Alumni include Rebecca de Mornay, children’s author John Burningham, actor Jake Weber, Elton John and Pink Floyd producer Gus Dudgeon, and Storm Thorgerson, the rock album cover designer.Ī progressive school, Summerhill is run according to five specific aims of A S Neill, who founded the school in 1921: Despite its hugely controversial teaching approach, Summerhill pupils have been successful in many walks of life, and many go onto study at universities worldwide. Set within 11 acres of woods and countryside, the school is two miles from the Suffolk coast. The school occupies a partially ivy clad large Victorian country house with an eclectic mix of additions, a cottage, and outbuildings including converted rail carriages. The current principal is the founder’s daughter. Summerhill provides education for up to 90 children up to GCSE, with entry required on or before a child’s 11th birthday. The school is managed around a core belief that “the function of a child is to live his own life – not the life that his anxious parents think he should live, not a life according to the purpose of an educator who thinks he knows best.” Summerhill is one of England’s most famous boarding schools, best known for not requiring its pupils to attend lessons and giving its children a democratic role in running the school.
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