sign I got made redundant from the Manchester job! Wow that was not what I was expecting. But forced me to focus on making the most of it and I have never looked back. After owning a few salons in the area I an now based in the a gorgeous room in the very professional Stanlaw Abbey Business Centre, where I offer Private small group and one to one accredited training and even manage to find time to pamper my lovely loyal clients that have followed me over the last 13 years. And I love it! l have also taught beauty and nails, multi media design and even retail at West Cheshire college for 10 years, and community leisure courses in basic skincare and makeup. I love teaching, and I get such a buzz from helping someone to learn a new skill. But even better, is the feeling I get when I know that I have helped them to pursue a completely new career, or to start their own business. I personally teach all my courses, either in small groups or one to one. I love passing on hints, tips, and professional techniques to my students. I always offer them support after the course, and I invite them back to resit it if they feel like they need to. They also get access to a private Facebook group, where they can get support, access videos, and much more. My aim is to have every student leave my courses with not only a sense of achievement, but the confidence and ability to be a fantastic therapist. My work makes me feel proud, and so does juggling my career with being a mother to my wonderful, and cheeky 6-year-old son. He is my motivation, my inspiration, and my constant reminder of why I do what I do every single day. Please feel free to call me Amanda 07434994783 for more information or to make an appointment to discuss your course interests further.

jonsterckx.co.uk

jonsterckx.co.uk

Tabla Percussion World Music Workshops. Samswara Indian Music, Sitar & Tabla, Stroud, Devon & South West UK Jon Sterckx is a tabla player & innovative percussionist with 30 years experience of working with world percussion & World Music. He studied tabla in UK with Harjinder Singh Matharu and in India with Shivanand Bandhari at the Naadashree Arts Institute in Kumta, Karnataka, and with Kailash Nishad in Benares (Varanasi). Jon has performed twice at TED events, and his performance at TEDxWarwick was selected from over 10,000 TED events globally for inclusion in the TED Global Music Project. Jon plays a range of percussion instruments and has worked across a wide range of musical styles, from Indian classical music and other traditional world music to contemporary experimental & ‘fusion’ styles, theatre & dance collaborations, and his solo multi-percussion Live Sampling / Live Looping performances – Drumscapes. Jon is available for percussion performances, Tabla and percussion tuition in Stroud & Gloucestershire, world rhythm workshops across UK and as a session musician anywhere in the world, through remote recording sessions. Jon has delivered Tabla, World Music, Indian Music & World Rhythm workshops to schools, colleges, universities & festivals for over 20 years. Contact for more information & booking details. Jon is a Tutor and Mentor for South West Music School, an Associate of Wiltshire Music Connects and a partner of Swindon Music Service. He also runs weekly tabla classes in Swindon. Jon has performed with various artists and groups including Indo/Arabic instrumental duo Taaliqa, Fusion group Dhani, Balkan Folktronica duo Arhai and Drumscapes – his unique solo multi-percussion live sampling performances which he has performed at WOMAD, London International Arts Festival, Beautiful Days, Pulse festival, Drum Camp, Tribe of Doris, World Music Workshop Festival and at most of the UK’s main world music festivals & Melas. Jon’s Drumscapes work has also been featured twice by music software company Ableton in the Ableton blog. Jon was a selected performer at the National Celebration of British Asian Live Arts in 2008, and his sitar & tabla duo Samswara were voted ‘Best Group in South West & South Wales’ in the MTM South Asian & Ethnic Minorities Awards 2014. Jon has recorded for Grammy winning composer Christopher Tin on his album ‘The Drop That Contained The Sea’, Grammy nominated producer Arun Shenoy on the track ‘Bliss’, BBC Music Folk Award winners Phil Henry & Hannah Martin album ‘Singing The Bones’ and Americana folk artist ‘Mean’ Mary James amongst many others. Jon has been commissioned by the music creation software company Bandlab to produce content for their platform. Jon has produced sample packs in Bollywood Percussion, Tabla and his own ‘Jon Sterckx Signature’ pack. Tuition &Training: Jon’s tabla tuition began in Cardiff with Harjinder Singh Matharu from Birmingham. Harjinder gave Jon a good solid foundation in tabla playing between 1994 – 1998 as well as the encouragement & inspiration to commit himself seriously to the instrument. In 1994 / 1995, Jon returned to India where he learned from Shivanand Bhandari at the Naadashree Arts Institute in Kumta, Karnataka, India. In 1998 & 1999, Jon returned to India and studied with Kailash Nishad in Benares, (Varanasi) in North India, a city renowned for the study of North Indian (Hindustani) music. In 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 & 2005 Jon organised performances & workshops for Kailash in the UK, where he delivered workshops in universities & performed Tabla solos at Arts Centres & venues in the South West UK. During these month long visits to the UK, Kailash stayed with Jon in Devon and continued Jon’s tabla tuition. They also gave performances together, with Taaliqa playing the first set & Kailash performing tabla solo in the second. In 2005 they also performed together in a collaborative finale. Jon’s other musical studies include a BA ( Hons ) Music degree from Dartington College of Arts in 2000, where his main subject was in composing music for live performance.

