By Anastasha Elliott
Paul Lawrence, the founder of the Lyn Jeffers School and also the school’s first principal, said he created the school because he wanted to create his own brand of education programs.
Additionally, he did not want to have any bosses.
“If you have a board over a something, that board would have autonomy to run without any oversight from any overlord,” Lawrence said. “I’m an educationalist. I have been teaching for a long time.”
According to Lawrence when he first started the Lyn Jeffers School “it was really a family thing.”
“It is a private school and therefore should be run by private people,” Lawrence said.
Lawrence said in the beginning he offered education to students who would have failed in the local school setting and even to some whom did not particularly portray any academic ability.
Those students were able to successfully complete school and at the end gain a certificate from the University of Cambridge, Lawrence said.
Many parents, he added, were also disillusioned by the local school system.
“They came to the school and were impressed with the way things were done,” Lawrence said. “We had smaller classes and therefore greater teacher pupil contact.”
He pointed out the school was very successful under his leadership.
However, Lawrence was unable to comment on the present successes of the school.
“I can’t really say. I have really been keeping in touch,” he said.
The Lyn Jeffers School was created in 1997 with six students.
Nine years later Alison Owen Hill stands as Principal.
The school now has a primary level and is located on Craddock Road.
The school has 70 students, ages six to 17, and 17 highly trained and specialised teachers.
