Festival of the Child 2021

A World That Works For The Many:

We are a small, mostly voluntary team of parents, teachers and educators, passionate about creating a world that works for the many, not just the few and re-imagining education from the grassroots up.

Although we had planned to host in-person events last year, of course the pandemic changed the rules for all of us. But rather than just give-up, we decided to pivot and move our activities online.

We believe that the global pandemic has exacerbated the challenges of our already broken education system and that teachers and pupils are burned out, stressed and anxious and not getting the vital support they need.

Mental health issues like stress, depression and anxiety are shockingly on the rise. Especially after a year in lockdown. In a 2020 UK based study, 1 in 6 children between the ages of 11-16 years of age (16%) are suffering from some form of mental health issues, an increase from 10% of the same age-group in 2017.

But hidden within these difficult and intense times is an opportunity to re-imagine education and dream the future awake. 

We want to cultivate community and support you as parents and educators after a time of isolation so that you can better nurture the children and teenagers in your care.

We know that solutions to the challenges will not be found by any of us, but are possible by all of us coming together and cultivating thriving communities around our children.

At the heart of the School of Sophia (hosts for Festival of the Child) is a passionate commitment to building community, championing the creative arts and supporting parents and teachers through changing times.

Dreaming The Future Awake:

Festival of the Child explores the importance of the creative arts in education, how we can educate for social justice and planetary restoration as we champion a creative revolution in education today.

You are an important and vital part of this conversation. We believe that when we empower teachers and parents to feel nourished, inspired and supported, they cannot help but create environments in which children naturally thrive.

Let's come together and figure out out to safely navigate ourselves and our children and communities across the stormy waters of the 21st century as we dream the future awake by sharing our visions for a world based on wholeness, flourishing and thriving together.

What To Expect:

Festival of the Child has 3 main components:

• Powerful and transformative interviews with 21+ authors, educators and teachers from all over the globe, sharing wisdom to ignite, inspire and empower parents and teachers today with practical strategies in and out of the classroom.
• A fun, creative and immersive experiential adventure throughout the "live" component of the Festival to share deeply and have your voice heard, meet and connect with other parents and teachers just like you and explore how we can deepen our connections to ourselves, each other and the world.
• Opportunities to get involved in a post-event celebration and to continue to deepen as a global, supportive community passionate about changing education from the grassroots up. 

Festival of the Child 2021 is completely FREE to attend - this is our pledge to support parents and educators and future generations to co-create a world that works for the many, not just the few and all of sentient life on this precious planet called home.

YOUR support enables us to continue to reach more families who may benefit from the content we have to share. Thank you SO much for any support to help make this possible!

Even if you're not able to make a financial contribution at this time, please do help us by spreading the word.

In addition if we achieve 50% of our funding target, we may be eligible for a matched-funding grant from the local council.

On behalf of the School of Sophia and the Design Team behind Festival of the Child, I'd like to say THANK YOU for all your support for this project.

With gratitude,

Priya

PS Register for FREE on the website now.

www.festivalofthechild.com