20/09/2026
Better EdSpace & Heartfield Community News
It feels as though we have really found our rhythm now.
Over the past couple of weeks, Iโve watched new friendships quietly beginning to form, GCSE learners settling into the pace of their courses, young people taking things apart to discover how they work, some wonderfully thoughtful philosophical discussions and quite a lot of practical science.
There is something particularly lovely about seeing young people begin to find their place. Sometimes that is discovering a subject they didn't know they were interested in. Sometimes it is becoming confident enough to contribute an idea. And sometimes it is simply finding someone else they enjoy spending time with.
So I thought it was time for a proper update on what has been happening at Heartfield and Better EdSpace, as well as a few new things we're getting ready to launch.
At Heartfield
Our 12โ15 programme is settling beautifully into the new term.
Wednesday Culture Day currently has space for a few more young people across the age range, and we'd particularly like to welcome another 4โ6 learners into the Wednesday community.
There is also some space on Thursday Connections Day and Friday STEAM Day for 12-13 year olds with a wating list available for 14-16 year olds.
One of the things I have loved most this term is watching connections develop naturally. Heartfield was always intended to be somewhere young people could encounter interesting ideas and experiences, but also somewhere they could find their people. We are beginning to see that happen.
And now for our 10โ12 year oldsโฆ
We're almost ready to begin something new at Heartfield โ and I'd really love to find the final few young people to form our first group.
Our new 10โ12 programme is built around a simple idea:
Serious learning doesn't have to mean losing the curiosity and exploratory joy of childhood.
These will be small, thoughtful days where learning connects, with our two days having slightly different characters.
Mondays will have a nature-connected, creative rhythm: time in the orchard, art and craft, forage and stitch, working with our hands, fire and food, stories, and the changing seasons. There will be things to make, things to notice and plenty of reasons to head outside.
Tuesdays will take us exploring: living history, maps and places, making and creating, sewing and traditional skills, stories from the past, investigations and the occasional trip out into the wider world.
Across both days, English, maths, history, science, art and practical skills will weave naturally through what we're doing. We might find ourselves measuring and calculating because we're making something, writing because we have something worth communicating, or opening a book because a question has sent us looking for an answer.
It's not about moving through a timetable of disconnected subjects. It's about helping young people see how things fit together while still leaving plenty of room to be 10, 11 or 12.
Small groups. Big ideas. Real experiences.
Young people can join us for Monday, Tuesday or both. We'd like to begin with a small founding group and, if we can bring that group together now, we could start as early as next week.
If this sounds like your young person, please get in touch by email, WhatsApp or message. I'm very happy to have a chat about whether it might suit them.
Meanwhile, at Better EdSpaceโฆ
Our GCSE programme is now properly underway and most of our classes are full.
There is, however, still a small window for joining IGCSE Marine Science.
This is a course I had wanted to teach for several years, and it has been every bit as enjoyable as I hoped. It brings together biology, chemistry, physics, geography and environmental science, with plenty of practical investigation along the way.
We could accommodate four more learners and, for approximately the next two weeks, it will still be quite manageable to catch somebody up. After that, we will have travelled far enough into the course that joining becomes much more difficult.
So if Marine Science has been sitting on someone's maybe list, now is probably the time to ask me about it!
Project Days are taking shape
I've also been delighted with how our new Project Days Programme is developing.
In Gods, Heroes & City-States, our Ancient History learners are building knowledge of the ancient world that is forms a module for GCSE History.
Our Philosophy group has been tackling some wonderfully big questions. There is room for a couple more thinkers here, particularly young people of around 14โ15 who enjoy questioning, challenging, discussing and occasionally disagreeing!
And in How Does That Work?, young people have been dismantling everyday objects, investigating the components inside and asking what each part actually does.
Now they're going to pull that developing knowledge together by making an FM radio.
Although How Does That Work? has a continuing thread and can form a building block for GCSE Physics, the individual sessions are designed to stand alone too. So a young person can step into the programme now without feeling that they have missed the beginning.
Tuesdays, 1:00โ2:30pm | ยฃ35 per session
Could teenagers use a co-working space too?
This is an idea I'm exploring, and I'd really like to hear what families think.
Adults use libraries and co-working spaces for a reason. Sometimes it is simply easier to get things done when you go somewhere to work and other people around you are working too.
So I'm wondering whether teenagers need their own version.
Our Study Space would not be another lesson or a homework club. Instead, young people could book a morning or afternoon, bring whatever they need to get done and work alongside other teenagers doing the same.
That might be revision, reading, maths, coursework, writing, organising notes, working on a project or simply settling down with a good book.
It would be calm, supervised and phone-free, with a strong emphasis on paper and offline working wherever possible. Nobody would be expected to concentrate continuously for three hours: young people could work for a while, take a break, eat, have a quiet chat and then return to what they were doing.
And I'd like to open it to the wider home-education community, not just young people already attending Better EdSpace.
This one is still at the ideas stage, so I'd genuinely value your input. Would your teenager use it? And would a morning or afternoon work better? Just hit reply and tell me.
New for October: Money Skills for Real Life
This is something else I've wanted to introduce for a while โ and I'm letting our newsletter families know about it before we advertise it more widely.
How much does it actually cost to leave home?
What happens when your salary arrives and then rent, electricity, food, your phone and everything else have to come out of it?
How do you make a budget actually balance? When does borrowing make sense? And what happens if debt starts becoming difficult to manage?
During October we're running three practical Money Skills for Real Life workshops for 14โ15 year olds:
Tuesday 6 October, 3:30โ4:30pm
The Cost of Living Independently
Housing, bills, utilities, food and everyday spending โ including thinking about what we need versus what we want.
Tuesday 13 October, 3:30โ4:30pm
Building and Balancing a Budget
Working with a realistic income, prioritising spending and making choices when there isn't enough money for everything.
Tuesday 20 October, 3:30โ4:30pm
Borrowing, Saving and Dealing with Debt
Saving, interest, responsible borrowing, credit and what to do if money starts becoming difficult to manage.
The workshops are ยฃ15 each, with 20 places available in each session. They can be booked individually, so young people don't have to attend all three.
The emphasis will be firmly on real-life decisions rather than worksheets full of financial terminology.
If you'd like a place, just get in touch and tell me which workshop(s) you'd like.
And something rather gruesome for half termโฆ
Finally, we're planning a hands-on October Science Camp, most likely for young people aged 11-13.
I'm still developing the programme, but I'm imagining several days of proper practical science, culminating in a special Autumn & Halloween Science Day.
There may be heart dissections.
There will almost certainly be potions.
Fake blood is looking increasingly likely.
And underneath all of the gruesomeness will be some very real biology, chemistry and scientific investigation.
I'll share full details once I've finished putting the programme together, but if you already have an 11โ13 year old saying YES PLEASE, get in touch and let me know. I'll make sure you hear about it first.
There is a lot growing across Heartfield and Better EdSpace at the moment, but what I am enjoying most is seeing the communities beginning to take shape around it.
Young people are discovering things they didn't know they were interested in. They're tackling increasingly challenging work, making things, asking questions, becoming more independent and, just as importantly, beginning to find other young people with whom they feel comfortable.
Thank you, as always, for helping to grow this community.
And if anything I've mentioned here has made you think โthat might suit my young personโ, simply reply respond below or get in touch by email/WhatsApp. You don't need to know exactly what you want to book. I'm always happy to have a conversation first.
