Meet the Team

How Free Spirits Began

Hello, I'm Gemma, the founder of Free Spirits Education & Childcare. My 20 years of teaching in state primary schools motivated me to create an alternative education centre for children (including my own) to enjoy their childhood free from the increasing pressures that our education system too often places on young children.

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The alternative education movement is rapidly growing. It seems we all have an innate sense that children learn best through play, exploration, discovery and imaginative experiences, with plenty of time spent outdoors, yet our Government pressurises teachers to train children to work towards academic targets which inevitably leads to a skewed curriculum centred around ticking boxes, obtaining results and conformity. Many parents have found that our schooling system drains the joy out of their children with the relentless testing and arbitrary expected levels of achievement that make children feel like failures if they don’t develop at the designated rate. To me, this is not what education is about. Our children deserve better.

I began my four year B. Ed (Hons) QTS Primary Teaching degree 20 years ago and have worked in a variety of educational establishments ever since, as a state school primary school teacher, SEN resource base leader,1:1 special needs HLTA, private tutor and holiday club leader. I have completed a two-year Certificate in Steiner Waldorf Education and a Certificate of Higher Education in Business Management. I am passionate about children having access to meaningful and enriching educational experiences in a stress-free environment, and wish to provide such an opportunity for young children based primarily on the Steiner Waldorf ethos, and also drawing inspiration from Forest School and Montessori methods.