Open Bench · Sessions

Six ways in, starting at one hour.

The full course is eight weeks. Most people should not start there. These are the shorter ways to find out whether this is for you — all free, all taught from the published curriculum, and most of them running whether two people come or twenty.

Why short formats exist

The curriculum has been public since October 2026 and no session has yet been taught. That is not modesty, it is a deadlock worth naming: the cohort starts when twelve students apply, and twelve students do not apply to a school that has never taught anybody.

So we are starting at the other end. A single free hour, a paper discussed properly, a clinic where you bring work you are stuck on. Nothing here asks for an eight-week commitment, a fee, a transcript or a recommendation letter. Come to one and decide.

Everything is taught from the same published lesson plans, reviewed by the same two physicians, under the same safeguarding rules. The short formats are not a watered down version of the course. They are the course, in pieces.

S-01

Runs regardless of turnout

Open Bench Live

One unit of the published curriculum, taught live, from the beginning. No prior session required and nothing to read beforehand. This is the front door: come once, decide whether the rest is for you.

For: Anyone aged 11 and up. Parents and teachers welcome to sit in.
Length: 60 minutes
Cadence: Monthly
Capacity: No cap
Next date: Not yet scheduled — register to be told first
Sessions held: 0

What you leave with

One mechanism you can draw from memory, on paper, without jargon.
A free tool open in your browser that you had not used before.
The slides and notes, published afterwards whether you attended or not.

What it costs us to run

Low. The unit already exists as a published lesson plan with a minute-by-minute run of show.

Open to drop in. Under-18s are welcome and an adult is present throughout.

S-02

Runs regardless of turnout

Paper Club

One paper from the Reading Room, read in advance, pulled apart together. We spend most of the time on the methods and on what the paper does not show, which is where the real education is.

For: Grades 9 and up, undergraduates, and adults. Mixed on purpose.
Length: 45 minutes
Cadence: Monthly
Capacity: No cap
Next date: Not yet scheduled — register to be told first
Sessions held: 0

What you leave with

A paper you have genuinely read rather than skimmed.
A written note of what it found, what it did not show, and what you would do next.
Practice saying “I do not think that follows” to a room.

What it costs us to run

Low. The paper, the plain-language summary, and the discussion questions are already on the Reading Room entry.

Open to drop in. Under-18s are welcome and an adult is present throughout.

S-03

Dossier Clinic

A working session, not a lecture. Bring an analysis you are stuck on and it gets critiqued against the same standard the Dossier Registry applies: is the method stated, is the data attached, is the claim the data supports the claim you made?

For: Grades 9–12 and undergraduates with a piece of work in progress.
Length: 90 minutes
Cadence: Twice monthly
Capacity: 8, so every piece of work gets real attention
Next date: Not yet scheduled — register to be told first
Sessions held: 0

What you leave with

Written critique of your own work from the instructor and from two peers.
A specific next step, not general encouragement.
A realistic read on whether the work is close to registry standard.

What it costs us to run

Medium. Each attendee's work has to be read before the session.

Under 18: a parent or guardian confirms in writing before the first session.

S-04

The eight-week cohort

The whole course, taught in order, ending in a capstone dossier that is reviewed and, with your guardian's consent, published under your name. This is the only format that produces a registry entry and a place on the teaching ladder.

For: Grades 6–8 on the Explorer track, grades 9–12 on the Builder track.
Length: Eight weekly sessions of one hour
Cadence: Starts when a compatible group forms
Capacity: 12 students
Next date: Not yet scheduled — register to be told first
Sessions held: 0

What you leave with

A published, citable dossier with your name on it.
The reviewer's written assessment, including anything they rejected.
An invitation to co-teach the next cohort if your capstone holds up.

What it costs us to run

High. Eight hours live plus review time, across eight weeks.

Under 18: a parent or guardian confirms in writing before the first session.

S-05

Runs regardless of turnout

Teacher Hour

How to teach Open Bench without us. We walk through one unit from the teacher's side: what to prepare, where students reliably get stuck, the misconception to expect, and what to do when a student asks something none of us can answer.

For: Teachers, librarians, and parents who want to run the curriculum themselves.
Length: 60 minutes
Cadence: Monthly
Capacity: 20
Next date: Not yet scheduled — register to be told first
Sessions held: 0

What you leave with

The full lesson plan, the slides, and the answer key, all CC BY so you may change them.
The suggested NGSS alignment, clearly labelled as our reading and not an endorsement.
A named contact for when something goes wrong mid-lesson.

What it costs us to run

Low, and it is the highest-leverage hour on this page. One teacher reaches more students in a year than we can.

Open to drop in. Under-18s are welcome and an adult is present throughout.

S-06

Runs regardless of turnout

Family Evidence Hour

Not a science class. We take the questions from our For Families page, walk through what the trials actually measured, and practise telling a real finding apart from a sales pitch. We give no medical advice and answer no questions about your own child.

For: Parents and carers of children with allergies or eczema. No science background assumed.
Length: 45 minutes
Cadence: Quarterly
Capacity: No cap
Next date: Not yet scheduled — register to be told first
Sessions held: 0

What you leave with

The four questions to ask of any claim about your child's health.
The citations, so you can hand them to your own clinician.
A clear sense of which questions genuinely have no answer yet.

What it costs us to run

Low. The content is the For Families page, which is already written and sourced.

Open to drop in. Under-18s are welcome and an adult is present throughout.

How we keep a schedule

Four rules that make a published schedule worth believing.

A free course run by a student has exactly one thing to trade on, which is whether it does what it said it would do.

Published sessions run

Where a format says it runs regardless, it runs on the date given even if one person comes. A school that cancels for low turnout never builds a turnout.

No date we have not committed to

A format with no date shows none. We would rather this page look sparse than announce a session and quietly drop it.

The notes are published either way

Slides, worked examples and the answer key go up after every session, free and reusable, so missing one costs you nothing but the conversation.

An adult is present, always

Every session involving under-18s has a second adult present and follows the published safeguarding rules. There is no one-to-one contact between the instructor and a student, ever.

Pick a format and register

One short form. No fee, no transcript, no essay. We write back either way, and if you are under 18 nothing proceeds until a parent or guardian has confirmed.