Amelia’s Magazine | Mighty Oaks Foxes Woodland School in Norfolk

Mighty Oaks Foxes circletime
Red K Sanderson and her husband Tim Sanderson have set up an inspiring group for parents and children in the Norfolk woods and now they plan to take their idea one step rather with the creation of the Mighty Oaks Foxes mobile woodland school. It’s an inspiring and visionary plan which will benefit some very lucky children, so when I heard about it I just had to share the idea more widely… who knows, maybe their dream of an interconnected Modular Microschooling System will become a reality.

Mighty Oaks Foxes nature mandalas
What first inspired you to start up the Mighty Oaks Foxes group and where did the name come from?
RED: I started running our parent and child group Mighty Oaks in September 2009 when my first daughter was 9 months old. It arose out of a group of new mamas who’d met doing a pregnancy yoga class. We’d been meeting regularly but as our babes were growing, the meetings were becoming more chaotic. I’d been attending the Steiner school parent and child group in Norwich, and loved the calm relaxed and creative atmosphere. But a two hour round trip – to the city – was no good, so I started my own version where we live – in our local village hall in rural north Norfolk. We were immediately hugely successful, running three mornings per week and always at maximum capacity. After a break when I had my second daughter, we re-opened in 2013 – in our true home – all outside in the beautiful woodland of north Norfolk where we live.

Mighty Oaks Foxes the den
We currently run two mornings per week, always completely fully subscribed, with 30 families and 37 children attending. The average age of the group has increased, and we’re also including homeschooling families like our own, though it’s becoming increasingly apparent that the six year olds really need something more. We were intending to homeschool, but realised that expanding a branch of Mighty Oaks into a school class for 6 year olds would give our eldest daughter the valuable experience of being in a peer group, and would offer an opportunity for other children to experience and benefit from the gorgeous woodland we’re so privileged to be living in. The name FOXES arose from the animals that regularly visit The Clearing – the woodland location of the classroom. The qualities of the fox seemed to be reflected in our eldest daughter – sharp, shrewd, beautiful, elegant – and with red hair! The second class, opening in September 2018, for our second daughter will be called BADGERS – like her, strong, earthy, tenacious, nocturnal – ha!


How does the group exist at this point in time?
RED: Right now we’ve got a small group of families committed to starting FOXES in September, and many others on the periphery.
We’ve got a great teacher Jess Carey, and a lovely assistant Madeleine Heley. We’ve got a fabulous location in the woods called The Clearing, and we’re currently in the middle of a huge fundraising campaign to build a beautiful mobile wooden classroom which will be the class base in the woods from September.

Mighty Oaks Foxes the clearing
What are your backgrounds, as founders of this project?
RED: I’m a full-time mama, artist and organiser of other events such as the North Norfolk Arts & Crafts Fair. Previously I ran my own successful graphic design business in London.
TIM: I am an artist and a woodsman and a father of two girls.

Mighty Oaks Foxes rainbow bridge
Why the woodland? Why do you think humans are happiest in woodland settings?
TIM: The woods are a part of who we are and where we came from as humans. The woods have provided us with food, fuel and shelter since earliest times. Woodland is wildness returning, any area of suitable land will return to woodland is left uncultivated. Woodland has a healing and regenerative affect on humans it helps us to re-member who we are and reconnects us with the web of life and spirit.

Mighty Oaks Foxes storytelling
Where is your woodland and how did you secure it as a space for your vision?
TIM: The Clearing is in north Norfolk. I became the tenant of it 11 years ago with the generous support of the local landowner Lord Hastings. It has provided the family with fuel, building materials and a place to live, as an artist in symbiosis with it, it has become my life’s work, a place of contemplation and inspiration.

Mighty Oaks Foxes mother earth
Why do you want to build a mobile classroom – where will it be moved to and how will it move?
TIM: A mobile class can be moved which means there is no long term impact on the woodland, our footprint is intentionally light, in reverence and respect for the place and its beauty.

Mighty Oaks Foxes classroom
Who has designed the mobile classroom and who will be building it?
TIM: I have designed it, and will be building it with the help of volunteers.

