It was announced today that Hereford Steiner Academy has been successful in a bid for EU funding. The funding will allow the school to take part in a two-year project to explore the design of new qualifications pathways. The project could lead to opportunities for students in further learning and employment, as well as leading to the accreditation of the Steiner curriculum in Europe.
The Hereford Steiner Academy, due to open on 1st September 2008, is one of a group of 12 Steiner schools across 8 European countries – Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, England, Germany, Holland, Norway, Slovenia – to secure EU funding under the Comenius-School-Partnership-Programme. This project was initiated by the European Council for Steiner Waldorf Education together with the Potsdam Waldorf School and the bid for funding was written by ECSWE and Potsdam Waldorf School on behalf of the partners.
The Principal of the new Academy, Trevor Mepham, was delighted with the announcement. He said:-
"This funding has potential significance for pupils and staff as the school begins life as an Academy. Being part of the School Partnership Programme provides us with an opportunity to work with colleagues and partners in European education to ensure that the learning and achievements of our students are recognised across European boundaries. This could lead to new employment opportunities for students as well as business links for the school. We are one of two Steiner schools in the UK to be selected for this project which brings a European initiative in education into the county of Herefordshire."
The first programme meeting takes place in September, in Potsdam, Germany. At the end of the 2-year project, all project partners will gather in Hereford for one of the final project meetings at the Steiner Academy in Much Dewchurch.
There are currently 30 schools teaching Steiner education in the UK and Steiner schools are part of mainstream state-funded education in the majority of European countries. Founded in 1919, Steiner curriculum emphasizes social, emotional, practical and academic learning. Steiner schools welcome pupils from all faiths and backgrounds.
Monday, September 08, 2008
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Hereford Steiner Academy gets go-ahead
Schools Minister, Andrew Adonis, has given the go ahead for the Hereford Steiner Academy to open in September 2008.
The Academy is sponsored by the Steiner Waldorf Schools Fellowship and will be the first school in the UK to offer free Steiner education. The Hereford Steiner Academy will replace the Hereford Waldorf School and will have around 290 pupils aged three to 16 years on its roll when it opens in September. The school will benefit from significant capital investment from central government which will be used to refurbish much of the school's existing site as well as developing new teaching facilities.
The Principal of the new Academy, Trevor Mepham, said:
"We are delighted to become the first Steiner school in the UK to offer publicly-funded Steiner education and we look forward to opening in September. This is an opportunity for us to participate in the broader educational discourse; to listen, to learn and to contribute our own ideas, approaches and experiences."
Sylvie Sklan, chair of the transitional board of governors and lead representative for the Steiner Waldorf Schools Fellowship, said:
"We are very pleased that the Academies programme has enabled us to make the Steiner curriculum more open and accessible. The new Academy will provide greater choice for the parents of Herefordshire and enable more children to benefit from this creative education."
Schools Minister, Andrew Adonis, said:
"The academies programme is all about raising standards and offering choice for parents, so I'm delighted that the first state funded Steiner school can now open as an academy.
"Academies are allowed a flexible curriculum and an independent governing board, which is where they fit with the Steiner ethos. Academies are popular with parents, with on average three applications for every place and I'm sure the Hereford Steiner Academy will be no less popular."
There are currently 26 schools teaching Steiner education in the UK and Steiner schools are part of mainstream state-funded education in the majority of European countries. Founded in 1919, Steiner curriculum puts equal emphasis on emotional and academic learning and Steiner schools welcome pupils from all faiths and backgrounds.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
News from Ireland
To all Friends of Raheen Wood & Mol an Oige Steiner Schools, CountyClare, Ireland
Dear All,
We have now received letters from the Irish Department of Education and Science informing us that Minister Mary Hanafin has decided to grant provisional recognition to the proposed Raheen Wood and Mol an Oige Steiner National Schools with effect from 1st September, 2008.This is an historic moment in the 21 year old path of Steiner Education in Ireland, and it is significant for the worldwide Steiner Waldorf movement as a whole that another sovereign state has today agreed to recognise what we bring to the education of young minds and hearts.As is the norm for new schools, what has been granted intially is provisional recognition, in this case for one year. The question of permanent recognition is considered then when the Department is satisfied that the long-term viability of the new schools has beendemonstrated. At Raheen Wood, an All School Meeting on 28th February will consider the question of acceptance of the Department's offer.
