About us
We wanted somewhere to show our work off, somewhere we could give and receive feedback, somewhere to show pride in our pictures. Then Tomo suggested a website, perfect for what we wanted. Summerhillians can use it, and hopefully ex-Summerhillians will be interested as well.
A 'Summerhillian' is a child at Summerhill School, a small democratic school based in Suffolk, England. Summerhill was founded by A.S. Neill in 1921 and is still running today, by the hands of Zoe Readhead, Neill's daughter and our head-mistress.
Lessons among most other things are non-compulsory and the school is run by us kids. There is a meeting held every weekday, which children and staff can come to and have equal rights and votes. Anything can be proposed in a meeting, from being allowed to sleep-in in the mornings, to asking if you can paint your door pink. People can be fined for breaking laws (school rules), and we can propose new laws.
The younger children don't take much interest in lessons, the boys much prefer making wooden guns in the woodwork and playing games and the girls never leave the art room. But after about the age of 12 many students begin feeling more of a responsibility and begin going to lessons more frequently. But a lot of work goes on out side the class rooms; there are many talented artists here, many headstrong teenagers who are constantly doing things. One subject which is particularly popular here is photography.
There's a few of us who are regularly taking pictures and enjoy it as a hobby as well as a class. Our pictures are not all of Summerhill and there is a wide selection of all sorts of things and ideas from all over the place, so I hope you enjoy looking as much as we enjoyed taking the pictures!
Tink
SPAT Administrator
2008