The proper content of education is something you carry with you, not something you leave behind.
The Main School
The school itself takes children from age 6 or 7 to age 14, in classes numbered 1 to 8. Because we are a small school we operate a doubled-class system; thus in one year we will have classes 1/2, 3/4, 5/6, 7/8 , and the following year we will have classes 1 2/3, 4/5, 6/7. Our experience has shown that there are numerous benefits in this system. Younger children may look up to older role-models, while the older group learns to take the responsibility of providing an example for the younger ones.
The curriculum supports the child's needs at different life stages, develops faculties rather than delivers information and encourages a gratitude for life-long learning.
In Class One (age 6/7) the children still live in the imaginative world of fairy tales. Yet real work now begins, as the child learns the alphabet through stories and pictures, getting to know each letter as a personal friend rather than as an abstract cipher. By the end of the year the child will have learnt to write simple sentences in capitals. Number work too begins in this class: the child gradually acquires familiarity with and flexibility within the number sequence and times-tables and meets the four basic processes in a lively pictorial context that relates them to the four temperaments. In other main lessons the child explores the natural world through stories which capture the essence of the flowers, animals and elements of the local environment.
In Class Two (age 7/8) the children move on to lower case writing and begin to read, which comes easily after the thorough grounding in writing of Class One. The story material now progresses away from fairy tales – on the one hand to the world of animal tales and fables and on the other hand to the legends of the saints. In the former a simple moral sense is kindled and nurtured, while in the latter a sense of reverence is fostered for what is good and true, and for those who strive to serve higher principles. Number work is taken further with more involved written and mental arithmetic, and with the rhythmic learning of the rest of the multiplication tables.
In Class Three (age 8-9) the stories are taken from the Old Testament. The children now begin a process of inner change, gradually becoming aware of a separateness from the world around. This can be a difficult period for the child, and the story of Moses leading the Israelites through the wilderness may strike an echo in the child of the soul journey that he or she is now making. The children now also begin to realise how they have the capacity to work upon their environment, and thus we have main lessons on house-building and farming, where practical projects are undertaken. In numbers too we step strongly into the practical world by exploring measurement, weight, time and money.
In Class Four (age 9-10) the child begins to explore ever more boldly the world around: main lessons in local geography and local history take place, as does too a study of the animal world and its relationship to the human being. Number work moves on to the introduction of fractions. The Norse myths form the story background to this year, and the ‘twilight of the Gods’ strikes a powerful chord in the young child in its continuing inner process of ‘coming down to earth’. Yet this period is generally a harmonious and sunny one, and the latter part of Class Four together with Class Five is often refereed to as the ‘golden age’ of childhood.
In Class Five (age 10-11) we see the introduction of history proper: after the experiencing of the development of human consciousness through the progression of Indian, Persian and Egyptian mythologies the children arrive at the ‘cradle of Europe’ in a study of early Greece. Geography now expands to cover the British Isles, and the intellect is increasingly engaged as we move on to decimals and first geometry principles. In spite of such developments the children are still very much approached through the imagination, rather than through mere dry headwork. Also in this year are main lessons which explore the world of plants, following on from the animal study of the previous class.
In Class Six (11-12) the history main lessons take the pupil forward to Roman times and on into the Middle Ages, while geography expands to cover the whole of Europe. Physics is now introduced with a study of heat, light and sound, and the study of the natural world now moves on into the mineral realm as geology lessons explore, for example, the phenomena of granite or limestone landscapes. Mathematics enters the economic domain with a study of percentages, and the formulae encountered here begin the approach to algebra. Geometry meanwhile moves forward to examine some of the fundamental theorems.
In Class Seven (age 12-13) the expansion into the wider perspective continues: in geography, cultures of the world are investigated, while history lessons look at the renaissance and the age of the great explorers. Physics lessons continue with mechanics, magnetism and electricity, and chemistry is now begun with a study of combustion. In English the expressive capabilities of language are developed; maths moves on into algebra, and in geometry Pythagoras’ theorem and its applications are examined. Health, hygiene and nutrition come now, at an age when the children are becoming increasingly aware of their own bodies; in complete contrast to this is the introduction of astronomy, which forms a healthy balance to such preoccupations.
Class Eight (age 13-14) marks the culmination and completion of the pupil’s at Nant-y-Cwm. History is brought up to the present day; geography looks at the world as a whole and includes a study of climate. Anatomy and physiology are introduced, and physics and chemistry are further developed. At Nant-y-Cwm we are very aware that most children will be moving on to state schools, and to GCSEs and A-levels, and our teachers make every effort to keep themselves informed as to what the pupils’ needs will be, in order to ensure a smooth and happy transition to the new environment. The pupils of Class Eight traditionally perform a substantial stage play to conclude the year and to celebrate the completion of their passage through the school.