Decision Making by John Baker Introduction With two important referenda coming up this week in Ireland to decide on changes to the constitution it is a good time to think about how we make decisions in our country, our communities, our work, our families and our schools. In my last ,,blog post, I wrote about the democratic principles and practices of WCSS and the challenges and value they bring to our school. Today, I go into more detail as to how these work and why we think they are of such value to our students and the wider community. Here are two definitions that are useful to know wh ..read more

I came to Sudbury because mainstream education wasn't working out for me. I was having a difficult time finding the motivation to get out of bed each morning and go to mainstream school, and the days I did go in I would often come home at lunch and refuse to go back in. My mother had heard of the local Sudbury school from a friend of hers who had a child attending. We decided to give it a go for something different and hopefully more enjoyable. Since attending West Cork Sudbury School (WCSS), I have found getting up in the mornings easier even though I have to get up earlier. Learning Environm ..read more

The benefits of an inclusive, self-directed approach to education for students of all neurotypes by Kate Smith - WCSS Parent My family is most definitely neurodiverse! Over half of my relatives, my siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces and nephews and now my children have diagnoses of either dyslexia, dyspraxia, ADHD, autism or a combination of these. We certainly have our challenges navigating a world not always designed with us in mind. However we also have many strengths because we think differently, creatively and sometimes hilariously, solving problems in a multitude of interesting and ..read more

by Sinéad Cullen Take a moment to picture what an imaginative childhood looks like.  What are the surroundings?  What does an imaginative child get up to?  What words describe this? For me, the words that come up are freedom, spaciousness, exploration, open-ended play, and an element of risk. Growing up in the 70s in the Irish countryside with quieter roads my friends and I had the freedom to explore outside and on our own. Most of my childhood memories are of creating houses, and all sorts of worlds in the garden, local forests and in the tunnels underneath hedgerows. We were w ..read more

Schol Meeting & Morining Circles by John Baker The word democracy comes from the Greek words "demos", meaning people, and "kratos" meaning power; so democracy can be thought of as "power of the people": a way of governing which depends on the will of the people. Introduction West Cork Sudbury School (WCSS) is a democratic school. This means that our students and staff have a much greater say in the running of the governance of the organisation than most people are used to. Without getting into a lengthy critique of our current political system let us simply say that culturally we are out o ..read more

Big thanks to the Cammy at the Southern Star for the fabulous write up of Becky's birthday fundraiser. Read all about it below. You can donate to Becky's fundraiser on Facebook at this link ..read more

We had our first stall at Bantry Market today - so lovely to meet so many people interested in democratic, self-directed education! We're really grateful to everyone who visited our stall today, and to all of Annie King's hard work in making it happen. Especially the beautiful banner she has made! We hope to run the stall for the next few weeks, to raise funds for the school and raise awareness about what we do - you can find out all about our Plant a Tree project too. And, while we won't be able to hold the stall every week during the summer, we will give you some notice when we plan to be t ..read more

Southern Star Article Exchange students from the Clearwater Sudbury School in Seattle enjoying the views from the Coorycommane loop walk during their international exchange with the West Cork Sudbury School. West Cork Sudbury School has had the great opportunity to host a group from the Clearwater Sudbury School in Seattle, Washington, for ten days. The group of four students aged between 14 and 18, and one alumni, joined the school community for the week. It was a great opportunity to share ideas, compare schools and form friendships. Although new to Ireland, the original Sudbury school has ..read more

Spring 2023 open day is nearly here! Come and join us on Thursday 30th March, 12.30-2.30 at our West Cork Sudbury School in Coomhola. Find out about self-directed learning in a democratic school, where we value play and all types of intelligence. See some of the activities going on at the school and on field trips in the last few weeks in the images below. Come along and see for yourself! To give us an idea of numbers, we'd love if you'd register a free spot at one of these links: Eventbrite Facebook ..read more

https://youtu.be/uNAZrzG5y3c Sunday 9th February was a brilliant day for planting - with our terrific volunteers from WCSS and Future Forests. Anyone who's bought a tree recently - see them being planted below! And, if you haven't planted a tree yet, and want to find out more - here's how. Our next planting day is scheduled for March, during National Tree Week. Keep your eyes on our social media for updates ..read more