A progressive independent school in Wingfield, Wiltshire for children aged 4-11

Grounded in joy

At Lumiar School, wellbeing is as important as doing well. We know that relaxed, happy children are better equipped to learn so we work hard to make Lumiar a place that the children are excited to come to.

• Non-competitive school: children participate in setting bespoke learning targets.

• Formative – not formal – assessment: we remove unnecessary pressure by avoiding tests, exams or SATs.

• Building human skills: being able to communicate, work in teams, and empathise are valued just as highly as reading, writing and arithmetic.

• We nurture self-awareness: trained Thrive practitioners help to build emotional literacy, and our Healthy Habits programme encourages autonomy.

Intentionally small

We want our students to be “free to be me”. Every child is unique, and we adapt our approach to suit them. This is made easier by our small class sizes: we never exceed 18 people in a class, so every child is deeply known by their tutor.

• In 2024/25, the typical class size is just 12 children.

• We teach the stage, not the age: we allow every child to develop at their own speed.

• Mixed-age learning: we don’t keep children siloed in their year group, allowing them to learn from older children, and share what they know with younger ones.

• Strong, supportive relationship with key adult: students typically stay with the same tutor for two years. 

Hands-on

We believe learning should feel relevant, real and tangible and we place a big focus on hands-on experience and learning by doing. 

• School without walls: Lumiar is based on a working farm giving students contact with farm animals and deepening their understanding of food production.

• Daily time outdoors: our playground is a field!

• Learning from real-world experts: we invite Masters into our setting to share their knowledge.

• We value the expressive arts: weekly music and art lessons plus an annual school play performed at The Egg Theatre in Bath.

• We follow current affairs: during ‘Read the World’ sessions, we discuss and debate the hot topics of the day.

• Regular trips: we visit museums, exhibitions, and interesting places related to each term’s main project. Older students also have the chance to join the annual three-day residential trip.

Child-led

We nurture curiosity by letting the children lead the way! They tell us what they want to learn about and then, with their tutor’s support, they create exciting and inspiring projects that they can’t wait to get stuck into.

• Self-directed and consent-based: our approach builds a genuine love of learning, as well as growing the children’s self-awareness and autonomy.

• Every voice matters: all the children participate in decision-making around what projects they will be working on.

• Cultivating change-makers: the whole school meets for Circle Time weekly – led by the children – where issues are raised and discussed, votes are taken, and decisions are made.

Find out more

Come and see Lumiar School for yourself by joining our next Parent Tour.