The London Acorn School

We offer a truly child-centred learning experience for our pupils and we are proud of the outstanding outcomes that we create at every stage of our children’s development.We provide an ‘education for the future’; an environment that encourages a love of learning and high standards, whilst instilling a strong moral foundation in each and every child.Children’s best interests lie at the heart of everything we do, and each child’s inner potential is unique and precious.We create the necessary space and structures to support the growth of balanced, outstandingly educated, creative individuals.

A London Acorn School education is best received when a child’s home and school life are compatible. We believe this can be achieved through sharing a set of values that encompasses all aspects of their life. We encourage parents to be mindful of the need to maintain consistency. Refer to this School Handbook, the details of your family agreement and your child’s class teacher for guidance on how to make the very most of a London Acorn School education with your child. Throughout the year, there are festival days and events where children, parents and staff come together. Parents attend many of these occasions, where they fully enjoy what it means to be part of this community school.

Although it is possible to teach young children academic subjects, we wait until the children are nearly seven to start this. We feel the extra time in Kindergarten is well spent, and are keen to protect children’s right to an unhurried childhood. We have a proven track record that our children soon learn the same skills as their peers who start formal lessons at four and a half.

The London Acorn Kindergarten can offer your child from 3 to 7 years old a secure, unhurried and beautiful setting where we believe that play is the serious work of childhood. In the kindergarten the emphasis is towards learning through play, enabling your child to develop the skills for lifelong learning.We create an environment that is safe, warm, loving and beautiful that forms a bridge between home and school. The young child learns through imitation and here we endeavour to provide them with worthy role models.

The strong rhythm, repetition and reverence of the kindergarten day, week and seasons carries with it its own creative discipline. Activities include, drawing, painting, baking, sewing, weaving, and woodwork, outside expeditions, ring games, fairy tales, singing and eurythmy.

The celebration of festivals throughout the year guides the child from one season to the next, whilst allowing the children time to wonder, be in awe and have gratitude for the earth, others and themselves.

Our education system is designed to help children achieve clarity of thought, sensitivity of feeling and strength of will.The Early years, from birth to seven years, are your child’s introduction to the world, their experiences will significantly form their perception and responses to life. Therefore, at the London Acorn School, it is essential that home and school form a unified, loving and secure environment where children can grow naturally and enjoy a playful, creative and fulfilling childhood. This requires a creative and mutually supportive partnership between parents and teachers.

The Lower School starts with children aged 6 or turning 7 during the academic year, and proceeds to Middle School until the child reaches the age of 14. The curriculum for these younger students is designed to help them form an understanding of the world and their relation to it through lessons and activities that encourage the development of their inner senses, such as intuition and imagination, along with important skills such as literacy, numeracy, arts and crafts.

These early years are when the children are actively discovering the world around them through their senses and growing faculties. Lesson subjects are therefore shaped to support this aspect of pupils’ growth and incorporate an abundance of physical and practical activities, which support this stage of development.The subjects taken expand in range as the children get older and enter a second developmental stage with the emergence of feeling as a perceptive medium within the individual. The curriculum content therefore changes accordingly, to include more creative subjects and to provide an outlet and a platform for self-expression and exploration.

The school offers a broad range of academic studies. Students study traditional subjects such as Maths, Humanities, English, French and Science.One key strength of the academic curriculum, both in the Lower, Middle and Upper School, is the ‘main lesson’. These thematic lesson blocks allow pupils to explore a subject for four weeks at a time. The pupils produce beautifully illustrated books, written in their own words. They are proud of these academically and artistically. This intensive approach leads to lasting knowledge and encourages ongoing engagement with the subject.

At our school we recognise that the most fundamental requirement for all children is that they feel safe and secure, physically, emotionally and socially. Students need to feel safe in order to thrive and learn. They need to feel secure in order to want to participate. We take very seriously our responsibility for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all the pupils in our care. Please read our Safeguarding Policy and Anti-Bullying Policy which set out the policies and procedures we have in place. We will take appropriate action if we have concerns about a child’s physical, emotional or social well-being and please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any concerns.