Welcome to The Oaks Learning Hub & Community
Founded in August 2023, The Oaks Learning Hub is a supportive community for home-educated children aged 6-14, with Nurture Clubs for children aged 10-16. We believe every child deserves an education that meets their needs and interests.
Co-founders Anna Waters and Louise Walker are passionate about creating a welcoming space that offers somewhere home-educators can rely on to support their children's education from KS2 to GCSE. With their combined skills and experience, they aim to support both children and families on their home-educating journeys.
We are based at Greatham Village Hall in the village of Greatham near Liss in Hampshire. Our venue has a large and bright hall with a second learning room and a kitchen, an enclosed garden, acres of playing fields and woodland and a brand-new wooden play area - allowing the children plenty or space to move and explore indoors and out.
Take a look at some photos of what we've been up to in our space!
What We've Been Up To
Where it All Began
The Oaks Learning was born in October 2022 when two curious parents and business-women, Anna Waters and Louise Walker met for a coffee - Louise exploring alternative educational pathways for her daughter, and Anna at a crucial stage in the development of her educational support services for home-educating families. What started as a coffee-date and a business-idea on a napkin, shortly turned into a journey of discovery and friendship fuelled by a common goal to offer their children something different, and so The Oaks Learning Community was born.
Our Team
Anna Waters
Co-Founder and Lead Facilitator
Anna brings with her an extensive teaching background alongside specialist experience of SEN and a talent for gentle, playful learning techniques to support children's love of learning and will be leading the development of our curriculum and provision at The Oaks,
Anna is a experienced home-educating mum of 2 boys and successful business woman, running a number of Teen home-education communities in Surrey and West Sussex.
Louise Walker
Co-Founder and Strategic Support
Louise is an experienced Marketing and Business Mentor. She will bring her background and organisation to manage the day-to-day business whilst overseeing the Strategy direction and Vision for The Oaks.
Louise is a home-educating mum of 2 girls with lots of personal experience of parenting children with neuro-diversity and knowledge of children's developmental psychology and Aware Parenting.
James Shearsmith
Outdoor Learning Lead and Facilitator
James is an experienced Teacher, Forest School Leader and has been working internationally in Asia with topic-based learning. A great match for our provision.
Photo pending for our newest member of the team!
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Rachel Ross
Assistant Facilitator
Rachel has many years of experience in education, is also a home-educating mum and has been working most recently at a local primary school.
She currently supports our youngest children with their phonics. writing and maths skills and is a valued member of the team on our curriculum days.
Vision Statement
We envision a society where choice and consent are valued as essential elements of education for all children. We believe every child should have the opportunity to learn in a way that respects their individuality and fosters their natural curiosity.
Mission Statement
Our mission is to provide a nurturing and flexible learning environment that meets the diverse needs of home-educated children and their families. By offering a creative, child-centered approach, we aim to empower children to thrive through meaningful learning experiences that prioritise their well-being and personal growth.
Interested in joining The Oaks team?
Do you have a passion for working creatively with children? Are you a whizz at supporting learning to happen in a safe and nurturing space? Do you love the great outdoors and Forest School?
We're always interested to hear from anyone that may be interested in volunteering or working with us here at The Oaks, and are actively looking for sessional facilitators and talented adults to support with enrichments and on an ad-hoc basis.
If you'd like to join the team in any of these capacities, please send us your CV and an email to theoakslearning@gmail.com