A Visit to Rekindle London: ReImagining Education

We were thrilled to recently welcome Ashoka UK & Ireland and a group of influential allies to our new Rekindle London school in Tulse Hill. It was an invitation to see what education can look like when young people are trusted to lead.

The day centred around a CHANGE session designed and delivered by our youth workers Joshua and Nyaling, with support from Rekindle founder Ruth, Co-Chair Jesse Williams, and National Head of Learning Rory Dickinson. Guests were also introduced to Romeo and Ishan, two of our brilliant Youth Pioneers, who shared their thoughts on the education system.

Throughout the visit, we explored some of the key questions at the heart of Rekindle’s mission:

• Who decides what’s taught?
  
• Whose knowledge counts?
  
• What does success really mean?
  

This was about more than tweaking the current system. It was about reimagining it from the inside out, rooted in community, shaped by lived experience and powered as always, by critical thinking.

As the session closed, we invited guests to write protest cards reflecting how they believe education must change. The words they left behind were thoughtful, urgent and full of hope, for example:

Systems created to educate children in 1850, don’t adequately serve children born in 2015. Shift the system now!

and

Parents: Find your voice! Speak your power!

and

Teach to think: Not memorize

Rekindle is living proof that a different approach is not only possible, but already happening -right here in South London. Thank you to Ashoka for visiting Rekindle London and taking the time to listen, learn, and engage with our young pioneers.

Find out more about our Rekindle London here