Alan DickeyFor Raheen Wood School Transition Group
Dear All,
We have now received letters from the Irish Department of Education and Science informing us that Minister Mary Hanafin has decided to grant provisional recognition to the proposed Raheen Wood and Mol an Oige Steiner National Schools with effect from 1st September, 2008.This is an historic moment in the 21 year old path of Steiner Education in Ireland, and it is significant for the worldwide Steiner Waldorf movement as a whole that another sovereign state has today agreed to recognise what we bring to the education of young minds and hearts.As is the norm for new schools, what has been granted intially is provisional recognition, in this case for one year. The question of permanent recognition is considered then when the Department is satisfied that the long-term viability of the new schools has beendemonstrated. At Raheen Wood, an All School Meeting on 28th February will consider the question of acceptance of the Department's offer.
Alan DickeyFor Raheen Wood School Transition Group
Monday, February 11, 2008
Press Release 8th February 2008
Steiner Waldorf Schools Fellowship: Statement in Response to Reports from the Cambridge Review and the National Foundation for Educational Research (08-02-2008)
The Steiner Waldorf Schools Movement (UK) welcomes the reports that have been published by the Cambridge Primary Review and the NFER concerning the issues of school-starting age, pupil testing and school league tables.
Along with others, we consider the child's first years of learning and educational experiences to be of crucial importance and value for the child, the child's future health and development and the emerging society, which we share.
In Steiner schools across the world, the young child is enabled to develop sure foundations for learning. In our settings we provide an environment in which young children can immerse themselves in creative, experiential, social play. This play is not scripted or determined by narrow 'academic' learning outcomes. In this way, children develop skills and learning dispositions for life and for living: thoughtfulness, care, responsiveness, enthusiasm, a lasting interest in the world and one another. These human qualities and values elude attempts at quantification, yet are the life-blood of meaningful individual and community life. Our educational approach aims to develop a full range of competences through providing a blend of cognitive, practical and aesthetic experiences. This approach is founded on the principle of meeting children in their development, rather than pushing and prodding them towards artificially constructed targets and goals.
While tests and league tables are ephemeral and arguably insubstantial, aptitudes and attitudes are lasting and potent forces for social renewal and progress. 'Earliness', 'competitive acceleration' and relentless testing lead to pressurised learning and have questionable purposes except in their own terms. As concepts they are qualitatively different from 'readiness', 'suitability' and 'authentic assessment', or respecting the child and their learning.
The Steiner Waldorf Schools Movement supports the NUT's call for a considered review of current arrangements for the testing of primary school pupils. Steiner educators are ready to contribute to such a review and to join the debate about the most effective ways for children to be educated and cared for in our times.
8th February 2008
The Steiner Waldorf Schools Movement (UK) welcomes the reports that have been published by the Cambridge Primary Review and the NFER concerning the issues of school-starting age, pupil testing and school league tables.
Along with others, we consider the child's first years of learning and educational experiences to be of crucial importance and value for the child, the child's future health and development and the emerging society, which we share.
In Steiner schools across the world, the young child is enabled to develop sure foundations for learning. In our settings we provide an environment in which young children can immerse themselves in creative, experiential, social play. This play is not scripted or determined by narrow 'academic' learning outcomes. In this way, children develop skills and learning dispositions for life and for living: thoughtfulness, care, responsiveness, enthusiasm, a lasting interest in the world and one another. These human qualities and values elude attempts at quantification, yet are the life-blood of meaningful individual and community life. Our educational approach aims to develop a full range of competences through providing a blend of cognitive, practical and aesthetic experiences. This approach is founded on the principle of meeting children in their development, rather than pushing and prodding them towards artificially constructed targets and goals.