Angel Of Education

angel of education

London

We create innovative web-based applications to help all levels of the education sector, from pupils, teachers and school leaders right through to local authorities and large academy chains. Our tools are used nationwide, as well as internationally. We Believe… Everyone deserves a quality education; Freedom & creativity breed innovation; Excellence should be noticed & rewarded; Life is better with some fun & personality; Greatness comes from always knowing that you can be better; Angel is not its employees, but our beliefs. Those will live forever. The Angel Circus At the beginning of 2012, we converted our offices into a Circus so that our surroundings could reflect the personality and innovation that takes place within the company. Why a circus? Because the circus is a place where talented performers train hard and work to entertain and thrill their audience. In the same way, we want to wow people with our software, customer service and support. We love seeing visitors’ faces when they come to meet Team Angel at our circus. There’s a Big Top and gypsy caravan for creative meetings, a grandstand (complete with ball pool) for presentations, a full-wall blackboard for ideas and inspiration, plus fairground mirrors, a popcorn machine and plenty of other circus curiosities for fun. Most of our staff have even learnt to juggle! And really, it’s our staff who reflect the Angel Solutions DNA more than any props ever could. How We Encourage Creativity… Beyond the circus, creativity and innovation is central to how we work. We give staff plenty of opportunities to promote and showcase their talents, whether work-related or not, and place a high value on ongoing learning. Most importantly, we always strive to celebrate effort and creative thinking in our team, just as much as we celebrate their successes. For example, our staff might… Introduce a new work process to try to save time Trial a new technology inside one of our products Teach a skill or share an idea at a lunchtime smorgasbord session Work with a totally different team on an innovation day Run a staff training session to share their knowledge Do an online course to learn something new No matter how busy we are, it’s important to us to carve out precious time like this. We hold Innovation Days every month and encourage as many people as possible to pause what they’re working on to take part. During that time, teams can mix up and people have an opportunity to work on whatever they want! At the show and tell sessions at the end of these days, presentations are always met with the sound of applause and cheering, whether or not they worked out! Our Performers More than anything else, our company culture is genuinely reflected in the wonderful people who make up our staff team. Lots of our staff have been with us a long time now — some since graduating from university — and their hard work, dedication, expertise and creativity is rewarded. Take a look at our jobs page for more on the benefits we give our team, or see our Flickr photo gallery for a flavour of what it’s like to work at Angel. Want to Visit the Circus? We love it when schools, authorities and other current or potential stakeholders come to visit us here, and are always welcoming to the office groups of students or people from other sectors who want to come and meet our team. Only here at our circus can you get a true feel for who we are and what makes our products and services so special. Simply get in touch if you’d like to pay us a visit. We are hiring! Join Team Angel If you think you’d fit in well in our team and have skills to offer, head over to our jobs page to find out more! WORK WITH US About us Our Team The Board Our Charity Work Awards Recruitment How to find us

