It was founded in by Annabella Noel Byron in 1834 as England's first co-operative school, following Philipp Emanuel von Fellenberg's progressive pedagogy.
Students combined academic subjects with three hours of gardening each day, and corporal punishment was not allowed.
[2] The pedagogical philosophy of the school drew heavily upon that of the Swiss pedagogues Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi and Philipp Emanuel von Fellenberg, and the British socialist Robert Owen.
The basic idea was that character is founded during early childhood, and that punishments and rewards were counter-productive: "Fear makes slaves, and "love of distinction" leads to the bullying and the aggressive passions encouraged in England's elite public school systems".
[4] In addition, students were given allotments and time to garden every day, growing vegetables that they could sell to the school or give to their parents.