A School By Any Other Nameby Michele Cheplic | More from this Blogger 07 Jan 2009 04:19 AM What's a six letter word for the place your children go each day to learn important life lessons? It's not a trick question. The answer is SCHOOL. Unless, of course, you live in the United Kingdom. Students attending Watercliffe Meadow Primary in Sheffield, UK no longer attend "school." Rather, educational leaders there have decided to refer to their building as a "place of learning." According to news reports, the head teacher of Watercliffe Meadow Primary recently confirmed that administrators dropped the word "school" from the place of learning's name. Watercliffe Meadow leaders explained the decision this way: "We decided from an early stage we didn't want to use the word 'school'. This is Watercliffe Meadow, a place for learning. One reason was many of the parents of the children here had very negative connotations of school. Instead we want this to a be a place for family learning, where anyone can come." When they get there they'll notice a few pivotal school-related items have been stripped from the building, including bells, whistles and door locks. According to "place of learning" officials, they did away with the traditional educational icons to "de-institutionalize the place and bring the school closer to real life." In addition, students are being mandated to wear soft soled shoes indoors to reduce noise and make the building homier. Unfortunately for Watercliffe Meadow administrators the name change is not being embraced by everyone in town. Leaders for the Campaign for Plain English say the school's refusal to call it what it really is smacks of political correctness gone bad. In a statement to news reporters the organization's spokesperson noted: "We are introducing our children to education and instead of giving them something familiar, something that they understand, we go and send them to a 'place for learning'. We all know that they are going to be going to a school whatever you call it." What do you make of the un-schooling of Watercliffe Meadows? Related Articles: Surprising Code of Ethics for Arkansas Teachers Sacramento Plans a Move Back to Traditional Calendar Learn more about Michele Cheplic  Michele Cheplic was born and raised in Hilo, Hawaii, but now lives in Wisconsin. Michele graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a degree in Journalism. Relevanteducation tags User Comments  Andrea Hermitt |
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