FORMER education secretary Sir Gavin Williamson visited King Alfred School to learn more about the Lower Gornal primary school’s unique focus on classical education.

South Staffordshire MP Sir Gavin met co-founders Tom Bowen and Hayley Bowen, headteacher, and spoke about their mission to offer an alternative education.

The fee-paying independent classical Christian school is in its third year of operation and is looking to move premises in the near future so it can extend its offering to secondary education.

The classical education method has its roots in ancient Greece and Rome and is structured as a three-part process. Pupils first build a foundation of knowledge, then they learn to think critically, before finally grasping skills such as public speaking and persuasive writing.

Sir Gavin said: “It was great to visit King Alfred School and to meet the school community.

“As a former Secretary of State for Education, I particularly enjoyed learning about the school’s distinctive teaching methods and how this benefits students.”

Co-founder Tom Bowen said: “The King Alfred School was set up by local parents to provide local children with a classical education at as low a price as possible.

“A classical education is the means by which we pass on the cultural inheritance of western civilisation by studying the greatest achievements in literature, history, the arts and sciences from the classical era to the present day.”