Bamble

03/09/2026

Meet the team behind Bamble! 🌿✨

We are so delighted that this year Bamble is expanding into a team of three lead facilitators!

After a year away on maternity leave, Sally is returning to Bamble, and we’re so happy that Katy is staying with us. Alongside Danny, the three of us will be sharing the lead facilitator role and working together to support the children and community.

Having three lead facilitators means we can slowly and carefully grow Bamble and welcome some more children into our little community, while still making sure we can give each child the attention, support and freedom they need.

We’re really excited about this next chapter — and very lucky to have such a great little team at the heart of Bamble. 💛

And of course, we couldn’t do it without our wonderful wider team of sessional facilitators Annie, Seb and Gary, and many freelance facilitators and tutors, who bring so many different skills, interests and ideas into Bamble.

Here’s to another year of: “nothing has to happen and anything is possible!” 🌱

21/08/2026

This time last year, our side field was an almost impenetrable maze of brambles.

Over the past year, little by little, we've been working hard to transform it!

We've built swings, uncovered an old playhouse, repaired the shed for storage, and the children have designed and built their own bike track. Facilitator Ed has started work with the children on a treehouse, and we're fundraising to add a cabin or yurt in the future.

We're looking forward to making the most of the space this year with regular campfires, whittling, den building and other 'forest school' activities.

One of the things we love is that the space keeps evolving alongside the community. Children come up with ideas, families lend a hand, and projects grow over time.

So we can't wait to see what the side field looks like this time next year! 💚

20/08/2026

We often talk about self-directed learning at Bamble, but none of it happens in isolation. Learning grows out of relationships, feeling known, and spending enough time together that this starts to feel like our place rather than somewhere we simply visit.

Community and belonging don't happen by accident. They grow from spending time together, sharing meals and cups of tea, solving problems together, and getting to know one another over months and years. 💚

17/08/2026

One of the joys of Bamble is bringing passionate adults into the community to share what they love.

This year that's included Dom, an amazing youth worker and friend of the project who's been running Dungeons & Dragons sessions.

Week after week we've watched stories unfold that the children have shaped themselves—forming unlikely alliances, solving problems together, taking risks, making each other laugh and becoming completely immersed in imaginary worlds.

Thank you, Dom, for giving so much of yourself to our community. The children absolutely love your sessions, and so do we. 🎲🐉⚔️

14/08/2026

One of the things we love about Bamble is welcoming people from our local community to share what they enjoy.

Carol has spent the past few months running weekly craft sessions with us. Together we've crocheted, felted, sewn, made postbox toppers, build a felt frog army and helped decorate the church at Christmas.

After spending the past few months with the children, Carol said:

"I have to say how impressed I am with the kindness the children show to each other and the way they communicate. I so enjoy spending time with them and feel very privileged to be able to do so."

Thank you, Carol. We're so grateful to have you 💚

12/08/2026

10/08/2026

We have a visiting morning coming up on Tuesday 1st September 11am-12pm. All welcome. Contact us at [email protected] to book a space 💫

07/08/2026

"Your genuine passion for your work was a big part of what won us over and I'm sure it's what made our child want to jump straight into Bamble! Can't believe it's been nearly 3 years 💚💚💚"

Parent, Bamble

Come along to our visiting morning coming up on Tuesday 1st September. Email [email protected]

03/08/2026

Three years. 💚

We finished our summer term with a party, and it felt like a lovely way to celebrate another year together.

The children spent most of the day getting everything ready. There were three flavours of homemade ice cream, craft stalls, makeup sessions, and even a raffle to win a handmade frog. We watched piano performances, a poem, and a melodica solo, before handing out this year's Bamble yearbooks. Each child designs their own page, so every yearbook ends up being completely unique.

Looking around the room, we felt really grateful for what Bamble has become over the last three years. It's still a young project, but it's growing into a community that genuinely belongs to the people in it.

Thank you to everyone who has trusted us, supported us, volunteered, shared their skills, and helped shape Bamble over the past three years. We couldn't have done it without you.

Here's to year four. 💚

27/07/2026

**How do activities get organised at Bamble? 🤔**

We're busy planning next term, and the ideas are already rolling in...

🤖 Building robots
🎲 Dungeons & Dragons with youth worker Dom (one of our absolute favourites)
🎭 A drama group
🎸 Starting a Bamble band
📚 One-to-one reading practice
🌿 Local litter picking

Rather than deciding a timetable behind closed doors, we build it together.

It usually starts with an expression of interest. If enough people are excited about an idea, we'll get those interested together for a planning chat. Rather than deciding *for* children what a drama group or robotics club should look like, we'll ask questions like, *What kind of drama group do you want?* *What would make it fun?* *What are you hoping to create together?*

If an idea needs funding, we'll put together a proposal and check it past group budget. Together, we'll think about whether it's something we'd like to spend our shared money on, whether there are cheaper alternatives, or whether we'd rather save the budget for something else.

Once we've worked out the details, we bring the activity back to Morning Circle, where everyone has the chance to hear about it and sign up if they'd like to take part.

Next term, we'd also love to open up more of these opportunities to the wider home education community. Where we have space, we'll advertise public sessions that other home-educated children can join for specific activities.

The result is a programme shaped with children, rather than simply provided for them.