{"id":7502,"date":"2015-02-22T07:05:46","date_gmt":"2015-02-22T07:05:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.stragnell.com\/befoulednews\/?p=7502"},"modified":"2015-02-21T17:24:18","modified_gmt":"2015-02-21T17:24:18","slug":"22-february-2015","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.stragnell.com\/befoulednews\/2015\/02\/22\/22-february-2015\/","title":{"rendered":"22 February 2015"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning to you all. It\u2019s been an \u201cok\u201d sort of week, I suppose. We had a couple of positively glorious mornings early in the week \u2013 bright blue skies, clear but still decidedly on the \u201cfresh\u201d side \u2013 but mostly it\u2019s been cold (relatively speaking), overcast with the occasional smattering of rain. At least the snowdrops are out in force and the daffodils, although just beginning to think about putting their head above the surface, surely won\u2019t be too much longer.<\/p>\n

This, of course, is in contrast to the weather those of you in the great frozen northeast are enjoying. I read somewhere that the residents of Boston have been told to stop jumping\u00a0out of upstairs windows into the gargantuan snowdrifts below and the Guardian had a series of photos of a frozen Niagara Falls<\/a>. Now that is cold!<\/p>\n

\"Frozen<\/a><\/p>\n

Tuesday evening we had a bit of fun and excitement. We went to a \u201claunch\u201d of a film made about some of our favourite people, the staff and students at the Treehouse School<\/a> in Cholsey.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve written about the Treehouse before \u2013 it\u2019s a small (only fifteen students) primary school which was founded three years ago by a couple of teachers\/friends who were fed up with the direction of current education practice and policies. They decided to start their own school where \u201cchild-centred learning\u201d would be a reality rather than just a slogan. Against all the odds and, in spite of receiving no government funding at all, three years later the school is thriving and, more importantly, the children attending the school are thriving.<\/p>\n

Now, they want to build a new school so that they can offer the same extraordinary educational opportunities to more students. So, the event on Tuesday evening was a launch of their fundraising efforts for the next few years \u2013 they want to raise \u00a3350,000 to build a new eco-school which would enable them to cater for up to sixty students. The event centred on a short film which explains the philosophy and ambitions of the Treehouse School.<\/p>\n