Charlie is a passionate advocate for children and young people in being able to access education and play opportunities that support their natural abilities and interests.

She strongly believe that with a little bit of assistance, reflection and creative thinking, all people are capable of finding pathways into learning where they can thrive and progress.

​

Charlie has worked and trained extensively within education for over 20 years and within varied educational settings; including early years/nursery, primary and secondary schools and alternative outdoor environments. For 10 years, Charlie worked within East Sussex County Council supporting families with children and young people with SEMH learning and physical needs. More recently she has worked alongside FISS and CAMHS (NHS) to support children and their families within a therapeutic woodland support role and delivering on collaborative funded projects to support adults within areas of mental health, psychosis and dementia.

​

Charlie is a Learning Mentor and an Outdoor Educator and Forest School practitioner, comprehensively trained within alternative and holistic therapeutics and with a Bsc(Hons) in Arts and Textile Design. 

More recently Charlie qualified as a Therapeutic Play Practitioner (PGCert), Forest Kindergarten and Children’s Forest Practitioner. She is currently supporting a local community woodland within a part time community engagement role inviting local schools and youth groups into the woods for co-creative learning opportunities.

​​

This hugely varied background has helped Charlie to explore creative education, play and learning  from many different perspectives, abilities and ages.

​​

Opportunities of working with individuals, families, businesses and community groups has greatly inspired her to develop a practice towards deeply exploring what it means to be a creative educator.

​​

Utilising collaborative thinking, co-creating with shared skills and knowledge, taking the time to build relationships, having time to play with ideas and skills and being outside in nature are all vehicles to underpinning the wellbeing of creative learning and development.

 

Exploring and co-creating maps of meaning (templates) for individuals and groups, in being able to move forwards in a way that makes sense to them, is fundamentally paramount and within the scope of what creative education has to offer.