While tests and league tables are ephemeral and arguably insubstantial, aptitudes and attitudes are lasting and potent forces for social renewal and progress. 'Earliness', 'competitive acceleration' and relentless testing lead to pressurised learning and have questionable purposes except in their own terms. As concepts they are qualitatively different from 'readiness', 'suitability' and 'authentic assessment', or respecting the child and their learning.
The Steiner Waldorf Schools Movement supports the NUT's call for a considered review of current arrangements for the testing of primary school pupils. Steiner educators are ready to contribute to such a review and to join the debate about the most effective ways for children to be educated and cared for in our times.
8th February 2008
Friday, December 07, 2007
SWSF Statement on Early Years Foundation Stage
The recent media focus on the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) that becomes law next September has required the Steiner Waldorf Schools Fellowship to make clear its view of the EYFS, as in the statement below.
SWSF statement regarding the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS)
The SWSF respects the sincerity with which the government has tackled issues around childhood and education over the last ten years and does not support a blanket condemnation of the EYFS.
We recognise that the new EYFS introduces a much needed single body of regulation for the care and education of young children from birth to five and that this integrated framework is the result of a fundamental overhaul of the regulation that followed the death of Victoria Climbie.
We also recognise the progressive nature of the 4 principles that the EYFS framework is based on and that these principles have the potential to bring improved practice into the care and education of all young children.
We acknowledge that the EYFS is not a curriculum and that the Minister has given assurance that the implementation of the EYFS will accommodate and encourage different approaches to the care and education of young children.
We are concerned, however, that the progressive nature of the EYFS is overshadowed by
· the statutory nature of the learning and development requirements
· the statutory nature of the requirement to submit data about each child’s learning and development in the Early years foundation stage profile
The fact that the EYFS contains certain statutory requirements that are in direct conflict with the Steiner Early Years curriculum is causing alarm. The concern is that, without a legal solution, the statutory nature of these requirements has the potential to undermine the very basis of the Steiner curriculum which is recognised world-wide. We therefore are continuing to seek reassurance from DCSF and OFSTED that the implementation of the EYFS will not compromise the Steiner EY curriculum. We intend to explore with the DCSF how the regulations pertaining to exemptions might be drafted to resolve these two issues without jeopardizing the right to funding. A legal solution of this nature would uphold the principle of diversity of approach and parental right of choice
SWSF statement regarding the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS)
We recognise that the new EYFS introduces a much needed single body of regulation for the care and education of young children from birth to five and that this integrated framework is the result of a fundamental overhaul of the regulation that followed the death of Victoria Climbie.
We also recognise the progressive nature of the 4 principles that the EYFS framework is based on and that these principles have the potential to bring improved practice into the care and education of all young children.
We acknowledge that the EYFS is not a curriculum and that the Minister has given assurance that the implementation of the EYFS will accommodate and encourage different approaches to the care and education of young children.
We are concerned, however, that the progressive nature of the EYFS is overshadowed by
· the statutory nature of the learning and development requirements
· the statutory nature of the requirement to submit data about each child’s learning and development in the Early years foundation stage profile
The fact that the EYFS contains certain statutory requirements that are in direct conflict with the Steiner Early Years curriculum is causing alarm. The concern is that, without a legal solution, the statutory nature of these requirements has the potential to undermine the very basis of the Steiner curriculum which is recognised world-wide. We therefore are continuing to seek reassurance from DCSF and OFSTED that the implementation of the EYFS will not compromise the Steiner EY curriculum. We intend to explore with the DCSF how the regulations pertaining to exemptions might be drafted to resolve these two issues without jeopardizing the right to funding. A legal solution of this nature would uphold the principle of diversity of approach and parental right of choice
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