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Original poster

Steiner schools... good or bad?

37 replies

FelicityLinen · 21/08/2018 15:05

Hi mumsnetters, this is my first post! As a new mum of one DS I am now thinking about education from a parents' perspective. I live near a Steiner/Waldorf school and have heard some good things about it. What are your thoughts/experiences? I like the artistic focus but does it give children a good enough chance to excel academically too?

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picklemepopcorn · 21/08/2018 17:12

Quite! It was great taking mine in whatever comfy and practical clothes we liked.

The children seem to stay 'young' longer, they don't actively try to 'wake them up', they let them develop at their own pace. DS2 was firing on all cylinders early, and when he joined mainstream aged 7 he caught up in no time. DS1 was dreamy until he was about 12. Well 22 going on 12. He's still a bit dreamy.

But you need to look into it thoroughly. The teachers at DSs school never brought the religion (theosophy) into it, in fact one was a CofE Church warden.

Original poster
FelicityLinen · 21/08/2018 17:44

@picklemepopcorn how did yours find adjusting to mainstream education coming from a Steiner school?

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HettieBettie · 21/08/2018 18:26

Any school is only as good as it’s staff.

Personally I think you have to be careful with Steiner philosophy indoctrinating children but no more than faith schools etc

I would personally be very alert to the safeguarding and safety in a Steiner school. Eg how secure is the site when looking around? As many are quite literally have an ‘open door’ policy - I wouldn’t be happy with this.

picklemepopcorn · 21/08/2018 19:25

Safeguarding was an issue, but more to do with lots of flames and fancy dress, rather than strangers.

They adjusted brilliantly- DS2 went into Y2of a small primary, then a huge secondary. DS1 stayed in the very small school up to GCSE, because he wouldn't have coped in a huge school.

DS2 is off to Uni this year, prestigious course. DS1 didn't finish his Computer science degree, but he's always worked from the age of 18. He's in a tech job now. Very dyslexic/dyspraxic/or ASD.

Cliona1972 · 21/08/2018 20:11

Nothing would pay me to send a child to them. They sell it as happy clappy, hands on, nature friendly but the underlying philosophy is one I'd run a mile from.

HoverParent · 22/08/2018 15:30

It's like nursery instead of like school. It's a safe haven in the US among anti-vaxxers because they evade the state vaccination requirement for school attendance. But they don't learn to read or write properly until Year 3 (they are forced to write with an ink quill that they make themselves, which sounds romantic until you try writing with one, it basically prevents them from writing anything) and maths is low on the list of priorities (have not seen any maths teaching at all), so they are basically missing out on school. Y3 is basically English Reception level.

The worst criticism is of course the legacy ethos of racism and unscientific grounding in the learning philosophy. If you are an ethnic minority, I would steer well clear.

picklemepopcorn · 22/08/2018 18:33

The underlying science is science.
The underlying philosophy is dodgy. However, I don't know any schools that actually follow that philosophy now. Steiner was a turn of the century German, when all things weird and wonderful were in fashion.
The education system which grew out of it is educationally sound, even if the belief system it grew from is not.

picklemepopcorn · 22/08/2018 18:35

For example when they start teaching letters and numbers, each figure has a picture and story associated with it to make it memorable. That was also used more recently by Jolly Phonics and Letterland.

Norestformrz · 22/08/2018 18:51

"The underlying science is science." Should that be The underlying science isn't science?

PalePinkSwan · 22/08/2018 19:02

There’s a Steiner near us, who take their children to the nearby park constantly and they are notoriously nasty bullying little horrors. The teachers essentially believe that children are bullied because they deserve it, as punishment for past sins, so don’t step in.

The superficial stuff all sounds very nicey-nicey (nature! Art! Develop at your own pace!) but the underlying philosophy is very very weird.

FesteringCarbuncle · 22/08/2018 19:32

The ideology behind it is horrible. I would read up on it
Some parents claim that individual schools do not follow the ideology to the letter but I would be wary

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