One of Devon’s first new free schools has been given the go-ahead to open at a former university hall of residence.
The Steiner Academy Exeter is expected to open at Thomas Hall on Cowley Road in 2015.
It is one of five free schools planned in Devon after the coalition government offered people the chance to open their own state-funded schools
Steiner schools offer an alternative to mainstream education and teach children through play and creative activities.
‘Big breakthrough’
The Exeter academy has been given approval for a permanent site at Thomas Hall by the Education Funding Agency. The amount of funding for the site has not yet been revealed.
The academy is due to open in temporary buildings in Gloucester Road, Exwick, in September and stay there while planning permission is sought.
Organiser Jenny Salmon said: “It’s a big breakthrough for us, it’s been a long process to get the site confirmed.”
The total number of pupils is expected to rise from 136 in September to 624 – aged four to 16 – in 2021.
Four other Devon free schools, Route 39 in Higher Clovelly, the Marine Academy in Plymouth, Sparkwell Primary near Plymouth and Plymouth School of Creative Arts, will also open in September.
Alan Swindell, principal designate of the Exeter academy, said: “We are delighted to have this opportunity to breathe new life into this beautiful building and site.
“It will be a wonderful environment for children, with tremendous scope for us to develop those aspects of our curriculum that really come alive in the great outdoors.”
Free schools have been criticised by some teachers as unnecessary and taking resources away from other state schools.
The government says each school is set up in direct response to demand from local people for a different or better school that will meet the needs of pupils in the community and help raise standards.

With great sadness we announce the closure of the Glasgow Steiner School after 25 years. Unfortunately they were unable to recover from the fire that gutted the school. We hope that in time there will be a new Steiner school in the area.

The Bristol Steiner School is celebrating 40 years of being the first inner city Steiner School in England and is looking forward to providing quality Steiner Education to families in Bristol for many more years to come.

East Grinstead Courier and Observer
By Sam Satchell
FOR most teenagers a work placement involves shifting at their local music store, a greengrocers or their parents’ business .
But a group of hardworking students at Michael Hall School took a more hands-on approach to their three-week programme by constructing an outdoor learning centreUsing a range of skills learnt at the school in Forest Row, which puts an emphasis on practical learning, they built the skeleton of the eco-friendly timber framed building, which will be completed in three phases.
They also created two eco toilets, converted a shed into a shower room and installed new monkey bars and climbing equipment for the younger students.
Metalwork and craft teacher Michael Cassels said: “All our Year 9s do the three-week work experience project, but this is one of the most ambitious projects we have done. I thought we had bitten off a bit more than we could chew with this, but they have completely exceeded my expectations.
“To get this far in the first phase is amazing. By next year they will be able to start work on the walls, the windows, the flooring and other parts of the interior.”
In previous years, work experience students have helped to create sheds, shelters, notice boards, car parking spaces and more, having been taught basic building and woodwork techniques.
The school applied for planning permission to construct the outdoor classroom 12 months ago and the project involving about 20 students got under way in mid-May.
Mr Cassels said: “It’s a proper working day. The timetable freezes for the three weeks to allow them to do this. We had some really switched on guys working on the building, some of whom already had experience of building, while some others worked in the kitchen to prepare lunch every day.
“We’re not just building something to knock it down again. It’s part of our school development and it’s been a really good lesson for them. They can take pride from this, as well as valuable life skills.”
Eventually, it is hoped the classroom will be open to visitors, and a school from Germany is already booked in to see the work-in-progress this autumn.
The students will start work on the walls, windows, flooring and the rest of the interior next year and, when complete, the space will be used to teach lessons such as craft activities, green wood working, and pottery. The scaffolding and timber were both supplied by local businesses.

