Welcome!
I'm Ana da Piedade, the Headteacher. Welcome to our beautiful little school, where our children spend happy days being curious, creative and courageous.
We are a close-knit and supportive community of like-minded families for whom learning is all about growing in confidence, nurturing kindness and developing an awareness of, and respect for, the wonderful world around us. Our vision is simple: children are encouraged to feel awe for their environment, to express themselves freely yet sensitively, and to appreciate the contribution of their own ideas and those of others. Our 105 children benefit from a high degree of autonomy and agency, making wise decisions and asking questions of their adults and of each other.
Our outside and inside learning areas are filled with an eclectic mix of musical and artistic objects that reflect our learning and our interests. Music, art, gardening and nature find their way around the gorgeous building (it dates back to 1877) and has ample space for pianos, guitars, art tables as well as our classrooms and a generous hall.
We choose our lunches from a delicious selection of menus thoughtfully created by Eilidh, our chef, and they are shared in the cafe. We eat at wooden tables where fresh flowers and a relaxed atmosphere add to the delicious food, always sourced locally from high quality suppliers.
We agree with John Dewey, who said that school must be, 'a genuine form of community life.' For us, Bealings is more than a school. It is a community where we find out about the world together, where we take care of each other, make decisions together, and try to improve and create things as we go along.
You can read more about our Core Principles here.
Here are some more things to know about Bealings:
There are 105 places for children in our school. We have a beautiful main school building that was built in 1877 - so it has its challenges but it offers a place full of character with lots of original features. It now has four main classrooms and lots of other spaces - indoors and outdoors - where we gather, learn and create.
The outdoors is really important to us. We love play, we love nature and we love sports. There is an enormous school field, a polytunnel, a pond, a den garden, outdoor play equipment and much more.
We cook all our own food in our cafe and the lunches are AMAZING! We have shared community lunches too and we grow some of our own food for our meals.
We are made stronger by being within a network of incredible people and groups like FOBS (Friends of Bealings) and FOSS (Family of Small Schools). Lots of parents help at our school.
We see ourselves as a democratic community, with adults and children working alongside each other and making decisions together. We hold a school meeting every week which is chaired by the children and they are able to raise ideas and suggestions for improvements.
We are located on a very minor private road in the village of Little Bealings. We have a split site which means we have to cross the road to get to the cafe and the field. We are really careful about this crossing and are very vigilant about staying safe. Children below Year 6 know not to cross the road on their own.
We do not have a car park for parents, but the Village Hall at the top of 'The Street' does. The committee at the hall has agreed that parents can park there and walk down to the school. You can donate to the Village Hall (there are signs in the car park) to help with its upkeep.
Our school looks and sounds amazing. We love art and we love music. There is always lots of singing, there are two pianos, and we have a visiting artist who keeps our school going as a living, breathing art gallery.