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Parent Testimonials

Page history last edited by staff 11 years, 6 months ago

"We were looking for something different - we have found something amazing. Joining the Family School has felt like setting off on an exciting journey. Day by day we watch our daughter flourish and we grow more confident as a family. We believe in The Family School approach to learning and to communication because we have experienced it in action and have seen that it really works. It is difficult to imagine a more inspiring, committed and supportive staff team. We do not have a conventional family structure - our daughter has 2 mums. At The Family School we feel valued and included. We feared our daughter starting school. That fear has now gone. Having experienced the family school we could never contemplate conventional schooling. Our journey has just begun. We feel so happy to be on board."

 

"We chose The Family School as we wanted a visionary school which supports every child. All the teachers are extremely dedicated and every child has fun whilst learning.  Our child has progressed enormously whilst at this school and runs into the classroom each morning. You will not find a school like this anywhere else in London."

 

"We have seen for ourselves how quickly our son learns when he is free to let his attention and his curiosity flow from minute to minute. He has been given the freedom to do that ever since he was born, and we have been keen to find a setting in which he can continue to learn in that way. At The Family School he is able to do just that, in the school and elsewhere, while enjoying the support, challenge and sense of community provided by the staff and his school friends. We spend a lot of time in the school and it is very pleasing for us to see how little time needs to be spent on distractions - such as resolving behavioural problems and disputes - and how much time is spent constructively engaged in doing fun, interesting and useful things. We also enjoy seeing the school's ethos of self-determination and mutual respect in action, particularly since it works so well in practice."

 

"I'm writing to say THANKS. Not just for all the help and encouragement and support we received from the brilliant team at The Family School, but as much for your vision, dedication and commitment. When we first came to The Family School parent and child drop in I was feeling terribly anxious; about my boy's ability to socialise, and my own role as a mother. Had I failed him and us in some way? Why didn't we seem to fit in? And what was I going to about it? Nobody seemed able to help. Within a few weeks of coming to your place we had both learnt and grown in confidence so much; simple lessons in respectful communication that seem honestly to bring about a transformation bordering on the miraculous. It's not an exaggeration to say, what you have both put in place has changed our lives. He is a happier, more relaxed boy now and really revelling in his new found skills in making friends, playing with others, and understanding their needs and difficulties - and all at the age of 3! And I am so proud and happy that he and I have made this happen together, and very aware that without your vision and commitment to it, this opportunity just wouldn't have been there for us. So thanks to you for all that you have done and are doing - it's AMAZING life changing, consciousness altering STUFF."

 

"It is only as I get the first time and space to digest my past few weeks at the Family School, that I am realising quite what a wonderful community school structure you have created.  I think it is important to recognise and acknowledge that you have done something profound and wonderful, and that you deserve a huge cosmic pat on the back, or probably a cosmic hug for the heart (I doubt the cosmos bothers with pats on the back!)  for all that you have put in, all the work and courage and commitment, to birth something that is so profoundly healing, humane and basically good for the human spirit.

 

I realise I keep repeating the word profound, and with good reason.  I think I am shocked by the potency of what you have set up.  That the combination of it being a family school, and the depth of the inclusivity of that (because if you include all the family, you include the basic building block of community) and the foundation on conflict resolution skills which allow all feelings, however raw to to be expressed and heard, trusting all will in its own time come to a wholesome resolution, this combination packs an almighty psychic punch - maybe I could use a more peaceful metaphor, but thats a bit how it feels to me. 

 

I feel very grateful that you have created this school, with its wonderful underpinning structure of beliefs and commitments, very grateful for all your hard work, vision and commitment, and feel blessed that we can be part of it.  I am looking forward to learning those conflict resolution skills and feel very committed to gaining some skill with them.  I have found myself frustrated with seeing things unfold where such skills would make a big difference and myself impotent to do anything, though at the same time very grateful to be able to hand it over to one of the staff and to see them unpacking the conflict and allowing the resolution to naturally unfold.

 

I feel excited by our future with the Family School, I have already noticed a difference at home. We have always had family meetings with a talking stick, where we have all had an equal voice, but in the last few weeks her way of being in the family has changed, in some way she is much stronger in her own self and also she has at times been taking responsibility for the family dynamics, and for stuff working out, completely of her own volition.  I think she is finding her own feet with the other children, her own way of being in the community, and that learning to be freely and constructively and honestly with others will stand her in good stead the rest of her life.

 

So a big thank you all round, and I look forward to us all growing and learning together , and all the excitements life at the Family School will bring"

 

"I believe that a child learns best in a supported environment. The Family School strikes me as a structure, that supports and allows that learning can happen in my childs own time and rhythm and brings with that the best out in her. I can see, that the children love the school and have only positive associations regarding school and with that learning. I am impressed about the demonstration and teaching of conflict resolution and communication."

 

"I believe that the family school has a very sound sensitive and responsible approach to education. The family school shows great respect to the individual child and is supported by great teachers and parents. I believe that at the family school takes impulses from the child and helps the child to learn and blossom."

 

"As a parent I am exceedingly grateful for the existence of The Family School where respect for the child and the innate ability of children to learn in accordance with their developmental abilities is foremost."

 

"I am a grandparent of a child already in the school and have watched and taken part in activities in school and on outings. The open approach to learning, the freedom to choose and the attitude to sorting out disputes have impressed me. It is remarkable to hear young children recognising that a problem exists about a way a group activity should be carried out and beginning to have to skill to work out the solution between themselves by looking at the possibilities and getting to the point of agreeing a way forward. These children are developing key skills for later childhood and for adult life."

 

"Our daughter has been attending the school for a whole academic year now. She had always been quite shy and withdrawn before. We have seen her gradually and steadily opening up and becoming more and more confident and outgoing. The excellent teachers at school have helped her to open up and trust her surroundings. Also the all family has benefited from the techniques employed by the school for handling conflict resolution. Our youngest child will be starting at the Family School in January and we are really looking forward to it."

 

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