The head of a new school has banned the word “school” — in case it upsets pupils’ parents. Watercliffe Meadow is known as a “Place for Learning” because staff say “school” has a negative impact on some mums and dads. The new £4.7million academy in Sheffield, South Yorks, replaced three old schools.Its 481 pupils, from nursery to Year 6, are allowed to wear slippers instead of shoes. Headteacher Linda Kingdon said: “We decided we didn’t want to use the word ‘school’.
“One reason was many parents of children here had very negative connotations of school. Instead we want this to be a place for family learning. There are no bells or locked doors. We wanted to de-institutionalise the place and bring the school closer to real life.”
