The Small School, Hartland, Devon

The Small School was founded in 1982 by Satish Kumar and other parents living in an isolated rural community in an economically-deprived area of South West England. The nearest state secondary school, with almost 2,000 students, was 13 miles away, involving 2 hours travelling a day by bus. This pioneering group, most of whose children had been educated in small village primary schools, wished to show that secondary education, too, could be modelled on the family, rather than the factory, and based in the local community.

“A small school, just across the road, to which I could walk my children each morning and collect them in the evening. Where I would know the teachers personally, know where the children were each day, and know what they were doing. A school where they educate the whole person in mind, body and spirit” - Dr E F Schumacher, author of Small is Beautiful.

The school is in the centre of Hartland in the old church hall and at the heart of the community At the rear of the school we have a vegetable garden that is maintained by the students and the food produced is used for the cooked lunches. As a school we aspire to a greener future and we are constantly looking at ways to be more environmentally friendly. As a school we recycle and source all our produce (if it's not already growing in the garden) from the local farm shop in Hartland. By doing this we are not only supporting local businesses but also cutting down on food miles.

The school is a vegetarian school and other dietary requirements are also catered for. A different parent volunteers to cook the lunch each day and a rota of students help out in the kitchen too. All students attend a Level 2 Food Safety course in order to prepare for the kitchen work. Students also take responsibility for the cleaning of the buildings at the end of the day.