The School With A Radical 'No Rules' Policy

The School With A Radical 'No Rules' Policy (2014)

It's every child's dream and every parent's nightmare: no rules at break time. But at Swanston School in Auckland, principle Bruce McLachlan's radical experiment is to throw out the playground rulebook.

"The need to wrap up our kids in cotton wool is actually taking away a lot of learning opportunities", says pioneering principal Bruce McLachlan. Here, not only are the kids allowed to climb trees, skid around on bikes and fire makeshift weapons, it's encouraged. McLachlan's only direction: "don't kill anyone". As a result he claims the children are much more receptive, confident and cooperative.