Summerhill School

Summerhill School is an independent British boarding school that was founded in 1921 by Alexander Sutherland Neill with the belief that the school should be made to fit the child, rather than the other way around. It is run as a democratic community; the running of the school is conducted in the school meetings, which anyone, staff or pupil, may attend, and at which everyone has an equal vote. These meetings serve as both a legislative and judicial body. Members of the community are free to do as they please, so long as their actions do not cause any harm to others, according to Neill's principle "Freedom, not Licence." This extends to the freedom for pupils to choose which lessons, if any, they attend.

History

In 1920 A S Neill started to search for premises in which to found a new school which he could run according to his educational principle of giving freedom to the children and staff through democratic governance. On a trip to Europe, which started out as a research visit into progressive schools on behalf of the Theosophical journal New Era, he found the ideal accommodation in Hellerau near Dresden, a village founded on principles that presaged the Garden City movement in England. By combining with two other Projects, the Neuen deutschen Schule (New German School) founded by Carl Thiess the previous year and an existing school with many international students dedicated to the teaching of Eurhythmics, a joint venture named the International School or Neue Schule Hellerau was launched. Neill's sector was called the "foreign" school (in contrast to the Thiess's "German School"). Jonathan Croall wrote, "This, is esssence, was the beginning of Summerhill" although the name Summerhill itself came later.

Summerhill School, Kingswinford

Summerhill School is a mixed community secondary school located in Kingswinford, West Midlands, England.

The school was built by Brierley Hill Urban District Council in 1961, and serves an area of Kingswinford which was mostly developed after the Second World War. The catchment for the school is bounded in the south by Lawnswood Road (Wordsley), in the east by Stream Road and Moss Grove (Kingswinford) and in the north and west by the county boundary between West Midlands and Staffordshire.

The 1961 buildings were becoming increasingly dilapidated during the 1990s, and by September 2003 the entire school had been rebuilt. but was completely rebuilt in the early 2000s. One remaining building from the old complex, built in 1993 and known as C Block remained after the demolition of the old school and was the subject of a bid to save it from demolition and reopen as a community arts centre. The plan was developed but opposition from Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council prevented the plans from going ahead. C Block remained standing for five years until 5 November 2008, when the roof was destroyed in an arson attack. The building was finally demolished in 2011 and now acts as a parking area.