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EDUCATION<br />
<strong>Lewes</strong> New School<br />
A bold experiment<br />
When it comes<br />
to revolutionary<br />
thinking and pioneering<br />
spirit, for a<br />
small town <strong>Lewes</strong><br />
regularly punches<br />
above its weight.<br />
Somewhere on<br />
the list of antiestablishment<br />
firsts<br />
comes <strong>Lewes</strong> New<br />
School. Started in 2000 by local activist Adrienne<br />
Campbell (sadly no longer with us) and others,<br />
the independent primary school was set up as<br />
‘an educational environment that accepted and<br />
honoured children instead of using the standard<br />
‘reward and punishment’ approach.’ But this summer,<br />
after 18 years, the school closed its gates in<br />
Talbot Terrace for the last time.<br />
Campbell’s vision was a reaction, in husband<br />
Dirk’s words, to “a dominant and concealed<br />
prejudice against children that runs through our<br />
education system, both private and state”, that<br />
“assumes kids don’t want to learn”.<br />
So the New School adopted a ‘human-centred<br />
approach’, attempting to both trust and follow<br />
children’s natural curiosity to learn. Not an easy<br />
thing to do.<br />
Parent Karen Knight says, “forming the ‘curriculum’<br />
around the interests of children was a great<br />
way to learn. My seven year old and his classmates<br />
devised a great board game - ‘Monster Wars’.<br />
Enthralling to play, it taught him so much about<br />
maths, writing, artwork, planning, collaboratively<br />
strategising and creative thinking.”<br />
Uncomfortable with risking exclusivity by having<br />
to charge for education, the school kept fees as<br />
low as possible. But at times, it still had to battle<br />
an undeserved reputation amongst some for being<br />
full of self-selecting<br />
middle-class<br />
hippies who let<br />
unusually named<br />
kids run riot.<br />
There were no<br />
SATS at LNS,<br />
nor uniforms, and<br />
all the teachers<br />
were on firstname<br />
terms with<br />
the kids. Class sizes were deliberately small, so<br />
that each child could ‘be seen and valued’, whilst<br />
behaviour issues were resolved mainly via talking,<br />
listening and ‘respectful communication’. I was<br />
personally always impressed by its method of<br />
tackling bullying through group discussion.<br />
Did it work? Former pupil Tali thinks so, “The<br />
fact that when I arrived at the school in Year 4 I<br />
couldn’t read or write, and within two weeks had<br />
written a novel pretty much sums it up!”<br />
Fellow alumnus and Head Boy of Priory from<br />
2016-2017, Mal, agrees: “At LNS education<br />
meant teaching students how to be kind, caring,<br />
forward-thinking, articulate people. And this was<br />
the best preparation for secondary school.”<br />
The ‘human-sized’ school went through many ups<br />
and downs during its lifetime, approaching capacity<br />
in 2010, and always striving to manage its own<br />
evolving character – the result of a community of<br />
strong opinions and strong hugs. Often struggling<br />
to convey its message beyond the school gates,<br />
and to survive financially, LNS eventually conceded<br />
defeat in July, with only 27 pupils left.<br />
So, thank you and goodbye to <strong>Lewes</strong> New School<br />
- it’s been… emotional. And it leaves in its wake a<br />
significant smattering of people who feel that bit<br />
more themselves for having been part of it all.<br />
Karen Dobres<br />
Photo by Graham Carlow<br />
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