Summerhill Part One– School Tour and Informal Discussion

Last week two friends and I had an opportunity to visit a lovely school in Suffolk called Summerhill School. Founded in 1921 by a visionary named A.S. Neil, the school is one of the first of its kind. Formerly described as a ‘free school’ and increasingly called a (more reserved and respectable) ‘democratic school’, it is one of the few institutions in the world that practices an educational model where students are strong decision makers in the running of their school and, in effect, their lives.

As we approach the office, we see a view of the very pretty school building, and the path that curves and leads up to it. There is a sign that makes me smile. It says, ‘Beware! Children Playing!’. 

Above - The happy signpost
Left - The main school building

 

There are other smaller signs in the office, asking visitors not to take anybody’s photographs without their permission, to not go into children’s living spaces or touch their belongings, etc. The visitors (we are among the many who have come on this Open Day) are comprised of interested parents, curious educators and enthusiastic teachers - some wanting to enlist their children, some to join the school, and some to start similar models elsewhere. As the visitors slowly start interacting, a few teenagers walk up to us and ask us to divide into groups for a tour of the school.

We’re assigned to two charming young lads who lead us in. As we walk around we notice children on bicycles, skateboards, swings and some of the youngest ones on a trampoline! There are unicycles lying around in a couple of places too. Many children are wandering about (it happens to be an absolutely lovely, sunny day) and give us friendly smiles.

It is a very informal tour. The boys chat with us, tell us where they live, what they like. We’re taken to the woodcarving studio where students can make anything from little shields and swords to chairs (even the skateboard ramp outside has been made by a student with the woodcarving incharge’s help!), to the science rooms, past the lunch area to the meeting room (which was then empty and housed a table tennis table), art rooms and a small common room for the children to relax and read or just hang out. 

Above - Indoor hang-out room for 9 to 12 year olds stocked with games and reading material
Below - Science rooms for all classes

As we walk outside, a passing teacher calls out to us, laughing, “Don’t listen to them! They’re just children!” at which our two teenagers grin mischievously! They show us the swimming pool (which needs cleaning, and the students would help with that), the Big Beech – their largest tree, which has a huge ladder built onto it and rope to swing on (“But we don’t go there much, there are many rules about it”), and the many swings and benches all around.

Above - Skateboarding ramp made as a woodwork project
Below - The Big Beech and our two young guides

After the little tour of the school, we speak to one of the teachers who has been at Summerhill for about 12 years. We also get to see the Law Book, which has about 200 laws that the children follow. (“There are some silly laws, too,” says our teenage tour guide, with a chuckle “So sometimes we get rid of them if everybody agrees we don’t need  them”) There are rules like ‘You are allowed a lie-in on your birthday’ or ‘16 year olds are allowed out till 8pm’. Most laws can be changed or modified by the students in the meetings, by majority vote.  The teacher explains how things work, what students learn, how other schools find it difficult to follow these concepts. This is also more of a discussion, with the visitors asking all sorts of things, including how often children are allowed to go out, whether they have compulsory lessons, how many choose to attend the meetings, how do they handle violence (“We haven’t even had a fist fight” says the 13 year old student who is joining the discussion), what if a child doesn’t want to do anything at all, and many more.

Above and below right - Art room and
indoor area for games and books

The teacher answers it all in a wonderful spirit, laughing and joking as he enters the finer points of the discussion. “Our textbooks are designed to keep 30 or more children busy,” he says, when asked about how children manage to study if they spend so much time at play, “So they have a lot of repetition within them, there are examples and many problems to solve. But once you get rid of all the extra bits, it’s really quite simple and do-able”. And play is always a type of study, he insists. The conversation veers to flaws in the existing educational models the world over. The Finnish system is mentioned, as are other schools that are trying similar things. However the world is yet to catch up. Summerhill was radical in 1921 and it is radical even now. “I call it a problem of educational religion,” says the teacher, talking about why this may be, “where you believe (and are scared by being told) that success is economic heaven and failure, economic hell.”

As the teacher speaks to us, the teenage girl (who will later chair the school meeting) sits next to him completely at home as if it is a family discussion she is sitting in on. The few times she does speak, her manner betrays a sense of confidence and wisdom, but most of all, a deep love for her school. We break for lunch after this, and are to reconvene in the meeting room to witness the school meeting (or so we think!)

(More to come - a second post about the school meeting and a talk with the principal will follow shortly.)