My name is Christina Quigley. I started Conkers Life in 2018 after spending over 18 years teaching in primary schools in the north-east of England and in Barcelona. Having been brought up on a working farm in County Durham all my life, I was fortunate to have access to the best playground ever – nature. For the last 20 years I have owned The Hagg, where Conkers Life is based, a fifty acre area of land bordered by the river Derwent, a beautiful rural setting located within the North East of England.
I have always wanted to link education with the land. Once my daughter was born in 2014 I knew that the time had come for me to make that dream a reality. I started an outdoor parent and child group following some Rudolf Steiner principles and realised the need for families to have an alternative option which would provide a sense of community and offer early education. I completed my level three Forest School Leader qualification in 2017 and since then have enjoyed working with lots of families and their young children.
In 2018 I received planning permission to change an area of the farm over to education and amenity use, enabling me to start building an outdoor kindergarten, as well as expanding the forest school groups, the parent and child groups, as well as being available to provide a special outdoor venue for birthday parties and outdoor yoga sessions.
