Its a kind of Magic - Article in Yorkshire Life
14th January 2009
A kind of magic
Jo Haywood visits a North Yorkshire school that encourages you imaginations to roam free.
It’s not every school that has a magic tree. But then Belmont Grosvenor is not your common or garden kind of school. It makes the most of its location at historic Swarcliffe Hall and the 20 acres of stunning countryside it occupies overlooking the Nidd valley. The impressive gardens were originally quite an attraction for Victorian and Edwardian day-trippers, and are still home to a number of rare species, boasting one of the largest bamboo displays in the north.
They are also home to 190 inquisitive young creatures who enjoy nothing more than rummaging in the undergrowth for mini-beasts, hiding in trees and galloping about whooping and hollering. They are the three to 11 year-old boys and girls who now populate the independent day school in Birstwith, Harrogate.
‘We encourage our children to spend as much time outdoors as possible,’ said headteacher Jane Merriman, who initially qualified as a PE teacher and has a long-term association with the Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme. ‘They learn so much more, and retain much more of what they learn, if they experience things at first hand. ‘I always tell the parents of new pupils not to expect them to come home clean. Our children are out and about all the time and that almost inevitably leads to grubby knees.’
The pupils at Belmont Grosvenor spend a great deal of their school day outside the good reason. Not only do they have the incredible views across the valley to enjoy, they also have an outdoor classroom, an adventure trail, an amphitheatre, a treehouse, extensive playing fields and that all-important magic tree.
‘Everyone loves our tree,’ said Jane, as we crept underneath its copious foliage and sat awhile on one of its many twisted branches. ‘It’s been here forever and is very special to the children. They come inside and it feels like another world. How magic is that?’
The school’s very active PTA provided the funds for the amphitheatre, which sits on the hillside surrounded by neighbouring sheep; the adventure trail, which provides a safe but fun environment for active play; and the outdoor classroom, which enjoys a sheltered plot, making it ideal for use all year round.
Among the school’s many other facilities are a music suite, a fully-equipped gymnasium, an indoor heated swimming pool and a converted hayloft for art and design technology.
‘Our aim is to provide our children with a well-rounded education, and that means giving them every opportunity we can to pursue their own particular talents,’ Jane explained. ‘We don’t want to produce clones; we want to send our children out into the world as fully-rounded, happy, interested, hard-working individuals.’ And if they arrive with grubby knees, so be it.