Prestige Boot Camp

prestige boot camp

Bristol

Established in 2008, Prestige Boot Camp is Europe’s No1 and most successful and established provider of luxury fitness and weight loss boot camps. Recognised for our exceptional results, stunning accommodation, unrivalled service and attention to detail, we are delighted to be Europe’s first choice, and the only boot camp of its kind. Our reputation is second to none and it is important for you to know we are unique at what we deliver. We know we offer the most superior bootcamp service in Europe but don't just take our word for it! The 1st National Boot Camp Survey awarded us as the ‘Best Women’s Boot Camp in England’ 2009,2010, and 2011. Harpers Bazaar also named us the ‘Best Overall Boot Camp’ and Iain Reitze, our co-owner and Head Trainer as one of the Top 5 A-list body trainers in the world! We have a fantastic reputation spread largely by word of mouth from very happy clients who come back year after year and highlighted in reviews and recommendations by the world’s leading magazines and newspapers. All Abilities Welcome Women and Men of all ages, shapes, experience, and fitness levels come to us from all over the world to achieve great results at our fitness, weight loss boot camps and jucing retreats. Led by Iain Reitze, our world class British Military Physical Training Instructors aim to win hearts and minds; educate; and empower you; to make lifestyle changes that last. They will motivate you with high energy, inspiration and humour and plan every day differently so it is challenging yet varied enabling everyone to perform to their individual capabilities. We have an extremely passionate and dedicated team who look after and support you right from the moment you contact us and throughout your stay with a support network that continues after you leave via our online community and after care package. All the planning throughout the week is done for you so you can spend your time focused on the most important person for that week - you! We will provide the special touches to make your stay comfortable, memorable and rewarding! Lose weight in just 7 days In just 7 days at boot camp you can lose weight and watch the inches melt away as our expert trainers take you through our award winning programme. The week is packed with fun and energising activities designed to help you reach your weight loss and fitness goals and provide you education and tools to continue a healthy and balanced lifestyle. A typical day might include boxing, circuits, hiking, team games with use of the extensive grounds on site, at nearby beaches or woodland. The course will also enable recruits to sample and benefit from other experiences which may include either, rock climbing, zip wires, abseiling, kayaking, surfing or Stand Up Paddle. Better Body, Better Mind, Better You The whole experience though is so much more than just a number on the scales. In addition to a Better Body we also want you to leave with a Better Mind. How will we do that? Your journey at Prestige Boot Camp will play a huge role in helping you develop a new found psychological strength. We will show you how to change your mindsets, behaviours and attitudes to enable you to achieve anything you put your mind to. You will gain increased confidence and self esteem which you can transfer into all aspects of your life! You will feel more motivated than you ever have been, full of energy, reinvigorated with a new zest for life. So YOU give us a week of your life – it truly is an investment in yourself and your future and our PROMISE is a Better Body, Better Mind and Better You!

The Diaspora Community Projects (Diaspora)

the diaspora community projects (diaspora)

