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This England

Published 05 February 2009

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This England

"School" is out

Watercliffe Meadow is among scores of schools that are dropping the "S-word" from their titles. Linda Kingdon, the head teacher, said that the change would bring the school (or place of learning) closer to real life.

Ms Kingdon said that Watercliffe Meadow, which was formed from the merger of three schools, decided from an early stage not to use the word "school".

"This is Watercliffe Meadow, a place for learning. One reason was many of the parents of the children here had very negative connotations of school. Instead, we want this to be a place for family learning, where anyone can come. We were able to start from scratch and create a new type of learning experience. There are no whistles or bells or locked doors. We wanted to deinstitutionalise the place and bring the school closer to real life," she said.

Times (Imogen Forster)

The next Bear Grylls

Hatfield Forest, Hertfordshire. Forest Survival Skills. Become the next Bear Grylls on this survival course. Bring a packed lunch.

National Trust Magazine (Chris Rose)

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