Academy Status- state millions for Steiner school- is this right or fair?

[northernrefugee39]

OK, I know people have had enough of the Steiner thing, but Hereford Steiner school is being granted academy status, millions of pounds of government money, when other non religious/ specialist schools are desperate for an injection of cash.
Guardian article here

The Woods report which was a government commissioned report into Steiner education seems quite biased towards the anthroposophical ideas.

I just think it seems strange that a school so obviously religious in flavour can be given this status.

I'm with the locals complaining about millions being dished out to Steiner when ordinary village schools are closing - especially since they are planning to use the site of an old village school! Maybe someone in the Steiner movement or this consultancy whatever it is knows 'the right people'.

HOw long before Bzzz turns up?

I suppose that Steiner parents do pay taxes. However it seems unfair that other private school children cannot get their educations subsidised.

I found this bit annoying.

"Ministers had originally hoped the Steiner movement could fund an academy in the inner-cities but there were difficulties in finding suitable sites so the one chosen, the Hereford Waldorf school, is partly housed in the former village school in Much Dewchurch."

Obviously inner city kids aren't good enough for Steiner.

Do schools which push other religions/philosophies get academy status? I'm not very well up on the meaning of his category - we don't have them up here!

CAn I point out that the article says that the DfES is considering state school status. The OP says the school is being granted the status. That is a very long way from being certain at this stage.

Also Steiner is not religious from the point of view that you have to be practising a certain faith to get in. So anyone could go, which means it would be more inclusive than most state run faith schools.

"Do schools which push other religions/philosophies get academy status? I'm not very well up on the meaning of his category - we don't have them up here! "

You would be surprised.

www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2002/mar/09/schools.religion

Prehaps not quite as scary as Steiner.

it sounds like the government trying to cover all bases. On the one hand they push early academics and testing, on the other they consider funding an 'academy' which does not begin to teach literacy until the age of 7.

artichokes, I think they have actually got it since the the article was written.

This is Zooey on another thread

"I live in a country where Steiner schools are state funded. They are still really bad schools, and the anthroposophists are compulsive liars who hide their agenda. No openness, no accountability, nothing that would solve the issues critics usually have with waldorf/anthroposophy/steiner."

Here is the artcle saying the Academy state funding is to go ahead

in the Finacial Times?

Financial Times
"A private school with a radical teaching method"

A consultant who has worked with the school said
?If you want a Steiner school, what you?re saying is, you want the different curriculum. If you have the national curriculum, it?s no longer a Steiner school.?

EErrr - right.
Does the national curiculum have reincarnation in the syllubus?
And science! Steiner's view of science is spiritual! How on earth are they going to teach that gnomes are real life beings, and humans were on earth at the same time as dinasaurs.
Evolutiuon- humans eveloved on Atlantis from root races, the most spiritually advanced being the aryan.

Do you think that was in the Woods report commissioned by the government, Riven?

Oh yes, and left-handedness is a karmic weakness, a past life issue

They expected to have the funding ages ago. Loads of local opposition to it though.

Yes, I know it's been going on for a while.
They have to compromise their curriculum , or be "deceptive" basically. They're pretty good at deflection though, well practised.

I just object to 10 million of government money funding what seems essentially a cult like belief system underlying their natural holistic rainbow silks.
All the stuff about awakening and reincarnating children's souls.
I mean, they use language which is evasive at the best of timesthey must have gone into over drive for this state funding.

the school my sons' attended was thinking of applying for state funding and always said 'the curriculum is non-negotiable', but they were quite happy to humiliate the children by agreeing that they could sit SATs which they would fail dismally because they had not covered the material. I know from the school's OFSTED report that they were utterly evasive about anthroposophy. The thing is, it's perfectly possible to pull the wool over people's eyes by citing 'acceptable' rather than esoteric reasons for why they do certain things. Basically there was a sense that they would 'play the game' to get government funding, whilst giving up nothing of their own ways.

Not unless they are prepared to teach actual science instead of the crapola that they seem to favour

and sort out all the other deeply offensive stuff as Riven said

how long until thebee spots this thread ?

Oh he's changed his name to buzzbe or something.

He's on the other thread.

I think he's trying to think of a spiritual way of explaining why a Steiner teacher in the states got away with binding and gagging a child at a Steiner school there.

And he's mouthing off about how ours and other families experiences are "myths" from a "small hate group in US".

And how his stalking me around the net, talking about my maiden name, about not trying to find where I live, guessing whether it's me or not on other blogs, forums or discussions, and then posting it as fact. Well, he's good at making assumptions and posting it as the truth.

He forgets that we're real people with real kids I think.

hey northern, it's me by the way, MaryAnn -name changed in appreciation of The Apprentice...

Not right. I hate academies.

And no more wrong than the vARDY'S OPENING (oops) academies all over the north of England.

Oh Hi mary Margeret! Margeret Mountford is excactly like my English techer when i weas 13/14. And she was extremely inspiring.
What a fab nick name.

I really appreciate her mouth; I like the way she puts lippy on it even tho it's not really a mouth of worth.
But that actually *makes8 it a mouth of worth