Monday 17th - Friday 21st August 2026
A free, experimental learning programme created with and for young people aged 15 - 21
Each year we choose a topic that we feel is important and relevant to young people's lives and the world we live in but is lacking in mainstream education, whilst also experimenting with the creation of an inclusive, community centred and liberatory learning space that seeks to challenge the often oppressive approach of mainstream schooling.
What is this year's theme and content?
This year we will focus on exploring... What is England? asking the questions:
What does it mean to be English as a young person in Birmingham today?
Who gets to define what Englishness is? Why?
What are the stories of England's land and people that we don't know? And why don't we know?
How can we follow our curiosity and use creativity to make an Englishness that is inclusive?
What might we imagine?
What stories are waiting to be told?
Co-developed with young people and educators we think this is a ripe question for young people to be exploring right now. We are not here to define Englishness once and for all.
We're here to explore it, challenge it, open it up and imagine what it might become.
We’ll learn through a range of creative, cultural and collective activities
including mask making, film, creative writing, discussions and an outdoor trip too!
Join us on this exciting journey to re-imagine our education, be inspired, and open our minds to new possibilities...
