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The Lodge is our community for home educated young people aged 10-14 (increasing to 16), and is based in the beautiful market town of Saffron Walden. It is open from 10-3pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays during term time. Over time the age range will increase to 16, and the number of days we are open will increase too.
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We are based in the market town of Saffron Walden, and the Lodge has an 'open door' approach where we see our community space as both the base where we meet, and the landscape of the town and everything it has to offer. Each person's experience of the day is unique to them, depending on how they choose to use their time. You can see some pictures from the Lodge here.
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Frame for the Day
We have a 'frame for the day', which looks like: the opening meeting, lunch break, reflection time, and the closing meeting. Everyone comes together for those times at our base. The rest of the day is free for people use in the way they want.
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10-10.10am: Arrive and settle in.
10.10-10.25: Opening meeting
10.25-12: Plans for the day plus access to the Lodge resources and the town.
12-1pm: Lunch (packed lunch or go into town to buy lunch)
1-2.30: Plans for the day plus access to the Lodge resources and the town.
2.30-2.45: Reflection Time
2.45-3pm: Closing meetings and pick up.
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Plans for the Day: Activities proposed in the closing meeting form the next week's plans. This can include anything suggested by members of the community. Participation in the Plans for the Day is optional, though everyone in the community is welcome to join - throughout the day people can choose to be entirely independent in what they do, and not participate in any of the Plans for the Day, and/or instigate their own activities.
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Regular features in the plan include:
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Wild Time
Time out in nature! We have the Audley End estate on our doorstep. Pack a tarp and blanket, hot chocolate, and head out to the trees!
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Community Lunch
We regularly host community lunch - we choose what to cook, do the shopping, then make a delicious lunch to share with a special guest invited from the local community. Our guests so far have included the Mayor of Saffron Walden, Boo the Barber, John, the Minister at the Baptist Church, Jenny the Collections Officer at the Museum, Sarah who looks after the Gibson Library and a group of young people visiting from a democratic school in Germany!
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Work Towards Projects and Expo
We have Expos - chances for members of the community to share back to everyone something they have been exploring or have created. Leading in to that, there are 'work towards' projects taking place in the community where an interest, theme or objective is explored over time. We recently installed a special exhibition called Hidden Histories in Saffron Walden Museum as a result of one of our work towards projects.
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Discord
We have Discord server set up for the Lodge community so we can stay in touch about plans for the week, store photos, and track projects.
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Resources:
Resources at our base include: wifi, card and board games, a piano, pool table, fidget toys, knitting and friendship bracelet threads, paper and painting materials, and a fully equipped kitchen.
Resources out and about:
The town offers loads of options including two playgrounds, the market, a labyrinth, maze, and beautiful public gardens, a library, castle ruins, museum, weekly market and all types of shops.
To enquire about a place at the Lodge, please email us at: hello@downatthecabin.com
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