Mighty Oaks Foxes massey ferguson
How many children will be attending the inaugural sessions, and when do you hope to have your vision in place?
RED: We’ll have six children starting this September 8th. Ideally we’ll attract our maximum number of twelve by the end of the first year. I want Mighty Oaks Foxes to be a strong little community of children – and families – working and playing and growing together.

Mighty Oaks Foxes dan and jasper
How often will the school run and do you imagine it will exist alongside other forms of education? (ie – as part of a flexischooling approach)
RED: Mighty Oaks Foxes will run two days per week, so the children will also be free to explore other options for the rest of the week. I am personally attracted to unschooling ideas, having watched my eldest daughter teach herself so many things (riding a bike, reading, writing), and seeing the growing confidence that comes from her own self-reliance. Other families may choose to continue with their own homeschooling structure, and it is also possible that others could be flexi-schooling in regular state education.

Mighty Oaks Foxes fen and heidi
What kind of things will the children be learning, and how do you anticipate they will progress in their education as they get older?
RED: In these first years, they’ll be getting an introduction to letters and numbers, but in a very whole-form way. Instead of sitting at desks copying by rote, they’ll be outside, making shapes with their whole bodies, finding letters and numbers in the woodland. They’ll be learning about the qualities of numbers and the poetry of words… There’ll be copious nature study, as they’ll be so immersed in it – and also hand crafts such as knitting, painting, modelling and they’ll be learning to play the recorder. The teacher herself uses movement, rhythm and rhyme as a key instructional tool.
I imagine we’ll add in extra-curricular activities on additional days. We’ll bring in experts in various disciplines or have field trips to be present to exquisite workmanship, so the children can absorb true mastery in many fields.
As they get older, their curriculum will expand to cover a myriad of exciting and wonderful things the world has to offer – astronomy, philosophy, geometry, languages, ecology, physiology – and subjects that perhaps aren’t taught in schools such as good nutrition, powerful communication, yoga and meditation, relationship skills.

Mighty Oaks Foxes lila on the bridge
Can you explain more about your idea for an open source modular micro-schooling system and how this will work in practice?
TIM: I imagine, groups of parents getting together in their local communities and designing classes to suit their specific needs, regarding time tables, curriculums, beliefs, intentions etc. And through the power of global connection finding like minded others throughout the world to share ideas, funds and resources. The network also brings up the possibility of dialogue and connection with parents doing a very different way of educating to each other, cross-pollinating ideas, funds and resources as much or as little as is required in any given moment. This openness and adaptability is the real power of the system. The internet is the biggest library and global resource the world has ever seen. It is there to be integrated as much or as little as is necessary into any given approach to learning. Bypassing politics and bureaucracy means schools can be more flexible, adaptable and able to meet the needs of the children directly, changing as required in any way that is appropriate.

Mighty Oaks Foxes grace
Why do you think so many people are attracted to different ideas about education at the moment?
TIM: The old world is in crisis and decline, the existing institutions can no longer provide what is needed. Many new green shoots are appearing through the wreckage: There is a movement towards doing things for ourselves, locally, putting people and the environment we all depend on first. Our children need a whole form education to face the challenges that our legacy has left them. The system cannot provide it and so we must build it ourselves. A single vision for education is the old industrial way. A multifaceted web of independent, localised schools, globally interconnected, sharing ideas, funding and resources is the future, tailored to the needs of each individual child and each community where ever it is in the world.

Mighty Oaks Foxes lunchtime
What would you say to others who may be inspired by your story and want to do something similar and possibly connected in their area?
TIM: Start Now, talk to others, dream big, organise and take action, the internet is there to help us all connect and share, be generous with ideas and energy, together we can pool all our strengths and skills to make anything possible.
RED: And follow our story and let it continue to inspire you. My intention is for our project to be ‘open-source’ and I’ll shortly begin documenting everything in a blog so that anyone can read about our model and replicate it – in their own way.

