about us
About Village Learning
Village Learning is a holistic education collective for ages 0-18.
We provide small group learning programs for homeschooling families and others seeking educational enrichment, in a range of learning areas including academic subjects, creative arts, outdoor education, play and social connection.
Our educators come from diverse holistic education backgrounds including Steiner, Reggio Emilia, Montessori, Big Picture Education, Nature Pedagogy, Coyote Mentoring and Deep Ecology, to name but a few and these elements are interwoven throughout our programs.
Village Learning is a wholesome, nurturing and inspiring place for children and their families to come together, creating a sense of place and belonging with like hearted community, strengthening relationships with other children and adult caregivers and providing group learning and play opportunities for homeschooling families and others looking to enrich their educational journey.
We are passionate about holistic education, theraputic parenting and healthy child development and love to support our community by offering parent centred educational workshops hosted but members of our community, special guest teachers and experts in their field.
Community connection is important to us and we gather throughout the year as a whole community, for special seasonal celebrations and events with the whole family.
We are a grass roots, not for profit, community initiative, coordinated by volunteer parents. Our Collective is funded entirely by our participating families, community grants and donations. We welcome donations from those who are passionate about intentional, holistic, alternative education and who would like to support what we are offering the community.
We are honoured to be serving our community in such a meaningful way and to be part of the educational journeys of so many wonderful children and their families.
We look forward to connecting with you in The Village soon!
Location
Village Learning Collective is set on a gorgeous 40 acre property in Vasse, Western Australia, 10 minutes from Busselton and easily accessible from other areas around the Southwest. We have families who come from Bridgetown, Balingup, Nannup, Donnybrook, Bunbury, Capel, Margaret River, Dunsborough and Augusta.
The property has a plethora of beautiful indoor and outdoor “classroom spaces” including a cosy barn style main school-house building, with kitchen and library, undercover indoor-outdoor learning areas, a beautiful garden with grassy picnic area, nature playground, labyrinth, bushland, dams, an olive grove, winter creek and more.
Our Collective is part of Commonplace Vasse. A member-based initiative and community container, that supports holistic and conscious education, community engagement, contribution, regenerative agriculture and food production.
You can learn more about Commonplace Vasse here
Our Team
Marja, Village Learning Founder
Marja is Village Learnings Founder and dedicated mother and teacher to her two children, Laec 13 and Ever 12.
She is passionate about creating intentional opportunities for children (and adults) to connect, create, contribute and learn together and has been devoted to creating group learning opportunities and community since she began formally teaching her children at kindy age. She has coordinated and run various educational co-ops, groups and initiatives over the last 10 years.
Marja has been deeply inspired by Charlotte Masons work and philosophy, with its rich, holistic, meaningful, relationally focused and life giving approach to parenting and education, and she uses this as the foundation for her family’s homeschooling.
Marja lives in Cowaramup with her partner Andrew, two children, dog Zali, horse, guinea pigs and chickens. She loves spending time in nature, gardening, crafting, cooking, keeping hearth & home, nurturing relationships and building community.
Kate, Kindy, Lower & Upper Primary Educator
Kate is our wonderful and muti-skilled Kindy, Lower Primary and Upper Primary Educator. She is passionate about nature connection and is skilled in art and handicrafts, and incorporates both of these elements into her teaching.
Kate is an advocate for Steiner Education and Interest Led Learning and her programs are a beautiful combination of these educational pedagogies.
Kate has taught in various educational settings from mainstream classrooms, Steiner schools and has also homeschooled her own children (now graduated). Her rich teaching background and experience as a mother is reflected in her confidence, capacity, adaptability and care as a wonderful teacher for our lucky VLC children
In her spare time Kate loves horse riding, crafting and spending time with family.
Andrew, Upper Primary Educator
Andrew is our passionate and inspiring Upper Primary Thursday Program educator. He has a background in Steiner education, Coyote mentoring, Camp leadership, wilderness discovery and deep ecology.
He is passionate about building nature-connected communities, particularly in creating pathways for people to claim their true place in the world. He believes that building meaningful relationships with nature and the people in our lives, are essential building blocks to living a purposeful life.
Since joining the Village Learning Collective and leading the Upper Primary Rewild Program (affectionately known as the Dingoes!) he has forged many rich memories with the Dingoes - from epic capture the flag battles to investigating the tiniest flower, from explorations of our wild coast coast to crafting beautiful seasonal nature mandalas.
Having been committed to nature connection work for nearly a decade, He is very grateful and excited to be part of our vibrant Village Learning Collective and its strong values of connection and community.
Andrew lives in Margaret River with his partner Angela, two stepsons Callum and Tate, daughter Ayla and dog Nala.
He looks forward to seeing you out on country soon!
Jean-Michel, Adolescent Educator
Jean-Michel teaches a number of our Wednesday Specialist Adolescent Classes and is a passionate Steiner educator with a wealth of knowledge in various subject areas.
Jean-Michel has been involved in management as well as in adult and secondary education for the past thirty years – predominantly in Steiner education.
He has a range of interests spanning politics, meditation and mindfulness, spirituality and religion, yoga, philosophy and mathematics, reading in general, bushwalking, socialising and discussions.