The Otherwise Club (TOC) has evolved out of a small club at one parent's house in which children who were being educated out of school were able to work together on projects. We eventually had to find a bigger place to satisfy demand.
TOC premises are at The Carlton Centre in Kilburn where we hire a hall for two days a week. It is a place where the whole family can learn and socialise together as well as receive practical support. We have no funding but charge each family £100 per year to cover the cost of rent. Our premises are very good and we have use of a pottery and woodwork room as well as a big hall, kitchen and outdoor space. We started running some paid workshops on top of the entry fee to the club.
We now have two regular workshops running on a weekly basis - pottery and drama. There are three age groups doing drama classes.
With older children in mind, another initiative just getting off the ground is a limited apprenticeship scheme for the 11 to 16 year olds. We have contacted Robin Dean, who runs the Apprentice-Master Alliance scheme. We hope our first young person will soon be starting to work with a recycling artist one day a week. We are also asking parents and friends to help by offering to take a young person for half to one day a week for a limited period to show them what they do.
Leslie Barson, TOC, 1 Croxley Road, London W9 3HH (tel 0181 969 0893).
An e-mail group had been set up by Jerry Mintz (AERO, 417 Roslyn Rd, Roslyn Heights, NY 11577; tel 516 621 2195; e-mail: <jmintz@igc.apc.org>). Homeschoolers and others from around the world have already joined. From Russia there is The School for Self-Determination <seldet@glas.apc.org>; from the UK the Park Krishnamurti School <scott@brockwood.win-uk.net>; and in the US well-known alternative schoolers such as Home Education Magazine <hegener@aol.com>; the Sudbury Valley School <sudval@aol.com>;and Pat Farenga of Holt Associates <holt_gws@aol.com> are among those one makes contact with by joining.
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