Mighty Oaks Foxes friday group
How can people support you?
RED: CONTRIBUTE TO OUR FUNDRAISING TO BUILD OUR FIRST CLASSROOM! We’re raising funds to build our first classroom on Indiegogo, and then we’ll be building another one after that. If you can add even just £5 or spread the word or contribute in any way, it will be a great help. You can follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to keep up to date and spread the word. THANK YOU!

Categories ,Crowdfunding, ,Homeschooling, ,Indiegogo, ,Jess Carey, ,Lord Hastings, ,Madeleine Heley, ,Mighty Oaks, ,Mighty Oaks Foxes, ,Modular Microschooling System, ,North Norfolk Arts & Crafts Fair, ,Norwich, ,Red K Sanderson, ,rural, ,Steiner school, ,The Clearing, ,Tim Sanderson, ,Unschooling, ,Whole-form education, ,Woodland School

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Amelia’s Magazine | Meet Niall Grant: Featured Artist from That Which We Do Not Understand

Amelias_magazine_TWWDNU_Niall_Grant_Mater_GaiaAmelias_magazine_TWWDNU_Niall_Grant_Mater_Gaia
Niall Grant works between studios in Norwich and London, creating fine prints that are inspired by traditional European illustration. He has worked for a diverse range of clients and showed work in numerous exhibitions. Above you can view Mater Gaia, his contribution to my 10th anniversary artists’ book, and also available exclusively on my Kickstarter campaign as a very limited edition fine art print with real gold leaf. The image is inspired by his interest in life, death and the dreaming in between. The artwork features the celestial skies and elements of 16th century alchemic illustration above a forest clearing where beautiful crystals burst from the soil. His work provides a ‘visual medicine’ for the viewer.

Niall Grant Neverland
Neverland.

How did you create Mater Gaia?
I created this piece firstly with pencil sketches, and built on those with ink brushes and fineliners. This piece in particular was composed by using different drawings I made whilst researching the project. The colour was added from paper and watercolour swatches I’ve been using for years. This process feels very natural to me, and is quite a traditional approach to image-making.

Niall Grant Sleeping Fox
Sleeping Fox.

What does she mean to you?
Latin for ‘Mother Earth‘, this work depicts Gaia, who some believed to be Goddess of the Earth. It comments on how acts of nature are still attributed to unseen forces in some lands.

Niall Grant Hart Of Ten
Hart Of Ten.

Why did you decide to enter the open brief, were there any things that really appealed and if so what?
My eyes lit up when I first saw the brief. I thought the subject matter was perfect for what I was working on at the time. I myself am a spiritually strong person and I feel that’s important. There’s an Indian proverb that says “Everyone is a house with four rooms, a physical, a mental, an emotional and a spiritual. Most of us tend to live in one room most of the time but, unless we go into every room every day, even if only to keep it aired, we are not a complete person.” A lot of people neglect that spiritual room until the day they die, just going the way of the world. They don’t even think to look into it because it seems too dark, but if you keep asking questions they will be answered.

Niall Grant Strange Creatures
Strange Creatures.

Were there any big influences on your style of illustration from an early age?
I really admired the artwork of Yoshitaka Amano growing up. Gustave Dore, Norman Lindsey and Vania Zouravliov are all identifiable influences in my work. I have thousands of pages of artists work from all different eras. I love making Art and I love looking at it.

Niall Grant King Of The Monsters
King Of The Monsters.

You have worked for many amazing brands and companies, what have been highlights of your career so far?
I really enjoyed working with Lettucewear last year. It was more of an Artworking job and not my usual style, but they treated me very well throughout the three month project and we were always on the same page. It just ran like clockwork really. I think having good communication with who you are working with makes the project much more pleasurable.

Niall Grant The Abacus
The Abacus.

What is your favourite type of job to work on and why?
I love doing album art. I think it’s so special when art forms come together to complement each-other. I love the initial process of connecting with the music and interpreting it visually in your mind’s eye. I really enjoyed working with Secret 7” on the Jake Bugg vinyl cover.

NeverlandStudy_Niall Grant
Neverland Study.

