to wonder what happens to all the Steiner kids when they get to secondary age/13?

[Greensleeves]

Do they get their Hogwarts letters, or what?

All the Steiner schools I know of (bar one, in a very expensive area where most people can't afford to live, only the plummy rich pseudo-hippies) finish at 11 or 13. It must be pretty difficult to make the transition to a bog-standard local school, surely?

Hmmmmm heard sooooo many people complain of bullying issues and cultish behaviour re the Steiner schools near us. They're also very selective with huge waiting lists and I don't think the fees are the only financial outlay iykwim.

We were followed around at a local event by some Steiner people trying to get signatures to turn their school into a free school.They got short thrift from me and thankfully they failed to get it.

My school had a belief system, but it was in hard Latin so to be honest it was a bit of mystery to most of us.

Something about rising high and surging forward with God.

You don't think the ideas are a bit... out there? Devils in the TV and no reading til the soul incarnates and all that jazz?

My three went to the Glos school for three years. I think your DD had a near miss Getorff.
Yes they do A-levels (only since the last few years), but they only get to take five GCSEs and a very limited choice.
Wouldn't say all parents are lentil-weavery (not sure what that means), but lentil-weaving doesn't even go halfway there in some cases. And that's just the teachers .

They move in ever decreasing circles.

I know of several senior people in the public sector who went to steiner schools - doesn't seem to have done them any harm...

at anthroposophical in-joke.

I have some friends who went to Steiner school they were home educated for secondary level.

IMO Steiner is beyond lentil weaving, my lentil weaving aunt went to look at it her for her dd and came back saying it was too wacky even for her, something about the porridge being made by pixies and when the child challenged them to the fact that wasn't true they tried to convince her it was.

Our local steiner school seems very interested in money for people who purport to have such hippo ideals

Perhaps they go to Summerhill?

Agree with Mila about the bullying at Steiner schools. It seems to be a feature.

lol at public sector

That is interesting that they are only allowed to take 5 GCSEs whatswrong. I cannot imagine that is much preparation for A levels (hence the results are so flakey).

I wouldn't have been allowed in anyway. The chav klaxons would have sounded as soon as dd and I stepped over the threshold

Steiner was a racist and he had many incorrect ludicrous scientific beliefs including yes goblins.

I adore the sound of hippo ideals!

Love, peace and an annual roll in the mud at Glastonbury?

It sounds like the Land of the Faraway Tree school.

It is a ludicrous belief system. Mind you belief in the holy trinity and many-armed goddesses is ludicrous to me as well.

One of the things which made me stifle a snort as they were showing me around was the idea that kids should only use certain colours at certain ages with their crayon work. I mean FFS!

Yes those incense smoking, love bead wearing, tree hugging hippos.

Think that was part of our problem, Getorf - state school families are not exactly welcomed with open arms (don't seem to mind their cash though).
< bitter >

Re. the Op's question: some of the schools go from 3 to 19, but otherwise it's a matter of shoehorning them back into mainstream ed, or home educating.

Some do flounce off to the private sector, but as the fees are much higher that's probably not the most common option.

Don't get me started on the faceless dolls.

To me however the fact he believed in an aryan(sp???) race and black,asian people having evolutionary limits is far more worrying.

And Gov thinks it's ok for anybody to apply for free school status.

The Steiner belief system is only marginally more ludicrous than other belief systems, but at least in Catholic schools for example they are very upfront about what they believe whereas Steiner is so secretive. And Christianity doesn't tend to pervade the educational philosophy in the same way.

SIL used to be the biggest Steiner advocate ever, ran a playgroup, moved area to send her ds to Steiner school as soon as she could. He lasted a year, she removed him, and won't talk about what happened during his time there. So I can only guess at what went on and how utterly weird they found it all.

My friend grew up in Totnes so knows a lot of Steinery types even though she went to the local comp. She always said they were lovely people, but a little disconnected from reality.

Thanks everyone

I think quite a few of the kids from the Steiner school near here go into the local FE college at age 14. There's also quite a lot of HE children in the area and quite a few of those also go into the FE college at that point.

Seems to me that plenty of children move into and out of Steiner/ home ed/ mainstream state school depending on circumstances (I suspect vagaries of parents income as much as anything else!)