Edinburgh Steiner School's Exam Success

STEINER PUPILS SMASH EXAMINATION PASS RATE

Pupils at the Edinburgh Steiner School are celebrating one of the best Higher examination pass rates in Edinburgh. The school, which does not select on the basis of academic ability like other independent schools in Edinburgh, achieved a 96% A-C pass rate which is 21% above the national average.

50% of its pupils achieved 5 Grade As including Tara White who achieved 5 Grades As at Band 1.

Alistair Pugh, a teacher at the school, commented: “We attribute our strong results to our small class sizes and the unique nature of the Steiner curriculum. We expand on the exam curriculum through a programme called Main Lessons, a technique which is only used in Steiner Schools. These are topic blocks which are studied continuously for 2 hours a day over a four week period. Main Lessons ensure that, irrespective of their final exam subject choices, our pupils cover a wide breadth of topics throughout their education which greatly assists them in their examinations and beyond.”

Alongside academic success, the school places an equal importance on creating a nurturing and supportive environment.

Dr Rebecca McKinlay, former pupil, explains: “The Edinburgh Steiner School gave me a broader education and range of experience than my previous school. I was free to be myself without being bullied or ostracised. I just wish I'd been there for the entirety of my education. I'm now a postdoctoral research assistant having completed my PhD at Imperial College, London.”

Please join us for a School Tour on Friday 7^th October 2011. To book, call 0131 337 3410 or visit www.edinburghsteinerschool.org.uk.

Canterbury Christ Church University and SWSF collaboration: Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) and a new Masters Programme.

SWSF has been working closely with Canterbury Christ Church University (CCCU) on two exciting new projects: the development of a route by which experienced Steiner Waldorf teachers can gain Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) and also the launch of a new Masters programme leading to MA Education (Steiner Waldorf).

There are many talented and experienced teachers in our schools whose status as qualified teachers has never been fully recognised. We believe that appropriate acknowledgement of professional status should not be denied to colleagues simply because they have learned and applied their skills outside the maintained sector. This belief is shared by colleagues at CCCU and also by the Training Development Agency, (TDA), the government body responsible for teacher education.

Many of our teachers would welcome the opportunity to engage as equals with state teachers, to have their own practice better understood and to learn from and contribute to current `mainstream` practice. Many see the acquisition of QTS as one way of coming closer to realising these aims.

We are delighted to report that the first cohort of teachers is now being signed up to the pilot scheme.

This development is not only significant for the professional development of individual teachers: whilst independent schools and the newly established Free Schools are able to employ teachers without QTS, there is a concern shared by many in the sector that QTS may one day be a requirement for staff in all schools, regardless of funding.

The proposed Masters is expected to begin at Easter 2012. It will be a three year programme and will provide an opportunity to expose Steiner Waldorf theory and practice to appropriate scrutiny in a research based environment. In addition to attracting those currently engaged in Steiner education it is expected to be of interest to educationalists from a wide range of back grounds both in the UK and abroad.

If you would like to be kept updated on either the QTS or the Masters programme please contact: office@steinerwaldorf.org

SWSF RESPONSE TO DAME CLAIRE TICKELL’S REVIEW OF THE EARLY YEARS FOUNDATION STAGE

1st April 2011.
The Steiner Waldorf Schools Fellowship would like to thank Dame Claire Tickell, her team and her advisors for taking account of the issues brought by the SWSF in her considered review of the EYFS. We look forward to the Government’s positive response to this review.
We welcome her recommendations for a slimmed down and less bureaucratic curriculum with fewer Early Learning Goals and the focus on the three prime areas as the foundations for healthy development of life long skills... read more in this pdf.

Approching Steiner - Article by Phoebe Doyle

"Phoebe Doyle takes an historical, philosophical and practical look at Steiner education, an approach that, almost 100 years since the first school opened, still sparks inspiration, debate and controversy."
Eye Magazine December 2010

View the full article "Approaching Steiner" - download the pdf here. (Approaching-Steiner-20101122.pdf 1861kb).

The Steiner Waldorf Schools Fellowship welcomes the review of the Early Years Foundation Stage

The Steiner Waldorf Schools Fellowship welcomes the review of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS)

Following the announcement on Tuesday 6th July that there will be a review of the Early Years’ Foundation Stage, the Steiner Waldorf Schools Fellowship is looking forward to contributing to it. As a reply to the governments intended focus on ‘getting children ready for education’, we will respond on the importance of regarding the early years as a distinct and important phase of a child’s life, rather than simply a pre-curser to school.
We support the themes and principles of the EYFS, and hope it will continue to provide a play-based approach to children’s learning and development. However, we have found that the statutory nature of the Assessment regulations and Learning and Development requirements have conflicted with many of the well established principles of Steiner early childhood education. This has resulted in a complicated and bureaucratic exemptions process for Steiner teachers and parents. Further, the requirement to assess against the numerous points in the EYFS profile at age 5 holds no value as our children generally remain in the kindergarten until their seventh year when they begin their first introduction to formal learning, in line with many other countries with highly successful education systems throughout the world.

As our schools have to apply for the second round of exemptions in 2011, we hope that a mechanism can be put in place to allow for the Steiner Waldorf Schools Fellowship to make a collective application on behalf of all our settings. We also hope that issues related to the new-style funding formula will be resolved in a way that allows practitioners to continue their vital work for young children.