Unfortunately the teachers leading the course were not what I would have hoped for. They treated the children with very little respect, and Hannah found them really intimidating, so much so that she dropped out of the workshop very early on and watched most of it from a distance. I find it so disappointing when children arrive for a workshop so full of enthusiasm only to have it squashed when they excitedly 'forget' to raise their hand before speaking, or are pushed to answer questions when they are feeling shy, or are humiliated in front of their peers for failing to notice a sign, or any of the other multitute of things that some educators seem to think is perfectly acceptable to subject children to - it's just heart breaking. Thank goodness not all workshops are led by such people.
Anyway, i did take some pictures of the activities, and the castle looked beautiful in the sunshine! 
I think we'll go back on our own really soon!
3 comments:
These kinds of events are so tricky to judge aren't they. I am always torn wondering whether we should continue to join in out of politeness and the reputation of the home ed community or just to cut and run! tricky if it was expensive or a long way away. I totally undersand your experience, we went on a similar trip once where the guides could go off script and where floored that some of the children in the group had so much knowledge.
We went to Bignor Roman Villa earlier this summer with just one other family for a workshop and it worked well for us. I think mixed age / ability is too much of a challenge for some.
Couldn't go off script even.
I would have told them where to stick their workshop! If you have the details, maybe you could write and tell them how Hannah was made to feel (in a constructive criticism kind of way).
I really hope Hannah wasn't too put off by the experience xxx
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