Why Magpie?

This project has been floating in my mind for an exceptionally long time, and for the majority of it’s existence has been referred to as THE THING. While it became an affectionate pet name for a work in progress, it doesn’t quite portray what I wanted(!).

Trying to name an educational offering, that I didn’t want to FEEL like a traditional educational offering, proved HARD - anything that came to mind that wasn’t twee or traditionally schoolifed, was already taken, used (or overused!), or really really… DULL!

I wish there was a nice little story I could tell you with some ‘it came to me in a dream’ epiphany moment, but alas. One day when the question of a name was REALLY bugging me, I simply spotted a Magpie feather on my bookshelf and it sparked - because across many cultures, they have some particularly lovely symbolism - and it just felt right.

So Magpies:

They are clever animals, very good problem solvers, and very adaptable - always learning - as we all should be.

Their black and white colouring is often seen as representing both the dark and light, the good and bad - and I hope this space will always show the same balance. Sharing different views and allowing our young people to think critically, and make up their own minds.

They have a penchant for collecting shiny things - just as I hope our learners will be able to collect ‘shiny’ nuggets of information as they explore each space.