Charlotte Church faces investigation over claims she is illegally teaching children at her home

Singer had announced plans to open a school in her home earlier this week

Charlotte Church (Getty)

Charlotte Church could be investigated over claims she is illegally operating a school within her home without legal permission.

The singer announced earlier this week that she was planning on opening up a school, named The Awen Project, within an annexe of her home in Dinas Powys, Wales that would cater to 20 local children between the ages of nine and 12.

But Church is now facing a probe after Glamorgan Council revealed they had received complaints alleging that Church had already begun teaching children at her home, despite not yet being granted planning permission for the school to operate.

Church has denied the claims, telling the Local Democracy Reporting Service that the annexe is currently being used for less than 12.5 hours a week by a part-time home schooling group, for which she has received approval.

“As far as I’m concerned I’m not aware of any breach of planning,” she said. “If the council want to look at what we’re doing we will welcome them with open arms. If there are any problems we will be completely compliant. This is a charity venture.”

Earlier this week, Church said that her home would serve as the grounds of the school only for its first year, claiming that it would be “beneficial to the community” and a space for children “who may have been struggling in mainstream education”. She also said she plans on being a music teacher at the school.

Dinas Powys Community Council have already objected to the plans, citing fears over traffic and noise, but Church is said to be appealing the decision.

In a statement setting out the mission of the school, Church said: ”Like all parents, I want to make the best choices for my children. I don’t want to choose a school for them where they will be lost amongst the crowd, or forcibly moulded into a shape I don’t recognise. I don’t want them to be part of an institution only wealthy people can access, or a school that views good GCSE results as their most important mission.

“I want them to go to a school where firstly they are allowed to be themselves, but secondly they are required to be an active part of a community. I want them to go to a school where they are given access to the tools they need to become healthy, informed and responsible members of a global society in a future that is going to require great things from them. I want them to go to a school where the teachers feel valued, are allowed to express their superpowers, and are not oppressed by a system that only sees results on a graph, and children as data.

“At The Awen Project we have this mission: to create a model of education that’s sustainable, adaptable and personalised. We believe that this education should be free and accessible. That is why the schools that The Awen Project creates will be possible to replicate around the world, not for our own profit but for the profit of the next generations.”

Church is currently awaiting the council’s decision.