London

We are pleased to announce that ,The Diaspora Community Projects (Diaspora) is now approved by VTCT Awarding body to deliver Beauty courses. Also proudly announce that we are also approved for Barista Training and Hospitality and Catering Diploma Courses We a BME led community organisation that has been at the forefront of the economic development, training and career advancement of people from local communities with particular focus on employment support for the marginalised communities. Aim to benefit adults and children and their families every year, through live welfare projects on education, healthcare, livelihood and women empowerment, aim to driven in over many remote villages and slums across the world. Education is both the means as well as the end to a better life: the means because it empowers an individual to earn his/her livelihood and the end because it increases one's awareness on a range of issues – from healthcare to appropriate social behaviour to understanding one's rights – and in the process help him/her evolve as a better citizen. We are accredited training providers for a number of job-related skills training programmes including NVQs and apprenticeships. They include Health and Social Care, Business & Administration, Security (SIA) As part of our employment support scheme, we work in partnership with various national and local organisations to offer training and employment opportunities to the local community. This service comes with our bespoke quality one-2-one career advice and support to give the long-term unemployed an opportunity to kick-start their career. Currently, we have on offer a number of training and employment support courses which include Free NVQ levels 2&3 in Health and Social care, Business & Administration, Leadership & Management and Customer Service. On employment opportunities, we are now delivering Security, Cleaning and Health Care recruitment services. Through our very successful training programmes which include work placements, we can guarantee highly trained and motivated staff in cleaning, healthcare Assistants/Support Workers and Security Officers under our new win-win work programme. Under this programme, established businesses get our highly trained and vetted staff from ourselves to work for them. with minimal cost for the labour as well as offering an opportunity to improve living standards of local people. In addition, working with us helps your businesses in contributing to highly valued social responsibility strategies embraced by most national and international organisations. Since 2005, DCP has developed itself as a social enterprise ie engaging in trading activities to support most of its community work. Working as a social enterprise DCP has managed to win confidence within the public and private sector alike and with this we have seen sales increase steadily in the past few years despite the economic down turn that has made many charitable organisations and businesses close. Because of our unique market target as well as our excellence in quality service, many private and public organisations have been able to work with us as we provide a vital link to working with the most vulnerable and marginalised members of the society. At DCP we have our fingers on the pulse of our communities, ready to help transform how they learn, how they find jobs and how they do them, how they access public services and how they develop creativity to make the most of time and effectively contribute to the economy in the UK an abroad. We also specialise in offering a wide range of development and support services to individuals (employed and unemployed) and businesses, (consultancy) both in the private and voluntary sectors. Due to the nature of our business, we work with a team of highly skilled and experienced people –paid and on voluntary basis to provide the best service you can expect in the third sector. We have a clear commitment to diversity and experience achieving a balanced social mix for the youth and adults and partnership with key stakeholders like the Department of Work & Pension (DWP) , Job centre Plus, local colleges and schools. When it comes to recruiting quality staff and trainees, our success is partly due to our approach to embedding IAG and skills development throughout our programmes combined with 1-2-1 personal support and continuing counselling, mentoring, coaching and inspiration. Together with our associated partners in the UK, DCP is continually testing and pioneering new ideas in different development spheres such as training/assessment, regeneratio

