This is a concept, not a school that exists. Every rule in the building has to pass the same nine questions we ask of a law, with the child as the person being asked.
The principle. A child has full autonomy and full choice, unless it would harm themselves or someone else. A child chooses their own subject. No child is made to sit still or be silent. There are no tests: a child's learning is not measured for adults. A child is never punished. A child is redirected. Whatever is missing is met with abundance and healing. School is the child's environment. The adults protect it, and protect the children in it.
What it is for:
Each rule below is followed by what published research says about it, for and against. Open any line to read it.
Three aims run across all nine rules, and one question every school like this must answer. The research on them is here too.
A nine-year-old arrives and picks from three open projects. One is building a rain gauge.
Halfway through she gets frustrated and goes to the quiet room for ten minutes. Nobody stops her or marks it down.
When she comes back, an adult asks one question: “What did you notice you needed?”
Before lunch she shows her gauge to a younger class and explains why it leaks.
Choosing is curiosity. Finishing something she wanted is joy. Explaining it is expression. Noticing her own limit and coming back is regulation.
The design as it stands, held against the nine questions with the child as the person asked. Five pass. Four have something open.
By the school's own rule, a system does not grade itself. This reading was made by the people who wrote the design. A check by someone outside would count for more.