Gatehouse School

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The Gatehouse School was founded by Phyllis Wallbank in 1948. It was originally housed in the Gatehouse of St Bartholomew-the-Great church Smithfield, London. The school moved to Bethnal Green in the 1970s. It catered for children from 2 - 16 years of age. It was a private school run along Montessori method principles developed by the educationalist Maria Montessori and was quite unique in its educational philosophy.

The school integrated children with a wide range of disabilities with so called able bodied children. It followed the idea that true learning resulted from children exploring the world for themselves through play. It allowed children to choose when to take their lessons during the week. A child would be required to complete a certain number of lessons in Mathematics, English, Art, Geography etc. per week but would be able to decide when to do them. Students wouls also have free lessons where they could choose any subject they liked. The balance of subjects where often weighted toward a child aptitude or interests. Teachers would teach different abilities/ages of children in the same session and would sign pupils off for the lessons they had completed. Some older children (14/15 year olds) could then take over the amount of each subject they wished to do over the course of each week. Resulting in some pupils spending the week doing 'what they wanted' ie, Art/Monday, Geography/Tuesday, English/Wednesday, Biology/Thursday and then back to Art/Friday.

After an hour for lunch pupils had an hour to read followed by 'afternoon activities'. These ranged from Football, Pony riding (the school had two ponies, as well as a duck) visits to museums, swimming etc.

The school featured in several documentary programmes during the 1970s

Legendary Saxophonist & Bon Viore Brian Hardy taught Art & Dance here

Actors, Sophie Ward and Linus Roche were pupils.