More insights into TVED

So far, I have been very impressed by what I have experienced at TVED. Admittedly there are minor  frustrations: like the time keeping being somewhat flexible on occasion, but the whole set up and way things are run seems much healthier than the results-pressured, targets-driven, nothing-counts-but-academic-lessons, look-out-for-yourself-because-its-all-about-the-individual, environment that a lot of young people in the UK are forced to grow up in. Here, the ethos that education is about the whole person, and that the students need an environment where they can develop socially and spiritually, is not just lip-service, it is really lived. 

This poem tries to capture something of TVED's environment and ethos, as I have experienced it so far.

Teaching and learning, a space to grow
Values offered and shared
Education that encompasses the whole
Dare to expect each other to give their all

Time given, not counted
Voices found, and raised in song
Engage and enjoy

Dreaming and living the dream

Together, united in love and God

Vocation is more than a practical skill

Each other as part of one community

Doing the ordinary, extraordinarily well

Training for life

Vitality of being fully alive  

Energy of new opportunities

Doing, living, being