Nst

nst

, Lancashire

Founded in 1967 by a maths teacher in Lancashire, NST has worked alongside thousands of teachers, like you, to create unique school trip experiences and memories that last a lifetime. That’s why so many schools choose to travel with us each and every year. NST has been awarded the Feefo Platinum Service award in 2020, an independent seal of excellence that recognises those businesses that go above and beyond to provide a consistently excellent service and dedicate themselves to providing quality customer experiences year after year. Read below to discover more about why NST is the right choice for you. The NST experience With NST, you can expect something a little different. From the moment you start planning a tour with us, we’ll work closely with you to bring your school trip ideas to life. With our unrivalled knowledge of destinations across the UK, Europe and worldwide, together with years of experience in planning unforgettable school trips, we’ll help you to create a learning experience that’s as unique as your group itself. We've been formally endorsed For students studying GCSE History - our 3-day accompanied tour to the First World War Battlefields really can enhance the teaching and learning process for Pearson Edexcel’s GCSE History - Option 11: The British sector of the Western Front, 1914–18: injuries, treatment and the trenches – and that’s not just our view, our itinerary has been formally endorsed by the exam board itself. Support before, during and after your tour From the moment you enquire, you’ll have our full support. Our in-house team have extensive school travel knowledge, from the ins and outs of destinations to planning and arranging your ideal itinerary from start to finish. Whilst you’re away, benefit from airport assistance and the support of NST’s representatives, Subject Experts, specialist escorts and local guides in many of our destinations – plus our 24 hour emergency cover. And we’ll always be here for you should you need us on your return too. Safe in our hands Safety is at the heart of every NST school trip and our vigilant approach to safety management will offer the reassurance that we know is so important to both you and parents. What’s more, we have been awarded the Learning Outside the Classroom Council’s Quality Badge, which is your guarantee that we manage safety on school visits effectively, whilst also creating high quality learning experiences. Visit our safety page to read more. Protecting your tour With NST, you’ll have financial protection from the moment you book your trip to your safe return because we’re fully protected through ABTA and ATOL, and we’re licensed by IATA too. Booking with us is the best way to protect parents’ money and give yourself peace of mind. Don’t forget, if you book direct with an airline, your group may not be covered. Visit our financial protection page to read more. Bringing you even greater value for money At NST, we work hard to bring you the best possible value school trips to help make every penny count and save both you and parents money. Here’s how we’re helping you to money... Free places – We offer a generous free place ratio of 1 in 10 for air travel and 1 in 8 for coach travel on all tours. Pre-tour visits – Qualify for a two nights complimentary stay for two people in your chosen destination ahead of your trip. Loyalty reward – Save an additional £5pp from your first consecutive year of travel onwards. Secure your seats – We can secure your seats on any airline with an initial deposit of only £125pp. Take a look at our current offers and discounts. What next? Take a look at our range of trips using the search tool on the homepage or if you’re looking for inspiration, you can browse through all of our trips. To discover more about taking an NST tour, watch our video which follows one group on their tour to Spain. Alternatively, give one of our Educational Travel Advisers a call on 0845 293 7970 to discuss your tour ideas.

River Network

river network

Derbyshire

One of the UK’s most loved and popular evangelists, Terry has been described as a tonic: humorous, high energy, yet still vulnerable and relational. Using the strong gift of encouragement placed in him, Terry shares the full Gospel message that has so radically changed him: a miraculous testimony of healing and total redemption from brokenness, severe drug addiction & crime. This transformation has seen him become a graduate of and speaker at two bible colleges, further rising to become a CEO within the Christian charity and media sector, influencing and helping thousands worldwide. Terry is a creative communicator with an instant appeal that transcends all cultures, people groups & denominations. His much-appreciated art of motivational faith, coupled with deep insight, helps people to discover (or rediscover) their God-given purpose and spiritual vitality! His manner is at once humorous, friendly & and deeply impacting – and opens the door to life, salvation and healing, in a demonstration of the incredible power of the Spirit. He is also an Ambassador for Compassion UK. JILL Terry’s wife and partner in life, Jill, is a source of strength and inspiration to all Terry is and has accomplished, and she often sings when accompanying Terry on speaking engagements. They come as a great team! Jill loves chocolate, music, and fashion – working as a stylist for some of the world’s leading brands, dressing the housewife to the celebrity! She is also an accomplished worship leader, singer, song-writer and author. Alongside Terry’s testimony of complete transformation, Jill has her own, different testimony. Having watched her parents’ heartache as her older brother suffered tragically under the effects of extreme bullying from a young age, and the dependency that this created in him, Jill determined early in life to be completely independent – a burden to no one and reliant on nobody. This led to unrealistic perfectionistic tendencies and incredible pressure during her twenties. It was not until Jill was in her thirties that she was able to make the paradigm shift to be free of the intensity of perfectionism, leaning into the wisdom of Psalm 138: Psalm 138:8 (AMPC) 8 The Lord will perfect that which concerns me; Your mercy and loving-kindness, O Lord, endure forever—forsake not the works of Your own hands. What a relief it is to realise that it is the Lord who perfects, not us!!! We can only truly please God by having faith in Him, not by how perfect we try to be. Jesus finished all, accomplished all, at the cross, so that now, as the writer of Hebrews declared, we can “fearlessly and confidently and boldly draw near to the throne of grace (the throne of God’s unmerited favour to us sinners), that we may receive mercy [for our failures] and find grace to help in good time for every need [appropriate help and well-timed help, coming just when we need it].” (Hebrews 4:16Amplified Bible, Classic Edition (AMPC)) Both Terry & Jill are ordained by RMI and hold RMI Ministerial Association. In 2018 both Terry & Jill received Honorary PhD Doctorates in Christian Ministry from Excel Christian University for over 20 years of Ministry, Leadership, Service & authoring many books & musical publications. One of the UK’s most loved and popular evangelists, Terry has been described as a tonic: humorous, high energy, yet still vulnerable and relational. Using the strong gift of encouragement placed in him, Terry shares the full Gospel message that has so radically changed him: a miraculous testimony of healing and total redemption from brokenness, severe drug addiction & crime. This transformation has seen him become a graduate of and speaker at two bible colleges, further rising to become a CEO within the Christian charity and media sector, influencing and helping thousands worldwide. Terry is a creative communicator with an instant appeal that transcends all cultures, people groups & denominations. His much-appreciated art of motivational faith, coupled with deep insight, helps people to discover (or rediscover) their God-given purpose and spiritual vitality! His manner is at once humorous, friendly & and deeply impacting – and opens the door to life, salvation and healing, in a demonstration of the incredible power of the Spirit. He is also an Ambassador for Compassion UK.

