Primary drops 'school' from title

Published on Friday 2 January 2009 23:12

AN MP yesterday questioned why a new £4.7 million school has dropped the word "school" from its title as it has "negative connotations".

Sheffield's Watercliffe Meadow is to be called a "place of learning" instead of a primary school.

Richard Caborn, the local Labour MP, said: "I'm always open to new ideas, but the reality is education is about preparing young people to live in the real world.

"I just don't think the case has been made to drop the word 'school' to 'a place of learning'. I don't know why they have done it."

The decision was defended by Linda Kingdon, the headteacher, who said:

"We decided from an early stage we didn't want 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 a 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 de-institutionalise the place and bring the school closer to real life."

Andrew Sangar, the cabinet member for children's services and lifelong learning at Sheffield City Council, said: "It's a school, we consider it a school and that's how we refer to it.

"How a school chooses to manage and refer to itself is a matter for the board of governors and the community it serves and we're relaxed about that."