steiner schools

[Chundle]

Anyone any knowledge of the above? We have a new free academy Steiner opening next year in our city. Considering if it may be an option for dd2 since conventional teaching doesn't seem to be her thing. Thoughts for and against are welcome

That's really strange - in my original country Waldorf schools are state funded and famous for being great with SN kids as opposed to mainstream schools :)

The belief system behind Steiner is that illnesses and disabilities are blessings (okay - quite positive perhaps) because they are a way of aligning our karma where it has been derailed in past lives, and that the disability and illness is an expression of that and needs to be accepted, and endured, in order to reach equlibrium.

Now this CAN mean accepting disability and illness as a part of the community, but it can also mean ignoring any duty to support the child if that support takes away their ability to 'endure it'. iyswim.

It really depends on how far the particular school has taken on the belief system.

Children with disabilities often don't fit into the formal education system we have in the UK, so Steiner, where they can at least appear to be allowed to be themselves can seem attractive. The trouble is that many disabilities require intense and explicit instruction and regular practice in deficit areas in order for the child to learn the skills required to participate in society as adults. The steiner system doesn't allow for this.

fwiw my neice attends a steiner school so I know quite a bit about it. It is fine for her. I wouldn't say great, but fine, and she really enjoys the gnomes stuff.

It would be terrible for my ds.

Just to confuse things further its me Chundle but I namechanged!! Sorry!!!
Isn't it a bit odd though that kids at Steiner schools go through their whole education never experiencing kids with disabilities?? After all disabilities are part of the real world. I think its a shame that kids aren't funded after the age of 5.

Several of the children just a few months older from DS's nursery went onto the local Steiner School, so of course being a typical nosey middle-class Mum anxious not to miss out on the best possible opportunity for my pfb I went to have a butchers for myself. It's worth noting that at this point I was clueless that DS would ever need any SN educational services, (he fell apart in reception).

Perhaps my local one is rather deeply entrenched in the belief system that underpins the Steiner ethos, just as some Catholic Schools are more devout than others? Either way it wasn't for me.

It's utterly pointless discussing any type of schooling on the SN boards if the needs of children with disabilities aren't central to the discussion. Likewise Star makes a valid point about the intensity of the interventions that are often needed.

I'm unsure why Steiner aren't able to take statemented children past 5, when other mainstream schools in the private sector can and do? (there are several posters on this board who can testify to this).

There is a Steiner School at Towcester, Northants for boys on the Autistic spectrum and their literature says funding comes from Local Authorities through the Statements of the pupils. It also names various LAs who have funded children at the school.