Barefoot in November: Parenting the Summerhill Way

Zoë Neill Readhead has been a pupil, parent and grandparent at Summerhill School, which her father, A. S. Neill, founded in 1921. Since 1985 Zoë has been Principal of the school.

She writes:

'I love parents. I love seeing them out with their children at supermarkets, in the park, at the zoo. I have such respect for the fact that people are ready to change their whole lives for that little scrap of a person who arrives with such a flourish of trumpets and proceeds to take over everything!

'Summerhill is a happy place to live ... If we can look closely at what Summerhill does and how it does it, then perhaps we can transfer some of what it offers into our homes, into our parenting.'

This book's stories and conclusions draw on Zoë's experience in the school and her family. She suggests that some aspects of the Summerhill way of bringing up children and young people are highly relevant for family life today and adds unequivocally: 'Remain on the side of the child.'

Author: Zoë Neill Readhead
Publisher: A. S. Neill Summerhill Trust
Published: 11/22/2021
Pages: 146
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.45lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.31d
ISBN: 9781527296954

About the Author
Neill Readhead, Zoë: - "Born in November 1946 at Summerhill School, Leiston, Suffolk, daughter of A.S.Neill, the school's founder. She was brought up through "self-regulation" and she was educated at Summerhill.Married to Tony Readhead, who is a local farmer, mother to four children: Amy, William, Henry, Neill - all of which attended Summerhill. She is also grandmother to four Summerhill pupils and one to be.A qualified British Horse Society riding instructor. She taught riding for many years as well as breeding and showing Arabian horses. Main interests are wildlife, the environment and animal care in general.Took over as Principal at Summerhill in 1985 where the learning curve was extremely steep!"