Pop Up Play Village in and around Cleethorpes

pop up play village in and around cleethorpes

Our aim is to provide a safe and inviting space in which children and their parents can unleash their creativity and let their imaginations go wild. Pop Up Play village is made up of role play areas. We’d call these sets or scenes if we worked in the glamorous worlds of TV or theatre – but sadly we don’t! We have a hospital, vets, baby nursery, supermarket, café, construction site, library, baby play area, art studio and outdoor explorer zone. Each one filled with high quality toys, props and dressing up kits – specially sourced and impeccably clean. What Makes Us Different? We’re often asked whether we’re a playgroup or a drop in toddler play session. Yes, we have toys to play with, things to dress up in and caffeine on tap but our village is about much more than that… Our play sessions have been specially designed by an expert in early years education to help children learn and develop through play. Each of our areas provides them with the tools to develop socially and learn more about themselves, their peers and the world we live in. And whilst this is about education and development, our key priority is having fun. That means fun for everyone. There are no adult wallflowers here. Parents and carers are welcomed into our village and actively encouraged to lose their inhibitions and play together with their children in a way that’s often just not possible at home. And whilst we love our village and all the characters who live in it, we realise it’s good to shake things up a bit from time to time. That’s why we often invite guests to play – dinosaurs, pirates, mermaids, unicorns and dragons – to name a few. We also mark events and the seasons as we pass through the year. Laying The Foundations It was back in 2007 when I started teaching my first ever class that the first foundations of the Play Village were laid. Watching the children in my reception class acting out real-life scenarios in the role play corner, I realised the true value of learning through play. I’d always worked hard to create engaging and realistic areas in which the children could let their imaginations run free. I absolutely loved teaching and gained six fantastic years of experience before having my first child. When my son was 2, I found at weekends it was really hard to find fun, exciting places to take him. It was on one cold, dreary Sunday afternoon in February that the idea of running pop up role play events came into my head along with the name Pop Up Play Village! I thought about it for many months after this vision and it wasn’t until after my daughter was born in June 2016 that I decided it was time to go for it by opening up the world of mobile role play to children and their parents in my local area. Of course, Pop Up Play Village didn’t pop up overnight and as with any build, a great deal of research and testing came before. I wanted every element of the village to be the best it could possibly be and so sourcing the right toys and props took time. Safety, durability and play-ability were key and thankfully, as well as many years of teaching experience behind me, I had two excellent testers in the shape of my children – who were inspiration and guinea pig in equal measure! The doors finally opened on Pop Up Play Village in 2017 and we’re proud to say we’ve undergone huge expansion since. We’re now popping up all over Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hampshire and Oxfordshire. We run sessions for families and schools, entertain children at weddings and events and host their birthday parties. We’ve already been accredited by the Approved Franchise Association and also have the support of two major high street banks – Lloyds and NatWest. But we’re not sitting back. We’ve got ambitious plans and there’s plenty more to be done if we are to bring the Pop Up Play Village experience to many more families across the country and beyond.

