British school bans the word "school"

London, Jan 3 (ANI): The head teacher of a new school in Sheffield, South Yorks, has banned the usage of the word "school", as it could have a negative impact on the pupils' parents.

Watercliffe Meadow, known as a "Place for Learning", has 481 pupils and the kids from nursery to Year 6, are allowed to wear slippers instead of shoes.

"We decided we didn't want to use the word 'school'," the Sun quoted head teacher Linda Kingdon as saying.

"One reason was many parents of children here had very negative connotations of school.

"Instead we want this to be a place for family learning.

"There are no bells or locked doors. We wanted to de-institutionalise the place and bring the school closer to real life," she stated.

However, the decision to do away with the word 'school' has not been met with much favour.

"A school is a school. Seriously," local mum Kimberley Dunne, 26, said.

"The word 'school' doesn't have negative connotations, it's just where you go.

"A school's always been a school, why change it?"

Marie Clair, of the Campaign for Plain English, said: "It's laughable. Do they think by changing the name they will change the environment?

"We all know what the building is. There is this whole political correctness agenda.

"Using unfamiliar words instead of a simple one, like 'school', will get in the way of children's ability to learn."

Andrew Sangar, Sheffield Council cabinet member for children's services, added his thoughts.

"It's a school," he said.

"We consider it a school and that's how we refer to it," he added. (ANI)