After months of hard work, Juliet is delighted to let you know about her latest course – CAVE School (trademark pending). This is a truly unique course, both within the UK and internationally. This is the only CAVE School qualification of its kind available.

Why CAVE School?

Whilst Forest School, Beach School, Bush School and other outdoor qualifications are now readily available, CAVE School is different. Not everyone feels ready to embrace the outdoors. CAVE School is a halfway combination affording you the shelter of a cave, the adventure of caving and potholing and the deep personal journey of finding your inner caveman,  woman or other gender identity. It is based upon our ancestral connections to the land and into the earth, that span millennia.

Who is it for?

CAVE School will appeal to many people from all walks of life. However, it will particularly suit those looking to develop their leadership skills in an outdoor context. This is achieved through a special blend of stalactite (top down) and stalagmite (bottom up) approaches. Thus it is ideal for participants wishing to use the course, not only to develop leadership in others but also as part of their own route to management and leadership positions in education, business and other fields.

It is also aimed at teachers and early years practitioners who wish to support children as leaders of their learning in an outdoor context – taking a unique “Being, belonging and becoming cave brave” approach. This is modelled upon the work of Dr Suzanne Zeedyk who has written and presented extensively about Sabre Tooth Tigers and Teddy Bears.

Finally, as the caves provide shelter, protection and a safe space, Juliet believes it could be a form of therapy for agoraphobics. She is seeking contacts in the NHS to explore this aspect of CAVE School as a pilot project.

We all walk in the dark and each of us must learn to turn on his or her own light.  ~Earl Nightingale

Course outline

Introductions – the dangling conversation rope access icebreaker

CAVE School theory, with specific reference to:

• The Weak Candle Theory, first proposed by Niki Buchan
• Creating Columns – the perfect cave conditions for leadership to thrive
• Personal excavations and exploring the Yin and Yan  – the lighter and darker side of your personality
• Adventure attachment theory – child development theory about  connecting with babies through coiled rope to replace the umbilical cord.
• Caving in and the pothole theory
• Wolf companion theory

CAVE School Know-how

• Being ACE-aware (Awful Cave Experiences) and how to support children through rockfalls, floods, slime walls and lower oxygen levels in caves.
• Mining rights and sponsorship deals – finding gold and mineral extraction as supplementary income: advice for cave owners
• Key cave rituals including cave painting, fire work and traditional community building activities
• Cave ecology with a special focus on bat conservation, caves as habitats, and the microclimatology of caves.
• Cave curriculum including festivals of light, prehistoric links, Batman as a leader, living like the Flintstones, shadow investigations, ghost story telling, developing your echo location skills, etc. (NB Juliet does not promote, practice or advocate learning dark arts, under any circumstances)
• How to find and explore a cave, healthy and safety, basic cave rescue techniques, knots and tools that can be used in the dark.

Ancient life and death pursuits

A key element of the course is a day spent hunting for a deer, killing it, eating the meat and tanning your own deer skin to wear. This is a core part of the Level 3 assessment. The deer skin is your CAVE School certification and will be branded accordingly using Bronze Age techniques.

Vegetarians and vegans may, in exceptional circumstances, be excused from this part of the course if the following conditions are met:

• Evidence of genuine commitment to vegan or vegetarianism, through presentation of life membership of either The Vegetarian or Vegan Society.
• Creation of an “No Deer” cave suit made from locally grown plant fibres

Note: Fake furs and fun hides, woolly jumpers or yoghurt-knitted creations are not accepted. The deer hunt takes place on a conservation estate in Highland Scotland where deer are culled annually for environmental reasons and to allow the Caledonian Pine Forests to flourish. So the deer are going to die anyway.

24-hr Cave Retreat

The course ends with a cave retreat where participants spend an entire day and night alone in a cave.

CAVE school career paths

Following successful completion of the CAVE School Level 3 course and assessments, participants will have:

Improved leadership skills

No caving in, seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, lighting the fire within others and spreading the warmth throughout your organisation.