Guidepost Montessori

guidepost montessori

Development takes the form of a drive toward an ever-greater independence. It is like an arrow released from the bow, which flies straight, swift and sure. The child’s conquest of independence begins with his first introduction to life. While he is developing, he perfects himself and overcomes every obstacle that he finds in his path.” MARIA MONTESSORI Founder of the Montessori Method of education The Montessori approach Montessori helps your child develop a fundamental, enduring love of learning and the deeply ingrained social, emotional, and academic skills they need to succeed as an adult. Montessori combines highly intentional learning materials, rich social development, and a joyous approach to practiced independence. Our mission Our singular mission at Guidepost is to guide and empower each child as she grows in her independence. In every child lives limitless human potential. For the child to realize that potential is to confidently grow and to joyously learn. It is to create and to love herself while gaining the knowledge to form a unique vision of her singular life. It is the security to live that vision, to dare greatly, to love others. The Montessori approach to human development is based on the belief in the potential of the child, and on the belief that it is only the child herself who can realize this potential. To grow up well is to grow up to be increasingly independent — to be increasingly capable, increasingly confident, increasingly secure, increasingly able to meet one’s own needs, forming one’s own values, and authoring one’s own life. Our job as caretakers is to understand and to love this process as it unfolds for children in our care, and to support the child in blazing her trail. The circumstances of children are as varied as children themselves. The specific needs, the precise resources available, the particular constraints faced by each child and each family are different. As times change, there is a need to keep step and to ensure that the application is timely. But the fundamental need is timeless: to help the child achieve her own development. So, too, is the fundamental method: to provide the child with material, environment, and guidance that is lovingly optimized to support her in that work. The support a child’s caretakers can provide for her burgeoning independence is multifaceted: We can provide materials and inspiration for her to do the work of growing and learning. Every child learns to walk, but not every child learns to walk in a way that feels like an exciting challenge, that redounds upon her confidence. So it is with all of human development and knowledge. The child achieves her own development by engagement and by practice. From grasping an object for the first time, to eating independently, to toileting, to putting her world to words—to the whole world of knowledge, of nature and quantity and life and culture—the effort that children put in can be magnified by thoughtful learning materials and guidance. We can carefully support a child’s environment, creating a wonderful world for her in which to grow up. Children are constantly interacting with and absorbing experiences from their environment. One of the best things we can do for a child is to set up a space where she can be maximally independent and efficacious, a space that is to her comprehensible and enticing, a space that is aesthetically and pedagogically rich. Whether it’s at school or at home, the principles are the same: a world that is accessible, orderly, and enticing is a world that is supportive of a child’s growth. We can prepare ourselves as caretakers of the child. Raising children is as demanding as it is rewarding. It requires that we spend ourselves in understanding and love, that we thoughtfully navigate the stages of a unique child’s development, and that have the self-awareness to manage our own lives, motivation, and energy as we do so. It is tremendously beneficial to both the child and her caretakers to elevate a teaching and parenting philosophy to consciousness, to take an integrated approach to the infinite texture of a child’s growth toward independence. Finally, we can connect with others, other parents, other teachers, other developmentalists and pedagogues, each of whom adds their own experience and wisdom to our accumulated knowledge about child development. Montessori is not just a philosophy of human development. It is also an applied pedagogy, one with over a century of validation, refinement, and grassroots international growth. Guidepost, and each member of our community, benefits tremendously by participating in that movement and history.