ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a portrait of Rowan School, a nursery and infant school in the English Midlands. The portrait paints a picture of vernacular change, based on experimentation with the creative arts, which transformed the whole school. Beside the security glass and coded lock at the entrance to Rowan Infants is a very domestic ding-dong front door bell, which the children ring when they want to come in at playtime. Seeing the students through and being there for the families had practical implications for the way Rowan School was organised. The artists were expected to teach, but they weren’t expected to be teachers. In fact, the otherness of the artists was very highly valued at Rowan. Ultimately, though, the teachers and artists at Rowan rejected the idea of development through apprenticeship. Ringo the sculptor has long sideburns, is slight, sockless and dressed in an Irish surfing tee-shirt.