Congratulations to The Steiner Academy Hereford on achieving a Gold Sing Up Award!
From your application I could hear that the quality of singing at this school is high, which is a testament to how well singing is embedded into school life. Singing is clearly important to the school and regularly utilised in areas such as teaching the curriculum and celebrating festivals with the broader school community.
The Steiner Academy is obviously very supportive of the pupils and staff singing and leading singing, which is evident in the confidence of the singing and eagerness to share songs with each other. I particularly enjoyed learning about how musical the school is, combining group teaching with bespoke learning in order to meet the needs of individual pupils and provide clear goals and challenge for pupils as they travel through the school.
I would have liked to have heard or seen the lyrics for one of the songs that the pupils had written which you described in your Achieve Form, but it was clear that this was happening and well established in your school
Congratulations again. It was a joy to hear such beautiful a capella singing!
Kind regards, Sing Up Awards Team Sing Up, Bloomsbury House, 74-77 Great Russell Street, London WC1B 3DA www.singup.org

Join us at the school for a talk and short presentation from Peace One Day founder Jeremy Gilley.
After a successful career acting in film and television, Jeremy began making his own films in 1995 and in 1999 founded the non-profit film project Peace One Day to document his own efforts to establish the first ever annual day of global ceasefire and non-violence with a fixed date.
Why not come to the school to find out more and get involved with the peace process?
Rudolf Steiner School Kings LangleyLangley Hill, WD4 9HG Kings Langley www.rsskl.org

Steiner Academy Bristol approved in the last round of ‘free school’ Applications!
To open in September 2014, the Academy will be the first inner-city, state-funded Steiner school in the UK and the third Steiner free school to be approved under the ‘free school’ programme. The school will grow slowly, with an opening cohort of 78 pupils (Kindergarten, Class 1 and class 6), rising to two classes every year, with a total of 624 pupils by 2022.
The Academy will make a major contribution to the shortage of school places in Bristol, with demand for opening places in the first two years already up to five times oversubscribed.
The school are currently recruiting for a principal and will be recruiting teachers and other staff in 2014. For more information on admissions and recruitment, see www.steineracademybristol.org.uk or contact info@steineracademybristol.org.uk

Abi Allanson, organiser of the event, was presented with a Certificate of Achievement.
Children from a school in Kings Langley grabbed their books to take part in a readathon to raise thousands of pounds for charities dedicated to caring for seriously ill children.
150 children took part in the national Readathon Challenge at The Rudolf Steiner School to raise £3,099 for CLIC Sargent, Roald Dahl’s Marvellous Children’s Charity and ReadWell.
Abi Allanson, the learning support teacher who organised the event, was presented with a Certificate of Achievement and received a voucher for £619.72 to spend on books for the school.
3:40pm Wednesday 22nd May 2013 in News By Rebecca Perring, Reporter

Brighton Steiner School joined almost 80 other local schools for the annual Children’s Parade through the streets of Brighton to mark the beginning of the May Festival. The children enjoyed a real sense of pride as their hard work turned into a vibrant procession of dance, drama and fun for the whole city to watch. Around 10,000 people came along to see the parade and be part of the largest annual children’s event in the UK.

