A typical Meeting case

This recent case from a Meeting may be typical. The older kids in the school wanted to have no bedtimes and proposed that they could stay up as late as they liked provided that they respected the silence hour, which was then 10.30pm. There was a long discussion about it as many people had things to say on the subject. Some were worried about the possible noise; others about lack of sleep. Eventually the vote was taken, and it was agreed to try the new scheme for one week to see if it would work. A week or so later there was a special meeting because one of the staff had been woken up several times with noise in the night. The community decided that the older kids had had their chance, and should get their bedtimes back again.

Tribunal

At the Tribunal meeting, people may “bring up” other members of the community for infractions of the Laws. If, for instance, you find that someone has been riding your bike without permission, or broken into your box and stolen your cash, or flouted the Law against littering the grounds, you can bring them up at the Tribunal. The meeting decides whether the accusation is true and if so what penalty, if any, is appropriate. It may also take other action - for example, if a child has lost an item that cannot be found, the Tribunal may agree to buy a replacement from communal funds.

Naturally, staff can be brought up as well as pupils. It is a very levelling experience for a teacher to be brought up before the school - especially if you have become used to teaching in a more conventional school. Some new staff find this particularly difficult to handle. But it is a valuable experience for adults to be brought up by children, subject to the same disciplinary procedure, and fined accordingly. If all teachers were put in this position, it might make a very great difference to the mainstream educational system.

What the meeting doesn’t cover

The administrational business of the school is not in the jurisdiction of the meeting. It does not rule on the hiring and firing of staff, teachers’ pay, building work, and so on. The principle is that the children should have power over what is important in their everyday lives; bringing these subjects to the meetings would burden them with unnecessary worries rather than increasing their freedom.

Having said that, at the Sands school in Devon - another school run on principles of self-determination - questions of this sort are decided by the community meeting, and they have found this works well for them.

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