You work between Norwich and London – why the two places and how does this work in practice? 
I grew up in Norwich and have roots there. Housing is literally half the price as London, which releases pressure. I have a nearby screen printing studio too, so I can get prints done whenever I want. London is two hours away, so I can work at a studio there for afew days and meet clients etc. It’s handy at the moment but I can see myself committing to one in the future.

Shells Music Niall Grant
Shells Music.

What are you most looking forward to working on in the future?
I have lots of personal projects that I need to finish up at the moment. I try to always be doing one, but they often overlap. I have a few secret projects underway with some exciting clients at the moment. Expect album covers, murals and editorials.

Read more about Niall’s piece for That Which We Do Not Understand here and grab your exclusive Mater Gaia fine art print on my Kickstarter campaign page here. 50% of the profits from the sale of this beautiful artwork will go to Niall Grant.

Categories ,Fine art print, ,gaia, ,Goddess of the Earth, ,Gold Leaf, ,Gustave Dore, ,illustration, ,illustrator, ,interview, ,Jake Bugg, ,Kickstarter, ,Lettucewear, ,Mater Gaia, ,Mother Earth, ,Niall Grant, ,Norman Lindsey, ,Norwich, ,Secret 7”, ,That Which We Do Not Understand, ,Vania Zouravliov, ,Yoshitaka Amano

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Amelia’s Magazine | Tide: an interview with Wooden Arms

Wooden Arm Music Illustration by Alice Jamieson
Wooden Arms by Alice Jamieson.

Mixing lush orchestration with percussive vibes, the Norwich based band Wooden Arms present a haunting debut album with Tide: be prepared to fall in love. Vocalist Alex Carson answered my questions.

Wooden Arms by Sarah Parris
Wooden Arms by Sarah Parris. ‘I felt the music was quite dream like so the image is a combination of photographic and illustrative. I like the sound in the sky with the look of woodgrain. Wood and trees just seemed right as I listened to them…

How did you get together as a band?
We formed rather accidently about 2 years ago, I had been writing some songs on a piano I had recently inherited from a kind neighbour and I was put in touch with a work colleagues sister, Jess Diggins (Violin). She was clearly brilliant and I began writing violin lines as well as vocals and piano. I met Fynn Titford-Mock (Cello) busking on the street – that’s not entirely correct actually I saw him pack up a cello AFTER busking and then approached him. I never heard him play 1 note but I still knew cellists were in short supply around Norwich so I asked him over to see how things would work and lo and behold he was great too! So that was the core of it at the time. Jeff Smith (trumpet / guitar / vocals) joined later on an ad hoc basis when he had bigger shows to do and he soon became invaluable and a great writing partner as well. I knew Jeff from years ago when we were both in Indie bands on the same record label so it was an easy fit. Milly Hirst then joined as our original female vocalist couldn’t commit to the the gigs we were getting. Milly is a great singer/songwriter in her own right and a has a great following here in the UK – I had also helped with the release of her debut EP the year before so again, it was an easy fit. Alex Mackenzie (Drums) was the clearest choice for a drummer – despite being all the way in Lonndon! I had worked on a few of his solo recordings as he was dating my house mate at the time, and I was always struck at how sensitive he was to musical moods. He always knew when to ramp things up and make a racket and also when to take a step back and let other instruments take the lead. With so many of us performing (we were at times a 7 piece as we had 2 female vocalists for some shows) this was a crucial part to the rythmic elements of Wooden Arms.

So in some ways it was accidental meetings at the beginning that sparked creativity within me to write for more instruments – and once we had the ball rolling I had a clear idea of where the band was heading and knew the right men and women for the job.


What is the process of making songs?
It has varied over our time together, at the beginning I would literally write everything. So: lyrics, vocal melodies and harmonies, piano, violin, cello, guitar etc… I would then take all my scribbled sheet music to the band and teach them their parts, over the course of live shows and rehearsals the songs would change and be mouled by their individual playing style and character and it would become a Wooden Arms song. However, now-a-day’s a few others get a bit more involved in the actual writing process – I often bounce a lot of ideas off Jeff and Mackenzie first before sending them to the rest of the band and they also come up with their own songs that we then work on together. So the process has become steadily more collaborative. I would say I still write a majority of the music but I feel the next record will be more of a joint effort from all 6 of us writing wise.

