Special report from West Rise Junior School

“If you have a child that is more practical, that is not getting there academically, and you do not build their confidence, you do not equip them with life skills, then how have you prepared them for life?”Alex Richards is the farm manager at West Rise Junior School in Eastbourne. The school is famous for its risk-embracing pedagogy, with students engaged in multiple out-of-the-classroom lessons, predominantly on a large marshland rented from the council.Since winning the Tes Primary School of the Year award in 2016, it has received a lot of coverage for taking its students shooting and teaching hunting skills and for its headteacher, Mike Fairclough, a self-proclaimed hippy.But for this episode of Tes Podagogy, I went down to the school to look beyond the headlines, to find out what drives the pedagogical approach and to talk to the children about their experiences at the school.In the podcast, I chat to pupils, to Mike, to Alex and to other staff members to see how they can manage to balance an academic programme that has put the school (which is situated in a derpived area and has a high percentage of chidlren eligible for pupil premium) among the best in terms of results in the region, and a pedagogy aimed at life lessons, too.For some photos of the day follow this linkI went down on a snowy day in December and, a warning, the podcast also contains audio of the gutting, cooking and eating of pheasents.