Greenfields School Blog

Welcome to this blog for Greenfields School, a unique place set on the edge of the Ashdown Forest in its own eleven acres of woodland, where we take pride in providing an education for our students which we feel prepares them for life in society like nowhere else in the world.

There’s something special about Greenfields -visitors regularly comment on the distinctive atmosphere here, the uncommon bond which exists between students and between teachers and students. The school has a particular ethos, a rare quality of its own -from my point of view as Head Teacher, it’s a kind of aesthetic, spiritual mood which is right at the heart of what we do, which has been kept alive over time by many people. 

Founded in 1981 by Margaret Hodkin Neal, Greenfields is open to students from all over the world and from all cultural, ethnic and religious backgrounds. We are regularly visited by ambassadors and government officials from overseas countries.

We are still “family-sized” -every class at Greenfields is small enough for any teacher to be able to hold each student’s progress accurately in his or her mind’s eye- and every year, new students arrive and are assimilated into this “family” -this is the group where Juniors and Seniors play football together, where students from Year 7 hang out with students from Year 11, where everyone knows everyone else by name. This is the school where we struggle to introduce the formality of calling teachers by their surnames or by their titles; it’s the school where firm friendships develop between staff and students which last way beyond the student’s years at school.

This will remain the essence of Greenfields: one big family, usually happy, usually getting on with what needs to be done almost spontaneously.

We provide this friendly, caring and safe environment but the most important factor in our success is our method of study, which ensures that children really understand and can therefore use the information they study. This in turn brings about a state of mind, enabling and empowering individuals to gain far greater affinity with the world around them than they could expect to get without it. While there is room for a student’s love for any subject to grow then our view is that we have more work to do. 

Follow this blog and find out about our latest adventures here! You'll be able to find out what's happening and what's about to happen and feel part of the whole thing if you wish.

I look forward to hearing from you and would be happy to arrange a visit to the school itself.