Talk to me about Steiner....

[Scarredbutnotbroken]

I have a dd at a montessori which I love. Thinking about independent school options in Devon as I am currently Plymouth bit would consider a move up the line. There is a Steiner school not far. What's the latest mn verdict of Steiner?

Huh?

Oh, it's starting....

Fwiw, I agree with all the others advising caution - definitely look into the ethos behind this, and pay close attention to any answers you're not given during open days/visits. Yes, it is all floaty and alternative at superficial level, but there's nothing free and easy about it - apart from times when organisation and galvanising skills are necessary, when it can be tooth-grindingly frustrating.

There's a good thread on the mule on fb about Steiner - already warned the page owner it might get pulled

No direct experience. But have (pretty mainstream) friends who moved their child out of a private prep that was making him anxious into a Steiner school. They are delighted with their decision. I have read lots on here about culty weirdness, but they have never experienced any of that. They have a happier, settled and inquisitive boy and his younger sibling is also flourishing there. A lot of people send their children to church schools without believing in god and his friends; I don't think you have to subscribe to an entire philosophy to appreciate a school.

Thank you for the correction tizian It isn't very clear on the alumni page that he is the ex-president but current CEO.

I notice from his comments that he is black too - very neatly blowing another Steiner myth (that the schools are racist) out of the water .... :)

pants.

I don't know much about Steiner, but as a primary school teacher I've experienced quite a few children coming to us in years 4/5/6 having left Steiner schools. Usual reasons have been lack of academic progress rather than anything more sinister. And, a bit of a generalisation, these children are lovely polite and sociable, but can't read or write very well. Within a term or two they are well on the way to catching up- it's really as if they have been held back and are desperate to get on with it.

interesting article

I went to the Steiner school just outside Totnes and I must say I loved my time at school, I was very happy and country to what tottytrot says there was a very low turn over of children.

Yes some of the ideas are a little strange but IME very few people take it all 100% seriously.

When I went to school (I did my GCSEs 10 years ago) we took only 3 GCSEs, that wasn't an issue because when applied to college they took into account our teacher's recommendations and I went on to do A-levels in biology, maths, sociology, photography and chemistry. I then gained a degree in photogrpahy and worked as a photographer in the UK and Australia for 5 years (now I live in Sweden and work as a English teacher.) Most of the people from my class at school went on to university, I'd say around 80%.

As for SEN I am dyslexic and still managed to get a b in GCSE English lit/lang, my mum works as a SEN teacher at the steiner school in south Devon.

The only issue you may have is that there are very long waiting lists, I have a friend who had to send her kids to the Steiner school in Exeter because there were not enough spaces in the year her son would be going into. Friends from school have their little babies names down now, so even if you think you might want to send your child there in the future my advice is put their name down now!

I am expecting my first child in December and we will put his name down for Steiner daycare and Steiner school, it is easier here because Steiner schools are free (all Swedish schools are free) so there isn't a finacial consideration. I am really not a dreamy hippy, I have the opinion that I would send my child to a c of e school without fully believing that christ rose from death and so why not send my child to a Steiner school without fully believing what Rudolf Steiner said. My point is that I have experienced Steiner education and I trust it enough to think that it is good enough for my own child.

Lastly the teachers do not teach the children the thories behind Steiner education. When you read the books it can all be a "bit much" but day to day your child will be in a very caring, inspiring, nuturing enviroment.

Like littleplasticpeople, I too have taught a number of exSteiner school children. Their parents have moved them once they have realised that their reading and writing has been so very poor. Whilst they have caught up, it has not always been easy for them and I find it very frustrating that a school can serve its students so poorly, whilst being frankly supercilious around parents' perfectly valid choices concerning things like TV watching, food, computers and even clothing. Some of the former Steiner students have also required considerable work on their social skills and have arrived in my classroom as very intolerant children. It's up to you - I'm not sure I could take all the felting.

Delphine for me it was the opposite, I was at a state primary school till I was 10 and didn't learn to read (somehow the teacher didn't realise I couldn't read) but I have a GCSE in both English literature and English language at a b grade, I am sure I would not have achieved that if I had been at a state comprehensive.

The children will be behind in terms of reading at the age of 6/7/8 simply because they have only just started to learn to read. I don't see an issue with that, I now live in a country where all children learn to read at 7 and the literacy results are better than the UK. In my opinion education isn't a race.

The problem is, taking a child out of Steiner because of lack of academic progress in early years, shows a parent who hadn't really looked into how Steiner schools work. Steiner education is a long-haul thing, so no, a Steiner parent won't be able to join the race of parental one-upmanship and drop into conversations how, at the age of 7, Delphine/Tarquin scored 129% maths and has a reading age of 25. If you want a competitive hot-house school where your child has homework from the age of 4 and is constantly scored against their classmates and a school is only bothered with exam results, then Steiner is not the right education system to choose.

Steiner education needs to be looked at long term. It's about encouraging a love of learning that allows all children to reach their potential and find areas of their life where they can shine. My daughter's school is more bothered with turning out well-rounded young adults than anything else (and I've previously mentioned how polite, confident and intelligent the older children are). This approach obviously works for them, as the school had the highest GCSE pass rate in the area (and it's an area with some very good oversubscribed state schools so coming top is no mean feat).