Following the success of Little Barn Owls, Director, Hayley Peacock has since set up Atelier 21 Future School, the UK’s first progressive school for 4-14 years in Pease Pottage. The school will be registered to cater for pupils aged 14-16 years from 2023. It is wonderful that we can now offer a dynamic and learner focused environment for Primary and Secondary School children which offers education fit for children’s futures and readiness for 21st century life.
Atelier 21 offers a revolutionary response to school which fosters innovation, curiosity and creativity in its pupils, as well as helping them develop agency, autonomy and self motivation to carry them forward to create a fulfilling, happy and thriving life for themselves in the future. Our independent, progressive school re-imagines the school day with academic workshops taught in groups of 10, cross curricular project-based learning for real world experience, entrepreneurial projects, time for self-directed studies and outdoor learning, mindfulness, sport, yoga and performing arts. The school is also committed to helping pupils develop ‘Learning Power’ and qualities which mean they will have the passion, drive, adaptability, agility of mind, habits, resilience and collaboration skills to thrive and compete in the fast changing and somewhat uncertain future that they face.
For an insight into what life is like at Atelier 21, do watch the video below:
WILD FRIDAYS!
The most popular school day at Atelier 21 is Wild Friday! The one day a week where the whole learning community of children and adults go out into wild spaces for outdoor learning and exploration. The children climb trees together, build dens and explore rock pools alongside planned learning activities which cover core subjects like maths and English. We are often inspired by the children’s inquisitive nature and the many ‘wonderings’ during Wild Fridays usually lead to a change in lesson plans for the week ahead…part of the beauty of having an emergent curriculum. As well as contextualising Maths, English, Geography, History, Drama, Music and Science in the forest or on the beach, we also have purposeful ‘Adventure Days’ – from rock climbing to Forest School, crabbing to wild swimming, raft building, kayaking, surfing and lots more. These days are about pushing ourselves, working as a team and having exhilarating new experiences together.
MORE THAN THE NATIONAL CURRICULUM
The school cares about creativity, entrepreneurship and personal growth. The whole school community operates their own school business to learn the principles of entrepreneurship and participates in democratic school groups to make decisions on various aspects of running the school. There is a strong focus on supporting the children’s well-being through teaching mindfulness, yoga, creativity and encouraging individual expression – every day is a non-school uniform one and all the teachers are known by their first names!
Self-starting pupils who love to work on real world challenges, be active and have a driving seat in their learning will thrive here. At Atelier 21 we don’t just deliver the National Curriculum but a whole lot more, including learning HOW to think rather than WHAT to think.
LITTLE BARN OWLS FAMILIES
We are thrilled to have a number of ex-Little Barn Owls children move across to Atelier 21 School from our Horsham and Southwater based nurseries, to continue an enquiry – led learning experience in Reception Class. We have several LBO families already enrolled for 2021 and have been inundated with interest generally; the older year groups are almost full for September. Our School will grow to 85 pupils by September 2021 and 120 over the next two years. It is our hope to encourage more of our LBO community to consider A21 as a credible option for your children as it really is a special place to the 50 families here now.
LOCATION AND TRANSPORT
The school is based in a stunning setting in Broadfield House, overlooking the lake in Broadfield Park, directly opposite the K2 sports centre and Tilgate Park, having carefully renovated the existing grade 2 listed 19th century mansion. Just off the Pease Pottage roundabout, the school is a ten minutes drive from Horsham. We also run a private bus service from Horsham Tesco at Broadbridge Heath and will be expanding the route through Southwater and surrounding areas from September. Around half our current Reception Class use our bus service. The children all have their own individual booster seat provided by us and a dedicated driver the children get to know, it’s become another fun part of the day to meet the bus.
For more information contact: 01293 265417 or email: info@atelier21schools.co.uk
Our Head Teacher, Hayley Peacock was also a guest for a Good Luck Club podcast on the challenges of setting up a school.
