Kirsty Mckenzie
MORE than €2750 has already been collected to boost pupils’ extracurricular activities at Pan y Cacahuetes thanks to a dedicated squad of parents and teachers.
Friends and family of the ‘Forest School’ in the High Alpujarra say they are determined to take the children’s education to exciting new heights by raising funds for a new outdoor play area.
The school, which began as a playgroup for babies six years ago, now boasts dozens of pupils.
Located in the middle of the Alpujarran acequias and boar trails,the escuelita promotes learning through sensory and holistic experiences.
Now the eldest children have turned seven, parents are hoping to raise a total of €7,000 in order to purchase a state of the art nature dome.
“Every day, the children express a deep love for the beauty of the nature surrounding us, and seek to understand how it all works – from plants to insects, animals, and rivers,” parent Gwen Hayden said.
“Our older kids have turned seven and are now entering a new developmental milestone. In order to offer them the best environment for this new stage, we would like to build a new space for them, which will take the form of a geodesic dome on a plot just below the main school’s space.”
The structure will comprise of 100 wooden triangles for the structure, and 100 more ‘symbolic’ triangles inside the 5m circular space that will be used for furniture and teaching.
Bar, mum of a five-year-old boy at Pan y Cacahuetes, said “The escuelita allowed me to realise my dream of raising my son in a way that follows my heart. It allows us to raise our children in an environment that facilitates learning to respect oneself and respect the other, inside a community, in the true sense of the word. Our group of families is like one big extended family and so the escuelita is like our children’s second home”.
Audrey, one of the founders of Pan y Cacahuetes said that the new dome will allow the older children to ‘express themselves from and get in touch with their authentic self’.
“We value the personality of each kid, their learning paths and their different types of intelligence so that they can develop and thrive at their own rhythm”, she told the Olive Press.
Visit https://www.migranodearena.org/en/cause/educational-project-projet-educatif-pan-y-cacahuetes to donate.
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