Steiner school in Stourbridge (Elmfield) - Anyone know it ?

[TheodoresMummy]

Briefly : We have the prospectus and are going to visit this school, but would really love to hear any thoughts. Keen to hear good or bad.

my friend went there. if this is the type of education you want for your child then i'd say it's good.

my friend went basically cos she hated the school she was at, her best friend went there and told her they did no work and didn't even have to turn up to lessons if they didn't want to?

i don't know how old your child is but they do GCSEs over 2 years. so they do i think its four in year 10 and four in year 11. they start proper school a year later than our state schools, so they finish yr 11 when they are 17 instead of 16.

Are you going to the open day on 10th March? We're going too!

There was a whole thread a while ago about Steiner education - I'll see if I can find it.

Here it is

It's about Steiner schools in general, rather than just Elmfield though.

I would love to make the open day. You don't have to book a place do you ? Doesn't look like it from the website.

Thanks for the links to the previous threads on Steiner Ed - interesting stuff. One thing that seems to be an issue is that the schools can vary so much in sooooo many ways. I wish the people posting would say which schools they are talking about. Think I will post another thread being a bit more specific.

Are you set on a Steiner school or looking at a few alternatives ? How old is/are your LO/LOs ?

DD is only 2. We're considering a number of options including both state and private school. I'm an early years teacher and my heart says that from the little I know, the way the steiner system is organised is far more akin to my own values, but, I don't know if I'd really be able to back off on the "teaching" aspect at home. It would be very hard for me, but if I truly believed it would be right for dd, then I would cope

Are you local?

We are in Stratford-upon-Avon. There is a Steiner-inspired Kindergarten in Leamington-Spa too which we are going to see. I love the approach of Steiner Schools, esp for early years. I have looked at a couple of alternative schools too (not visited, just prospectus') and love the look of them, but they are much further away.

I was seriously considering Home Ed, but my DS loves his nursery so much (and has come so far in just 1.5 terms) that I am coming round to the idea of him going to school after all.

Where are you ? Do you know anyone who sends their kids to Elmfield ?

My DS is 3.3

Are you going to take you DD with you to the open day ? My husband has to work on that day, so I am wondering if I should take DS or whether I will not really get much from the day if I do.

Yes, we are taking dd. I think I want to see how she reacts to the environment too.

I know someone who went to the school themselves, but interestingly, her older brother went to a different, much more mainstream sort of school. She has two boys and I asked her whether she would consider sending them.

She said that if she had a girl, she definitely would, because it is very creative. However, both her boys are very sporty and she doesn't think that side of them would be adequately developed.

hi tm

I am sending ds, am also considering HE. He is at the kindergarten and I think that is the way to get into it really.

I have a very creative little boy, so it suits me well.

am rushing now. I am in cardiff though.

oh and i went through the steiner system myself to an extent.

will return

i'm in cardiff too fonk (and also stourbridge a lot of the time) lol

me and ds are going to be going to the family afternoons. if anyone is interested they are mon, tue and thur 12.40 - 2.15

I miss the Elmfield school schop. That was great.

suebaroo did you go there then?

No, but I had friends who did, and I know someone who used to teach there. There used to be a shop in the town centre selling stuff that was made there and it was like Aladdin's cave.

Stourbridge isn't very interesting at all in the town centre now.

The school itself has the shop now on the premises. Its open to the public on school days from half eight til about four.

Ah, now that's worth knowing

so is it stuff the children have made??

are you both near stourbridge then? i'm in kingswinford.

What are the family afternoons Nappyaddict ?

DS is prob a bit big now, he is 4.

it's in the kindergarten room so it gets them familiar with their surroundings and they can play with all the toys etc in there. i wouldn't have thought 4 was too old. i think it is similar to a mum and toddler group and we have 3 and 4 year olds come to our local one before/after nursery. the number is 01384 394633

this says it is for under 5s.

If you can find stripeymama, I think she knows it!

Any one has new information about subject,I do HE my four and half years old and being in waitting list for a year to get there, I asked them about part time schooling for Kindergarten and they said it can be, do you know about year 1 and later hours?is it as long as state schools?

I'm in Kingswinford too (waves to nappy)!
A friend's son went to Elmfield and enjoyed it, although he went on to find college tough and couldn't really work under his own steam, so got poor A level results. That may be his personality rather than Elmfield though. He has a job and is doing well now.

I know some parents whose children have been right through the school from Class 1 to Class 11. Their experience depended very much on the Class Teacher. They had a great class teacher for the first few years, who really inspired the children and did some wonderful activities with them.

This was followed by several years of a terrible teacher who was incapable of managing the class, and in fact seemed to be in another world half the time, not even recognising the bullying, constant rule-breaking, and general mayhem that was taking place in front of her. This led to a large number of children leaving the school and several were left psychologically damaged.

Following that teacher's departure, a new teacher took over who was much better. She spent a lot of time and effort trying to heal the wounds, and as a result the atmosphere and relationships between the children improved.

So it's a mixed bag. You'll find some parents who have had a great experience at the school, but others who have not. There's no specific headteacher at Elmfield, so if things do start to go wrong, there's no one person you can turn to. That's important to remember. I would say certainly think about it and give it a try, but don't be afraid to take your child out of the school if it's not working out. Also bear in mind that it is not a special school - a lot of people think it is. Elmfield can support children with SEN, but they provide no more support, probably less in fact, than a regular state school.

Please search MN for earlier Steiner school threads before you put your child in one.