Vanessa, Rok and I set off for their first Democratic Education Conference recently, it was an opportunity to meet the 7 other Democratic Schools across Ireland.
The two-day conference was jam packed and it was a great opportunity for everyone to ask questions about setting up a Democratic school; things to consider such as: location, building regulations, insurance, charity regulator and incorporation (to name a few).
Following lunch, we got to listen to the Wicklow students’ take on life in a Democratic school. This was truly the best part – their confidence and eloquence were off the charts. We were all truly taken aback, Ed one of the students had a few us in tears when he spoke about the relationships he had formed.
On Sunday, straight after breakfast we all took part in the ‘the world café’ and discussed how we could form our own association to help raise awareness of democratic education across Ireland. We started to discuss our values, missions and aims and discuss what would be the best way for us all to collaborate going forward.
The weekend ended in a flash and since then we have already met again and, have several more meetings planned for 2020.
Overall, we feel very excited and grateful to be part of this movement, so please watch this space!
Best wishes, Lisa
North Dublin Democratic School 