This paper takes as its central theme the challenges of ‘place’ (past and present, local and national) in small rural school contexts. It examines the ways ‘place’ contributes to bring to life important cultural variations in the purpose and nature of school and community relations. To explore this issue, the paper draws on reviews of empirical research on rural schools and their communities in British and Nordic countries and a research and development project in Australia. This project, conducted in 2008 and 2009, on leading and learning in small rural schools was part of the Australian Council for Educational Research’s ‘Educational Dialogue Series’. The project involved an international review of literature (with an emphasis on Australian research), in-depth recorded interviews framed by a critical narrative approach with five principals of small schools from different backgrounds, locations (geography and climate), and staff and student populations, and a two-day focus group workshop on the findings with participants and an external project reviewer. It culminated in the publishing of a book and a jointly run national forum on this topic. The reviews and fieldwork suggest that the challenges of ‘place’ affect understandings and practices of inclusive school-community relations.