Earlier this year we entered some national awards for the first time. Many of you might think it is perfectly natural to put our school forward for awards. Others might question the decision, thinking that awards are not very ‘Steiner’. However, the reason we decided to enter this year is quite simple: outside of the ‘Steiner-Waldorf’ world, most people do not yet recognize how good the teaching is in Steiner-Waldorf schools. We want to change that, raise our profile and adopt a more evangelical approach to Waldorf education.
National Teaching Awards: Outstanding Team of the Year 2013
Runner Up: Elmfield Rudolf Steiner School
We entered this award on the basis of the Upper School’s innovative and creative Waldorf curriculum and their ability to secure the best GCSE results in Stourbridge, despite allocating over a third of the timetable to creative, enriching experiences that are utterly unrelated to GCSEs! In 2010 we re-organised the entire upper school curriculum to create morning modules. Students in the Upper School can choose from a range of three week modules which run all year round, for 1 hour 30 minutes every day. Modules are derived from body-based learning and aim to inspire and awaken the mind and body for the day. A total of 37 modules are offered, including: folk music performance, choreography, stained glass, bow-making, Shakespearean acting and half-marathon training. As far as we know, we’re the only school in the country to offer this. The award judges were blown away by morning modules and were supremely impressed with main lessons, where they observed outstanding teaching, a love of learning and confident, creative students. Over 24,000 entries were received for the National Teaching Awards. Being Runner Up is a credit to our curriculum, to the upper school teachers delivering the curriculum and to all teachers in other areas of the school who prepare our pupils so that they can learn in this way.
Times Educational Supplement Outstanding Teacher of the Year 2013
Shortlisted: Avril WhiteheadAvril felt uncomfortable in being singled out for this award as she considers herself to be part of a team that works together to deliver a wonderful curriculum. In truth we could have entered many other teachers. It was on the understanding that she would be representing Elmfield’s education and Elmfield’s teachers that she agreed. Our entry was based on the methods used by our teachers at Elmfield – such as the use of movement, music, inspiring main lessons and all the learning styles to stimulate curiosity and a love of learning. On May 17th the Times Educational Supplement announced that Avril is one of only six teachers in Britain to be shortlisted for this award. She’ll be going to a ceremony in London on 5th July with government ministers, the national press and 600 guests, where the final result is announced. Having one of Elmfield’s teachers at this event is an amazing achievement for the school and Steiner Waldorf education generally.
Ben Arnold (Business Manager, ben.arnold@elmfield.com)

Scottish-themed fancy-dress day at York Steiner School
8:07am Wednesday 8th May 2013 in Education
YOUNGSTERS at York Steiner School, in Fulford, took part in a Scottish-themed fancy-dress day.
The children and teachers came dressed in tartan and there was even a Loch Ness monster.
The York Steiner School is part of a network of 34 Steiner schools in the UK and the fun Scottish day was to help raise funds for the Glasgow Steiner School, which recently suffered from a devastating fire.
The children at York Steiner School had also drawn and written cards to send to the children in
Meanwhile, the school is inviting members of the public along to its annual spring fair on Saturday.
The event, at the school in Danesmead, will feature a fairy grotto, crafts, puppet show, Maypole dancing and food and drink. It will run from 11am to 4pm.

An independent school in Glasgow has re-opened in temporary premises – almost four weeks after fire destroyed its main building in the Yorkhill area. Up to 60 pupils were led to safety after the blaze broke out at the Glasgow Steiner School on 26 March.
The school is now operating out of West George College, formerly Kelvinhaugh Primary School, in Sandyford Street.
Lower school pupils returned on Monday. No date has yet been set for the Kindergarten re-opening.
School manager Catherine Turner said that an incredible amount of hard work had been done to allow the school to re-open. She said: “Our own staff and parents have been absolutely tremendous – the support we’ve had has been just amazing. “The work has been very hard. It’s all come together and the school is looking great. The building looks very good and we’re ready for the children to come back.”
On its website, the Steiner School said it had been “overwhelmed by all the messages and offers of support we have received”.
The statement said: “We are particularly grateful to the owners, board and staff of West George College, who stepped in with an extremely generous offer of accommodation and have helped in so many ways to make this viable.
“Glasgow University have generously donated and delivered furniture to equip our classrooms and joinery expertise to create new blackboards.
“Our amazing parents and staff have painted, cleaned, sanded and done a thousand other jobs to bring our new home to life.”
The Steiner building in Lumsden Street was destroyed by the fire last month. At the height of the blaze, 55 firefighters and 10 appliances were deployed to prevent the fire spreading.
BBC News

