Why I Started a Small School
by Rosalyn Spencer
A nurturing, human scale approach to education and parenting.
More than 25 years ago, long before the days of the UK's government funded free schools, Rosalyn Spencer was the driving force behind the setting up of a non-fee paying 'alternative' small school. She had felt compelled to do this, not only because of the difficulties her 9 year old son was facing in mainstream education, and painful memories of her own schooling, but also because of concerns other parents had shared with her about problems their children were experiencing.
Whereas the current free schools are generously funded by the government, Rosalyn opened the school with 12 children with virtually no funding at all. In this book, the first in a series of three, Rosalyn tells her personal story leading up to the opening of the small school. It demonstrates some of the failings of the education system and highlights the need for alternative approaches. Her story will appeal to childcare professionals, teachers, parents and anybody who enjoys reading memoirs and narrative non-fiction.
Paperback also available directly from the author — get in touch.
Book Reviews
“A powerful story of transformation in education. I recommend this book to all educators wholeheartedly.”
“Rosalyn Spencer's personal and compelling narrative about her battle to establish a new type of school two decades ago marks her out as an innovator ahead of her time.”
“Rosalyn's courageous establishment was a much-needed exemplar of change in education-provision, in what is now, a socio-ecologically fragmenting Britain.”