Wooden Arms
How does being based in Norwich affect your music making?
I adore Norwich with all my heart. I grew up 20 miles East of here and there was a part of me when I was younger that thought I needed to be in London, New York or Paris… Some MASSIVE city that went on forever. But being based somewhere reasonably small with a very tight knit and vibrant community has been the best inspiration for me ever. I’m heavily involved in the music scene here and although being a small city we have a buzzing community, almost every night there are at least 2/3 gigs on that are worth your attention. In some ways that made it tricky to stand out as there was so much going on – but also meant you always had opportunities to play and meet other musicians if you put yourself out there.

I have always said a good music scene is what you make it. It’s made by enthusiastic people that follow their own initiative and make stuff happen. I actually promote gigs here in Norwich and try to put on loads of local up-and-coming talent as well as some of the bands we meet on tour.


The album is quite melancholic in feel, what inspired the lyrical content?
I can definitely hear how people can interpret Tide as melancholic however I have always felt personally that it has a neutral tone to it. Neither sad nor happy – just that life is what it is and that is that. A good majority of the record is about consequence and how inevitability rules our lives – I’m brought to mind of the movie The Dead Poets Society where Robin Williams explains to the class that one day they’ll all die and be nothing but worm chowder. This absolute consquence of death has always been something that fascinates me and drives me to do anything in fact. I can definitely see why people would think that would be quite melancholic! However, I grew up in a strict orthodox religion that taught that if you obey God’s laws you will live forever. I left that faith many years ago and began forging my own ideas about life and there is a lot of that in this record.

The idea that we’re all going to die one day – and that’s okay. We shouldn’t be afraid of that or bargain with some deity for a second chance once this one is over. I’m not a militant atheist or belive that my ideas are necessarily the correct ones – but they’re mine and it’s just my viewpoint. The line in Vicenarian sums up most of my feelings actually: “Life is simple, life is sweet, but not yet quite complete…

What next for Wooden Arms?
I have reams of sheet music ready for album number 2. Some have thought that this record is quite short at 6 tracks (although it still runs at nearly 30 mins like a lot of records!) so I would like to do a slightly longer record next time – i’m definitely keen on keeping brevity with albums and I HATE when a brilliant album is marred by 1 or 2 mediocre songs that just didn’t need to be there. We’ve talked about the expansion of our sound into more electonric avenues – using samples and synths etc… and really playing around with the production of our songs – especially in the studio. This record was a very ‘naturally’ recorded album, we played a lot of the time all together to get the energy we have at a live show recorded with only minimal layering of other instruments. I would definitely like to get even more layers going on in the studio and really experiment with not only the composition of our music but the textures and the timbres within the instrumentation that we’re using.

With regards to live shows we hope to be everywhere all the time. We LOVE touring and we’re blessed with a great number of things happening in the new year – we’re back on the continent with shows in the Netherlands, France, Germany, Switzerland and we’re really hoping we can get up to Scandinavia and play some shows. We’re also hoping to play a lot of festivals over the summer and get this music out there. We’re also starting to explore bits of the UK we’ve not had too much contact with, we’ve never played too far North that much and we’ve got TBC shows in Leeds and Manchester in the new year for sure, and also talk about Ireland and Scotland.


Tide by Wooden Arms was released this week on Butterfly Collectors Records. Catch them live TONIGHT 17th October 2014 at St Pancras Old Church in London, details here.

Categories ,Alex Carson, ,Alex Mackenzie, ,Alice Jamieson, ,Butterfly Collectors Records, ,Chamber Pop, ,Fynn Titford-Mock, ,interview, ,Jeff Smith, ,Jess Diggins, ,Milly Hirst, ,Norwich, ,Orchestral, ,review, ,Sarah Parris, ,St Pancras Old Church, ,The Dead Poets Society, ,Tide, ,Wooden Arms

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