The Family School

The Family School at Larkhall was a small, alternative school, based in South London, UK, founded by Polly Griffiths in 2007/8 to offer a Democratic education model to primary age children. The school closed in December 2012.

The Family School at Larkhall
Address
206-210 Lyham Road

Larkhall

London
,
SW2 5NR

England
Coordinates51.4522°N 0.1199°W / 51.4522; -0.1199
Information
TypeIndependent school
MottoWhere Learning is part of Living
Established2007 (2007)
FoundersPolly Griffiths
Dil Green
Closed2012
Department for Education URN137017 Tables
OfstedReports
GenderCoeducational
Age4 to 11
Websitehttp://www.familyschool.co.uk/

The Family School was firmly in the Free Schools tradition, with no set curriculum, working on the basis that children are natural learners, and that it is the school's job to provide a rich environment as a context and medium for that learning. The school aimed to support children as they developed towards becoming confident, competent and caring adults. The founding documents of the school set out five principles, on the basis of which the school operated:

  • Support the Developing Child
  • Learning is part of Living
  • Family involvement is Fundamental
  • Ethical Consciousness and Action
  • Self Governance

The school was a charity, "reluctantly fee-paying", to quote its literature.

History

Polly Griffiths and Dil Green, the founders of the school, worked to develop their ideas over two years with two other families and with Colin Hill, a teacher who had worked at Community and Voluntary Education in South London.

The Family School was founded in September 2008. For the first two years of its operation, families were officially home educators, as the school was not registered with Ofsted. After registering the school as an Independent School with DfE in September 2010, the school was inspected for the first time by Ofsted in June 2012 and was judged "Good" with "Outstanding" aspects. Unfortunately, the small numbers of pupils attending made the school's financial viability increasingly difficult and therefore the school is currently temporarily closed pending re-opening on its new larger site in West Norwood.

Site

The school was in premises in Brixton, but the Trustees have acquired a site in West Norwood which will provide its long-term home. The building is being designed by architect Dil Green, who is a founder of the school.

Curriculum

The school had no set curriculum, and offered few formal lessons. Each pupil's journey through the school constituted the curriculum they followed. However, the school considered that certain skills and abilities were vitally important to enable full participation in society, and these were carefully and consistently incorporated into the school environment.

References
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