Chapters

What is "Chapters"?

Chapters is a group for home educated children who love to read and who want to delve deeper into the stories they engage with. Each term we look at a new book and use it as a spring board to find out more about all sorts of topics from Geography and the environment and from Maths to Philosophy. We meet fortnightly to discuss what we have read so far and then to explore the key themes through active and engaging workshops lasting around 2 hours.

Is it only for excellent readers?

Not at all! We enjoy welcoming children of all abilities and skills sets to join in with our learning. Some of our students use audio-books to support them in accessing the text, some read independently and some read with support at home. There are opportunities throughout our learning sessions for children to choose which activities they complete as well as different options for how they present their learning.

What books do you read?

Previously we have read "Floodlands" by Marcus Sedgewick. We used this book to explore some local geography, think about environmental issues as well as considering issues around ethics and human rights. We have also read "The Iliad" and explored Ancient Greece. We found out about Just War Theory, explored different concepts of God, designed field medical packs for the Trojan War and considered the extent to which we are free to choose our actions. Last Christmas we explored Charles Dickens' classic "A Christmas Carol" and considered life in Victorian London, the language of flowers, why we fear the future, and how we might try to control it, had great fun trying to learn the Sir Robert de Coverley dance and much, much more. Currently, we are looking at War Horse and discovering more about the 1st World War, animal rights and probability.

Chapters is growing!

We are pleased to offer a new creative response session on Thursday afternoons after Chapters. This summer this will be a child led response to the play "A Midsummer Night's Dream" which will culminate in a celebration event to which friends and family will be invited. We are really excited to see what the children come up with and how they want to share their learning with us!

How do I join in?

Our next book will be "A Midsummer Night's Dream" by William Shakespeare.
There will be 7 led learning sessions in the Cathedral Centre per group on:
18 April, 2 May, 16 May, 30 May, 13 June, 27 June & 11 July

Celebration of Learning - 25 July from 4pm
(children arrive sooner depending on the set up they need)

Each place on the book study costs £55 and includes all learning sessions, a copy of the book, a reading diary and all the resources we use during the learning session. Book study sessions will take place in the Cathedral Centre between 10.00am and 12.00pm. Places can be booked by emailing* learning@elycathedral.org

Each place on the creative response sessions costs £35 for the term. These sessions take place in the Cathedral Centre between 1pm and 3pm. Those children who are also attending the book study sessions are very welcome to stay and use the Cafe space for lunch. It is not essential to do the creative response sessions as well as the book study sessions, but it isn't possible to do the creative response sessions without the book study.

This group is best suited to readers aged 9/10+ and we will make sure that the resources help all children access the text, everyone is welcome regardless of their individual skills set and learning preferences. If you have any questions about next term, please contact us at learning@elycathedral.org

Places will be very limited next term as the group size is capped at 25 to ensure that everyone enjoys an excellent learning experience.

*Please note that booking is now closed for Chapters this Summer.
We will be releasing details of our Autumn Term programme in July so please do check this page and Ely Cathedral Learning on Facebook to stay up to date.
Bookings for the Autumn Term will open on 23rd July and close on 30 July 2024.