To ask you about schools with ‘alternative’ educational philosophies?

[peepeelongstocking]

Not really an AIBU, but I love reading about these schools. So far I’ve read about:

• A. S. Neill’s Summerhill
• Steiner/Waldorf schools
• the London Acorn school
• Sands
• Bedales
• New Forest small school (and other ‘small schools’)
• Montessori

Any other interesting ones? They’re my current obsession

Michaela schools really divide opinion too

The St James schools have a distinct ethos and philosophy, but are becoming a more mainstream than they were. Worth a look. There is a prep, and senior boys and girls.

I did a little bit about te whariki in uni, quite interesting

Ooh Reggio Emilia too, a lot of UK thoughts on child development and building relationships were inspired by what they did there.

Maharishi school, Lancashire

Kimichi school

Summerhill fascinates me! Would never send my kids there though!

Lumiar Stowford

A girl came to our middle school from a Waldorf school aged 10.

She couldn’t read.

These are all so interesting!

@PaxMalmKallax I wouldn't either, but I've built up a nice little collection of every Summerhill-related book I could find :,)

@VestaTilley I hear such divisive opinions on Waldorf/Steiner schools, people either sing their praises or find them awful!

I went to a Steiner school for a while. My friend has kids at one (different country). Had a great time and so do my friends kids.

They divide opinion but one child not being able to read doesn’t define the system. What I will say, is that lazy parents really get away with it at Steiners. There were some kids in my class whose parents were into ‘free parenting’ and they were nightmares! They were eventually asked to leave the school though

I have lived with an ex Steiner. In my opinion, she was cheated out of a basic education. Is also an Indigo child which has left her hopelessly deluded abut her skills and talents and basic knowledge of how the world works. Wants to be an environmentalist but refutes biology. All of it as it is ‘science’.

brockwood.org.uk/

From their website:
Begin by taking away punishment and reward. No grades, no comparison, no competition, no prizes. Assist each student to create their own programme of studies that challenges and extends them. Encourage them to take on projects and develop portfolios that are excellent. Give them the space and freedom to make mistakes and don’t judge them when they do. Nurture the spark they have, so that they discover their talent and what it is they love to do. Support them in passing exams if they wish, but don’t forget that there is more to life than acquiring knowledge and testing it – that kind of knowledge is always limited and always measureable, whilst life is unlimited and immeasurable. Do this in an atmosphere of friendly equality and you have what Brockwood Park School offers: learning that opens eyes to the whole of life.

I like tthe sound good f that @Chienloup

Some great suggestions here. Interesting reading.

The Steiner schools do divide opinion. I have a friend who teaches in one and is a true devotee.

I'm also fascinated by Summerhill. I first read about it when I was at a very old fashioned girls school and it sounded idyllic in comparison. Now I'm a parent, I view it quite differently!

I've spent a lot of time studying Charlotte Mason education, but I'm not sure how "alternative" it is.

Steiner schools have something of a reputation for rigidity and not dealing with abusive situations - the better one runs seem to have a looser interpretation. A German friend of mine said that a lot of things English people like about Steiner schools - the nice materials, focus on nature etc - are really just very German, it's the theosophy that's particular to Steiner.

@EmmaGrundyForPM

The Steiner schools do divide opinion. I have a friend who teaches in one and is a true devotee.

I'm also fascinated by Summerhill. I first read about it when I was at a very old fashioned girls school and it sounded idyllic in comparison. Now I'm a parent, I view it quite differently!

Me too! I read the book about Summerhill when I was in high school, and I thought it sounded very cool. Now a lot of it horrifies me.

My children went to St Christopher's in Letchworth, slightly alternative, vegetarian, children get to vote on lots of things, but they do also get a reasonably mainstream education.
King Alfred School in North London is slightly alternative, very child centered, loved by actors and TV personalities, but tricky to get in!

I know two Steiner-educated adults (educated in the 1980s/1990s). One is ridiculously successful, lovely man, well-rounded, articulate. The other is a weirdo drop-out conspiracy theorist. Go figure.

That Brokwood School description sounds exactly like my kids school. Very child-led.

My kids are currently in a Montessori middle school (they'd be year 7 in the UK), it wasn't Montessori when we put them in, but it got bought out a year ago, its previous ethos was similar in some ways but less rigid. We went with the school because we dislike the conformist nature of mainstream state education with its emphasis on turning out skilled workers & the pressurized test environment and this school promised to be evidence based in its approach and emphasize meta education, teacher empowerment and social-emotional learning. For the most part its done what we wanted but maths has been really poor and we're looking at ways to shore that up.

I'm not super keen on Montessori after infants, though I think it can work well for a few kids. In general I think it puts its philosophy above the evidence that kids learn in different ways and ends up failing too many kids. Some of its practices are a bit hookie. But I like that it treats education as much more than a way to serve the economy and indoctrinate the next generation, it empowers teachers, it doesn't use a high pressure environment and the focus on social-emotional learning is particularly great.

One big problem with Montessori schools where I am (not UK) even at infants is that so many of them use the name but don't have a deep Montessori skill base in their teaching staff. So it's hard to know for sure how much is the method and how much is poor practice, but it's changed very little in over a hundred years and that fact alone makes me sceptical about it as an approach. We won't be looking for a Montessori school for High school when our kids age out of this one.

www.hightechhigh.org/

I believe High Tech High in San Diego, Ca USA, was funded and envisaged by Bill Gates and a team of educators and entrepreneurs. Definitely a different way of doing things, hands on, no paper, experiments and projects. There’s a list to get in with a lottery for places, and I think the scores and academics are good.

My son went to a Montessori primary school with true Montessori ethos and training and principles. He absolutely thrived. Sadly we had to move away and he never coped in mainstream.

There is a new school called Atelier 21 in Sussex which I think looks incredible.