People are like stained-glass windows.  They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in their true beauty is revealed only if there is light from within.  ~Elisabeth Kübler-Ross

Qualified to set up CAVE School or Kindy CAVE School

Simon Nicholson specifically mentions caves in his Theory of Loose Parts  (p4) “The study of children and cave-type environments only becomes meaningful when we consider children not only being in a given cave but also when children have the opportunity to play with space-forming materials in order that they may invent, construct, evaluate and modify their own caves.”

With the 2020 childcare expansion in Scotland, Juliet has been trialling special cave sessions for our youngest children aged 3-5 years with exceptionally encouraging results. She now has a franchise opportunity for any individual or organisation wishing to develop this form of childcare. It’s hardly a new idea. Juliet acknowledges our ancestors as the traditional custodians of the caves in which we work. She has added a unique blend of ancient and modern approaches to childcare based upon studying the practices used by our predecessors and indigenous groups.

“I was totally in the dark about the 1140 hours and what this meant. CAVE School has helped me see the light at the end of the tunnel. I know where I’m going with my ELC practice.” Y. Knott, SEYP.

Cave events

As well as being able to run CAVE School, qualified Level 3 practitioners can also run CAVE parties, play in the dark days even at midsummer(!) and other exciting enterprises. You are only limited by your imagination.

Costs and Commitments

CAVE School is a Level 3 OCN* accredited qualification. In Scotland it can be undertaken as an SVQ** Level 3. The cost is a highly competitive £1024 (exc. VAT) directly payable to Creative STAR Learning Ltd. This includes:

• 8 days of training – as outlined above
• 2 assessment days which includes a site visit from Juliet Robertson to assess your CAVE School competences at your cave.
• 2 day specially created paediatric caving first aid course designed to cover injuries specific to this unique environment, including how to do CPR and other first aid in poor light or dark conditions.
• The assessment and marking of your portfolio that you will have put together as part of the ongoing coursework. It is expected that you will take between six months and one year to undertake this aspect of the CAVE School qualification.
• Whilst not necessary to complete the CAVE School qualification, participants are also encouraged to join a unique CAVE Cooking course as part of the cyclical process of hunting, killing, cooking and using all parts of a wild animal.

*Other College Network and **Some Vocational Qualification

Dare to reach out your hand into the darkness, to pull another hand into the light.  ~Norman B. Rice

No Cave No Problem

Whilst a cave is the best place to deliver CAVE School, Juliet takes a flexible approach which ensures the course meets your specific context. One part of the training addresses the following issues:

DIY cave creations:  snow holes, igloos and the traditional art of stone walling to build cleats and cave-like shelters. If you work with very young children, we also support the concept of pop up caves for especially for those who only have a concrete jungle or fake grass in their outdoor space. However, Juliet suggests this is only a temporary approach to get going rather than a long term solution. She also advocates “micro caves” starting with miniature cave creations and expanding your cave dimensions as your confidence increases. In addition, Juliet is also designing a special burrow-type cave for using in loose materials such as bark chip, ensuring a naturalised environment for all children in line with Space to Grow guidance.

For environmental reasons, the dynamiting of cliff faces to create an artificial cave is not encouraged.

Further training to supplement CAVE School

• Potholing and advanced cave rescue
• Prehistoric bushcraft – knives and knapping,
• An introduction to braille (for speed reading in the dark)
• Dark maths days: A masterclass that builds upon the Messy Maths book written by CAVE School founder, Juliet Robertson
• Jedi Master introductory training

CAVE School Kit

Juliet is currently in negotiations with education product suppliers to seek a variety of kits for CAVE School. Please be prepared to buy or put together the following items:

Wind up torch, candle lantern, high-vis vest – 10 pk inc adults, fire-lighters,  flint, cosy rug, drip-drop bucket, rope, karabiners, descenders, glow-in-the-dark sticks, glow stones, bat boxes (specifications are locally determined). A sensory Cosy Cave kit is also available.

Sign up today

Or rather don’t… it’s an April Fool’s blog post which I hope you enjoyed reading! Thanks to all who engaged in the good humoured banter on social media around the concept.

Special discount today only – 1st April 2019 only – quote: AF 00L

Rather light a candle, than complain about the dark – Chinese Proverb