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Summerhill is a learning environment of beauty and wonder, full of warm, flowing colors and objects that awaken the imagination and invite interaction through play. Add experienced and caring teachers and the foundation for our early childhood program is complete. We believe in whole-child development to help each child grow physically, intellectually, emotionally, and socially, and that every child is unique. At Summerhill, we have five separate classes for children of different ages and needs. All five classes are from Monday to Friday from 9 am to 2 pm. Our weekly program is fully flexible, but depending on the age group the minimum days per week will vary. Please see more information on our Classes below. From 2 pm to 3 pm every day we offer After-School Activities starting from the Half-Moon Class age group and up, while the youngest Sunrise/Sunset Classes can enjoy babysitting and aftercare during the same hours. We also offer an Extended Day Program designed for children with parents who both work, providing a relaxed environment after a day in class with creative and nature-oriented activities. As a Primary Years Program candidate school, from the Half Moon class our curriculum reflects and recognizes a child’s natural curiosity, creativity, and ability to reflect, and the PYP framework generates a stimulating, challenging learning environment to nurture those assets and foster a lifelong love of learning in every child. The PYP is a transdisciplinary program, meaning students learn across subject areas while investigating big ideas. The environment in the Moon classes stimulates a child’s natural interest in literacy and numeracy, science, and the real world. Children at this stage experiment with letters and sounds, and begin to make sense of the written, read, and spoken word. Through play and inquiry, the numerical sense is developed and explored. Through meaningful and authentic projects children make theories, test hypotheses, ask questions, and learn through collaboration and exploration. Emphasis continues to be on creative expression through art, music, and movement. Children begin to more fully develop their social skills and interactions become more complex. Empathy and self-esteem continue to be developed. In an IB World School, a child graduates with a certain Learner Profile. The core begins in the early years. There is a focus on developing in children the ability to be global leaders, entrepreneurs and innovators, effective problem solvers, effective communicators, and wise risk-takers. In developing global leadership capacity, children will begin to understand themselves exploring emotions and actions, reasons, and consequences. They will begin to understand the process of planning and goal setting as well as begin to be aware of their actions, analyzing them with guidance. Encouraging effective communicators capacity children will develop their listening and observing skills and begin to express their thoughts opinions and ideas confidently. Supporting wise risk takers capacity children become confident to take risks and then reflect and evaluate the action and result. They begin to evaluate risk before taking action. The IB Learner Profile displays a child who is knowledgeable, open-minded, a communicator, a thinker, an inquirer, caring, principled, reflective, and balanced. In our current world, it is not enough to know facts. We need to guide our children to be confident in their abilities and resourceful in their thoughts and actions. PLAY and INQUIRY are at the core of learning at Summerhill. All learning can happen in an environment that respects children’s basic needs. Through meaningful play and authentic experiences, children learn what is important to them. Play is a means to early learning that capitalizes on children’s natural curiosity and exuberance. Teachers are facilitators and play a variety of roles in supporting the children’s play. With quality interactions and intentionality, teachers can analyze children’s needs and guide them to extend the learning. High-quality play that is mediated by adults who are play partners and able to inject small amounts of focused direct instruction based on the needs of the child into the daily play, is an effective way to develop emergent literacy, numeracy, and inquiry skills! View full school

A co-educational boarding school in Suffolk, England - The original alternative 'free' school. Founded in 1921, it continues to be an influential model for progressive, democratic education around the world. Summerhill is the oldest children's democracy in the world. It is probably the most famous alternative or 'free' school. The system that Summerhill employs is not only about education - it is also a different way of parenting which eliminates most of the friction and many of the problems experienced by modern families. "Summerhill is a real place, not a utopia. Living in a community of around 100 people is not always easy. Everybody is learning about themselves, and on a bleak January day, with the east wind blowing, things are sometimes not wonderful! But Summerhill in the summertime is lush, green, and not unlike never-never land. It is more of a family or tribe than a school - full of companionship, laughter, and real feelings. “All crimes, all hatreds, all wars can be reduced to unhappiness,” wrote A. S. Neill, founder of Summerhill School. Today, all over the world, education is moving towards more and more testing, more examinations, and more qualifications. It seems to be a modern trend that assessment and qualification define education. If society were to treat any other group of people the way it treats its children, it would be considered a violation of human rights. But for most of the world's children, this is the normal expectation from parents, school, and the society in which we live. Today many educationalists and families are becoming uneasy with this restrictive environment. They are beginning to look for alternative answers to mainstream schooling. One of these answers is democratic or 'free' schooling. There are many models of democratic schools in all corners of the globe, from Israel to Japan, from New Zealand and Thailand to the United States. The oldest and most famous of these schools is Summerhill, on the east coast of England. Summerhill School was founded in 1921 at a time when the rights of individuals were less respected than they are today. Children were beaten in most homes at some time or another and discipline was the keyword in child-rearing. Through its self-government and freedom, it has struggled for more than eighty years against pressures to conform, to give children the right to decide for themselves. The school is now a thriving democratic community, showing that children learn to be self-confident, tolerant, and considerate when they are given space to be themselves. Summerhill School is one of the most famous schools in the world and has influenced educational practice in many schools and universities. The democratic school's movement is now blossoming internationally, with many schools far and wide being based upon the philosophy of A. S. Neill or inspired by reading his books. Summerhill is a community of around a hundred people. About 75 of these are children aged between 5 and 17. The rests are teachers, house parents, and other staff. It is situated in a large much loved, Victorian house and grounds, two miles from the coast of Suffolk. Most of the children board during the term time, though there are day pupils as well. As the younger ones grow older, they usually prefer to sleep at school. Summerhill is co-educational and enjoys the diversity of pupils from throughout the world. There is a wide choice of subjects, up to the GCSE level. A new timetable is created each term when the older children have "signed up" for classes, though there is no compulsion to attend. As well as the structured timetable, there is free access to art, woodwork, and computers. The staff meets regularly to discuss any problems or concerns. A Special Attention List monitors new children and those who may have problems relating to learning. Staff will consider various actions to assist the child. For example, if a child is nervous about the classroom, one-to-one lessons can be offered. This is the case for fast or slow learners. Pupils can take exams early if they wish and most pupils take some GCSEs before they leave, but of course, they have the option not to take any at all. The important freedom at Summerhill is the right to play. All lessons are optional. There is no pressure to conform to adult ideas of growing up, though the community itself has expectations of reasonable conduct from all individuals. Bullying, vandalism, or other anti-social behavior is dealt with on the spot by specially elected ombudsmen or can be brought to the whole community in its regular meetings. The school is set in twelve acres of garden and woodland with plenty of space for cycling, hut building, tree climbing, bonfires, camping, imaginative games. There is a swimming pool for use in the summertime, a tennis court, playing field, basketball area as well as table tennis indoors. Summerhill is a happy and caring community that recognizes the importance of expressing emotions and learning through feelings. There is general openness and honesty among the community members. Staff does not use adult authority to impose values and solve problems these are solved by the individual with the help of friends or ombudsmen or by the community in meetings. View full school