This manifesto sets out a cooperative, play‑centred, family‑run learning space that is explicitly not a conventional school. It is a commons: a place where children, parents and workers cook, learn, care and govern together through a CIC‑and‑co‑op model.
Our Core Principles
Play is learning
Research across early childhood education shows that play‑based learning strengthens cognitive, social, emotional and physical development, particularly in the early years, and helps children take risks, solve problems and direct their own learning.
Studies of guided play find that it can be as effective as direct instruction for developing vocabulary, spatial reasoning and early maths, often with stronger outcomes in some domains. Care is collective
Parent‑cooperative models demonstrate that when families share responsibility for curriculum, governance and daily operations, children benefit from deeper home‑school continuity and adults feel more agency in their children’s education.
This concept extends that model: every member is both a beneficiary and a contributor, with no separation between “school” and “family life”. Food is a commons
Eating together in family‑style settings improves children’s social skills, language development and willingness to try new foods, while creating predictable, nurturing routines.
Shared meals are not an add‑on; they are a daily pedagogical practice in cooperation, care, culture and ecology. What This Place Is
This is a cooperative learning commons where the primary “curriculum” is play, care and shared work, held within a democratic structure owned by its members. Children are not “pupils” enrolled in a service; they are co‑owners of the space alongside their parents and caregivers.
During the day, play is the main activity: loose‑parts play, outdoor exploration, construction, storytelling, art, gardening, cooking and digital projects emerge from children’s interests rather than a fixed timetable. Adult roles are to scaffold, protect and extend play, drawing on evidence that guided play – where adults design environments and prompts but children lead the activity – supports deeper and more transferable learning than either unstructured free play alone or tightly scripted lessons. This place is also a working community hub:
Families cook, prepare and share meals together every day, using family‑style dining to model turn‑taking, conversation, mutual care and healthy eating. Parents and carers can work on‑site (for example on laptops in shared workspaces) or off‑site, with the understanding that other co‑op members are present and holding the space for the children. How Cooperation Works
Membership is organised through a CIC and a fully mutual co‑operative that collectively stewards the building, utilities, food systems and transport infrastructure.
Membership of the CIC through a subscription, which funds core costs (building, energy, utilities, food, transport administration) and underwrites the co‑op’s operations. Membership of the co‑op, which holds democratic control over how resources are allocated and how the learning commons runs. There is no direct fee “per child per session”; instead, the community functions as a mutual buyers’ network: The co‑op procures food, energy, transport and building services collectively, reducing costs through shared purchasing and using any surplus to deepen access and equity. Members decide together how to balance affordability, accessibility and sustainability, drawing on evidence from cooperative schools that parent participation can successfully blend governance, volunteering and professional roles. Responsibilities are shared through rota and affinity‑based teams: Cooking, cleaning, repairs, governance, pedagogy and administration are organised into working groups that include parents, staff and (age‑appropriately) children. This mirrors collaborative models that recognise parents and educators as holders of different but equal expertise. Learning Through Play: Our Evidence Base
This manifesto explicitly asserts that play is not a break from learning; it is the means through which children construct knowledge, identity and community.
Developmental and educational research shows that: Play supports language, literacy, numeracy, self‑regulation and social competence when environments are rich, responsive and child‑led. Guided play, where adults set up meaningful, playful contexts with clear learning affordances, yields equal or better outcomes than traditional, adult‑led instruction in domains such as early maths and shape knowledge. Holistic benefits of play‑based environments include: Greater sense of belonging and security, which in turn supports risk‑taking, experimentation and resilience. Integration of physical, emotional and cognitive growth, as children coordinate movement, speech, imagination and problem‑solving in a single activity. Family‑style meals and shared domestic work deepen this learning: Children practising serving, pouring, sharing food and participating in table conversation develop fine motor skills, self‑regulation, empathy and communication. Regular shared meals are associated with improved social development and, over time, stronger educational engagement and outcomes. In this commons, play extends beyond childhood: adults experiment with new forms of work, cooperation and mutual aid, modelling for children that learning, care and economic life can be organised differently.
Governance, Inclusion and Accountability
This cooperative schooling concept is explicitly anti‑hierarchical and anti‑extractive, designed to redistribute power and resources towards community control.
One member–one vote in the co‑op, with reserved structures to centre children’s voices and protect marginalised families. Transparent decision‑making, open books and participatory budgeting for all major spending, including food, utilities and building works. CIC subscriptions are set through democratic process, with solidarity mechanisms (sliding scales, cross‑subsidy, external grants) to prevent exclusion by income. The co‑op actively seeks participation from families who have been underserved or harmed by conventional schooling, recognising that diverse knowledges and experiences are essential to a rich learning commons. Accountability and safeguarding: Clear, co‑created agreements on behaviour, consent, conflict resolution and safety, adapted to a play‑centred, communal environment and regularly reviewed. External relationships (for example with local authorities, inspectors or funders) are managed in ways that protect the autonomy of the commons while ensuring statutory responsibilities are met. This is a living document. It invites families, educators, children and allied organisations to treat education as a shared, cooperative project: to learn, eat, care and decide together, and to use the CIC‑and‑co‑op structure to turn everyday life into a regenerative, educational commons.
