The Peppercorn piece

'...at Preshil, we are, one and all, learning and living together - teachers, children and parents' Margaret E. Lyttle

As an active member of Working Party A, I have had the honour of reading about, listening to and immersing myself in the traditions, the history, the founding and core values of Preshil. I feel very, very lucky to have been given this opportunity.

One of the great truths about Preshil has always been that we are a community, a family: children and teachers, in particular, learning to get along and respect each other.

Without children, there would be no school, no purpose for the school.

Equally true: without teachers there would be no school, no-one to inspire, enthuse, create a safe framework for the children’s learning.

A good, mainstream school may like to think of itself as a huge spreading oak tree, with a solid foundation and the teachers as branches to 'support' their children.

Preshil isn’t an oak tree – it’s a peppercorn tree. 

Not so classic a beauty, never growing in the direction you expect, branches all over the place. It’s a tree children are eager to climb.

Someone who does not completely understand the Preshil tree might be tempted to prune, to tidy, to 'rationalise'. Just take away the smaller branches, the lower branches, the untidy branches – surely we can do without them?

These branches, these 'extra' teachers, these 'members of staff', these workers are educators too. They are every bit as crucial as the classroom teachers. They support the classroom teachers who work a lot harder than your usual teachers, to give personal attention, to follow broader and deeper than any national curriculum to where children’s interests lead. They provide perspectives that children might otherwise not have access to. Some of these people have decades of experience at Preshil, and knowledge and know-how aplenty to share. Others are new, or relatively so, and bring a fresh approach, or a slightly different understanding of children and teaching that refresh and renew the school. And the way that such important people are treated teaches our children something too.

If our beloved peppercorn tree were to lose too many 'untidy' branches, there would be a risk the whole tree would die, or at the very least would cease to be Preshil in any recognisable way.

So let us cherish and celebrate Preshil’s differences, its unconventional methods and the diversity of experiences it offers our children. It’s a wonderful school. Our family has had a great year. 

NOTE: Members of Work Party A were responsible for the 'COURAGE' document which is available and distributed to all members of the Preshil community. 

Judy Routt (parent)