Kings Langley pupil wins UK dance competition.

When judges announced the winners of a national Latin American dance competition, Kings Langley school pupil, Grace Silliton, was blown away by the result.

Grace, 20, who has just completed her A-Levels at the Rudolf Steiner School, danced her way to the top after it was announced she was the winner of the BachataStars UK Championships, alongside her dance partner Gus Mensah.

After being inspired by her father Martin, who is a salsa teacher in the area, Grace has been dancing since the age of 12.

Grace and Gus only started training together last year and worked on a bachata dance routine, which they performed around the country.

They were spotted to teach at the prestigious Latin Dance Academy in London and soon after decided to enter the BachataStars UK Championships.

Grace said: "I was really nervous. My heart was pounding. It was just down to the last three couples and I was sure that the couple who came second were going to win because they were really fantastic.

"It was really terrifying and I was completely shaking.

"I was so lucky because I had so much support from family and friends, who completely jumped on me when we had won.

"It was the best feeling ever. I have never won anything before. It was just amazing."

The regional heats for the BachataStars competition took place earlier in August, where Grace and Gus were awarded first place to go on to the final.

At sixteen, Grace began teaching Latin dance once a week and is now teaching three times a week, in London and Hertfordshire.

While juggling her dancing and teaching, Grace has just completed a drama and photography A-Level at the school in Langley Hill. Grace said her best memories of school were the performances, plays and musicals, which helped her develop confidence and stage presence, which she says judges often comment on in their feedback.

In the future she plans to visit South America to pursue her passion for dance for further research and study into Latin dance.

The pair will now go on to compete in the European Championships in Oslo and winning the UK Championship won them their flights and hotel stay in Oslo as well as £500.

Martin, her father added: "Of course we are all really excited and very proud of Grace.

"She moves very fluidly which makes her really stand out.

"Lots of girls often say how they would love to dance just like Grace."

Steiner Academy Hereford Students Raise the Bar....

RAISING THE BAR TO VICTORY! 

 

Steiner Academy Hereford won the regional final of the national Bar Mock Trial competition on Saturday 10th November at Birmingham Crown Court.

Each team was made up of barristers for the defence and prosecution, witnesses, defendants, a court clerk, an usher and jurors. Sixteen schools competed from all over the West Midlands region. Following three preliminary rounds the Steiner Academy team was declared winners of their league and met King Edward VI College in the final. The atmosphere in the Court was tense as three judges presided over the case. The outcome was the Steiner Academy team was judged as successfully defending the case and the overall regional winners. The decision was unanimous and the team was highly praised. One judge said that she trains students over three years in Law School and they did not examine their witnesses as well as the defence barristers in the SAH team.

THIS WAS the youngest team in the competition - most schools were represented by sixth form students – the smallest school entering the competition and the the first year the school had entered!

The team will now go forward to the national finals to compete against teams from 15 schools from England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The finals will take place at the Royal Courts of Justice in London on 23rd March 2013. 

Historical Responsibility: a Statement

Our schools and settings are aware of the historical responsibility that attaches to all organisations working with children or vulnerable individuals. In addition to being fully compliant with current legislation and constantly attentive to the needs of the children in their care, we believe that schools should be open to the honest appraisal of past practice that may have fallen short of today's standards.

It is SWSF policy to urge any school or setting that may become aware of historical allegations to contact their local police immediately.

The Battersea Schools Show

Come and see us at the Battersea Independent Schools' Show THIS WEEKEND, Saturday 10th and Sunday 11th November. Eleven of our schools have joined forces in order to represent themselves and the education to the wider public at this major national event. Make it an enjoyable day out for the whole family. See you there...http://www.schoolsshow.com/index.php

Learning through Doing in Edinburgh...

 As we explain on our Ten Distinctive Features web page, activity is central to Steiner education. Here is a glimpse from the Edinburgh Steiner School into Learning through Doing.

Steiner education works! New research confirms our suspicions....

New research shows that Steiner students learn with more enthusiasm and interest, feel more supported, and know their strengths better than students in mainstream schools. The survey of educational experiences of Steiner pupils was done by three experts: scientific co-worker Sylvia Liebenwein, Professor Heiner Barz, both of the University of Düsseldorf, and Dirk Randoll, professor at the Alanus-Hochschule. It examines the educational experiences of Steiner students age 15-18 in Germany. 80% of Steiner students find their learning fun (compared to 67%). 85% find the environment supportive (compared to 60%). The relationship with teachers is judged significantly better at 65% compared to 31%.  Andreas Schleicher, education expert and international co-ordinator of the Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) wrote an informative foreword to the survey. Schleicher praised the emphasis on personal responsibility and self-motivation, preparing children for the life that awaits them after graduation. "There is a high degree of congruence between the requirements of the modern world and what is taught to Steiner students," said Andreas Schleicher. "Remembering facts has less and less importance", the important thing was "to have creative and solution-oriented knowledge that you can apply to new areas". A wide range of experts, students and teachers agree that the optimal learning environment is one with a high degree of initiative, a lot of creative freedom and a high level of student support. The study showed that providing students with motivating performance feedback and the opportunity to learn together and from each other, as in Steiner Schools, are the elements for a successful modern education. You can use Google translate to translate the article from German...

http://www.welt.de/wissenschaft/article109484661/Namen-tanzen-fit-in-Mathe-Waldorf-im-Vorteil.html