Kings Langley woman Sarine Sofair to star on big screen in The Look of Love
5:30pm Thursday 18th April 2013 in News By Rebecca Perring, Reporter
Sarine Sofair caught the acting bug in Kings Langley and now is preparing to see herself on the big screen alongside Steve Coogan and Stephen Fry.
The young actress attended the Rudolf Steiner School between the ages of four and 18, where she says she was always involved in numerous plays showcasing her dance talents.
These talents will now be on show in new cinema release The Look of Love, where she plays 1970s actress Yvonne Charles alongside acting stars including Steve Coogan, Stephen Fry, Anna Friel, Matt Lucas and Imogen Poots in the film directed by Michael Winterbottom.
Ms Sofair recalled the time she used to attend tap and ballet classes at a church in Chipperfield and was guided by her mother, Louise Sofair, who was a drama and English teacher at the school in Langley Hill.
The 28-year-old said: “At Steiner we were always involved in some kind of play, performance or rhythmic form of performance and I picked up a great love of dance while at the school.
“I grew up positively drenched in stories and story-telling and am very fortunate to have had a Waldorf education. Although I didn’t realise acting was a real job until around the age of ten, at Steiner I learnt the importance of creativity throughout all walks of life and my love for performance was nurtured.”
Ms Sofair, who now lives in London, has also appeared in the film Anna Karenina last year alongside Keira Knightley, as well as in commercial, video and photography projects.
She said she was walking through London’s Soho when her agent called and said she had got the part.
The Look of Love is based on the true story of Paul Raymond, the “King of Soho”, who is played by Steve Coogan. It is to be released next Friday, April 26.
She said: “I was so pleased to have got the part and was trying not to scream on the streets of Soho. It was one of my happiest moments because I was so lucky to have got the part so soon after Anna Karenina.
“During filming and rehearsals I was working close to such brilliant actors who would be in the dressing room or in the audience, which was such a brilliant experience.”
When asked where she sees herself in ten years’ time, Ms Sofair replied “doing this”.

Our thoughts are with the children, parents and staff of the Glasgow Steiner School after a devastating fire swept through their building on Tuesday 26th.
Fire crews were called to the building at 11.30 am and by the time of their arrival the fire was well developed. Around 60 children had to be evacuated to a nearby community centre. No injuries were reported.
School manager Kathryn Turner said: “The only word anybody can use is devastated. It’s a Victorian building, it’s a much-loved building — a loved school.“You can’t put into word show you feel, it’s — I think devastation. The kids are distraught, families are just heart-broken.”
 For more, go to: Glasgow School Fire

Our schools gain exemptions from EYFS

From Nursery world: Catherine Gaunt, 28 January 2013, 12:00am

Steiner kindergartens have been successful in achieving exemptions from those aspects of the Early Learning Goals in the EYFS that do not fit with the Steiner educational philosophy and ethos. The ruling applies to all Steiner settings.

Beechtree Steiner Kindergartens in Leeds

A joint application for exemptions and modifications from certain aspects of the EYFS was made by the Steiner Waldorf Schools Fellowship, the umbrella organisation that represents Steiner schools and early childhood settings in the UK.
The SWSF was asked by the settings to make the case for opting out of some of the ELGs and the entire literacy educational programme on the basis that aspects of the EYFS run counter to Steiner’s ‘established principles’, meaning that Steiner kindergartens cannot meet the EYFS requirements, without compromising their ethos and practice.
This week, letters have been sent out from the Department for Education to all Steiner settings that applied to confirm that the Secretary of State has approved their applications.
The ruling is not time limited and will apply for as long as the setting follows the established Steiner principles, and once applied does not run out until there is a change to statutory regulations.
Full exemption has been granted from the literacy ELGs – reading and writing – on the grounds that it is an established principle in the Steiner early years curriculum that young children are not taught to read and write before rising seven.
Full exemption has also been granted from the assessment requirements of the EYFS, so that Steiner settings will not have to complete the EYFS Profile and send the results to the local authority.
The case was also made for modifications to ELGs for communication and language, physical development, mathematics, understanding the world, and expressive arts and design, and these were also granted.

