Summerhill School

Summerhill School
Address
Map
Westward Ho

, ,
IP16 4HY

England
Coordinates52°12′40″N 1°34′22″E / 52.211222°N 1.572639°E / 52.211222; 1.572639
Information
TypeIndependent day and boarding school
Established1921
FounderAlexander Sutherland Neill
Local authoritySuffolk
Department for Education URN124870 Tables
OfstedReports
PrincipalZoë Readhead
StaffApprox. 10 teaching, 5 support
GenderCoeducational
Age6 to 18
Enrolment78 pupils
HousesSan, Cottage, House, Shack, Carriage
PublicationThe Orange Peel Magazine
Websitewww.summerhillschool.co.uk

Summerhill School is an independent (i.e. fee-charging) day and boarding school in Leiston, Suffolk, England. It 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 and is considered a Democratic School; 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. It is an example of both democratic education and alternative education.