Prize-winning school warms to green future 

Energy experts lit up the faces of staff and children at a school when they came to plan a whopping six-figure makeover.Cambridge Steiner School won a competition run by the News with British Gas to transform a lucky school into one of the most energy efficient in the country.They were visited by the company yesterday to see how the money can be spent.

The school, in Fulbourn, is desperate to have its 1980s boiler replaced and is also interested in fitting solar panelsand heat pumps.  Both measures would save the school thousands of pounds in energy bills over the years, which can be diverted towards giving pupils a better education.

Andrew Cleland, a trustee, said the school was grateful for “this fantastic opportunity”, adding that its ethos was about protecting the environment. He added: “We are a private school, but we are also a charity and we offer bursaries. The money we save can hopefully go towards that.”

The work will be carried out over the coming weeks following yesterday’s informal audit.

The school collected nearly 3,400 tokens from copies of the News to land the prize, worth £135,000. As well as a legion of parents, it recruited lots of different groups from the community, such as old people’s homes, to help them amass the tokens.

Kate Lemon, programme manager for British Gas Generation Green, said: “We were very impressed with their entry, which showed a real commitment to, and passion for, sustainability. “Our energy experts are looking forward to working with the school to help it become as energy-efficient as possible and inspire a new generation of sustainability experts.”

John Cary, deputy editor of the News, said: “It was a terrific team effort that won this great prize for the Cambridge Steiner School. We’re delighted that British Gas will be working with them to help fulfil their vision for an energy-efficient school fit for the 21st century.”

The Cambridge News

EYFS EXEMPTIONS AND MODIFICATIONS GRANTED TO STEINER

SCHOOLS AND SETTINGS

Steiner Waldorf kindergartens have been granted permanent exemptions or modifications from those aspects of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) Learning and Development Requirements which relate to the formal introduction of Literacy, Numeracy as well as Technology and in some cases the Assessment regulations. A full list can be provided * see below.
The Secretary of State has agreed to all the exemptions or modifications requested on the grounds that Steiner kindergartens cannot meet these EYFS requirements without compromising their ethos and practice. The granting of these exemptions and modifications is in accordance with the ESTABLISHED PRINCIPLES route as set out in the Early Years Foundation Stage (Exemptions from Learning and Development Requirements) Regulations 2008 as amended by the Early Years Foundation Stage (Exemptions from Learning and Development Requirements) (Amendment) Regulations 2012.
Steiner Schools and Early Childhood Settings, made a united application through the umbrella organisation, the Steiner Waldorf Schools Fellowship. steinerwaldorf.org
To achieve this, the schools/settings had to complete the following steps:

Contact the Local Authority to make sure their funding was safe, should they have exemptions. Some settings are still waiting for responses from their LA’s.
Notify parents, and get their agreement. There was unanimous support from all parents, who chose Steiner education specifically for their children to have the benefit of a later introduction to formal learning, and experience an extended childhood in an enabling environment which prepares them for life, not only for school.
Notify the LA of the parents decision
Send the application to the DfE Exemptions team

In some cases, kindergartens not in receipt of the Early Years Grant made an application also for exemption from the Assessment regulations which includes the Profile submission. These too were granted.
NOTE: Some LA’s agreed that their funded settings could also apply for exemptions from the Assessment regulations including submission of the EYFS Profile at age 5. The SWSF were surprised that more LA’s did not agree to this exemption. The children in Steiner kindergartens are not formally taught to read and write in the kindergarten, therefore this would result in a poor overall score in the data collected by the LA from the Profile, which means that the LA’s overall data scores are lowered.
The exemptions will remain in place as long as the principles under which it was granted are followed by the setting.
If you would like to receive further information about this, please contact:
Janni Nicol, SWSF Early Childhood Representative jnicol@steinerwaldorf.org

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.”

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. 

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.