Happy International Women’s Day 
What do actress Carey Mulligan, poet Caroline Bird, model Veronica Webb and Winter Olympian Nicolien Sauerbreij have in common?  They were all Steiner educated.
Education plays a vital role in empowering women and girls around the world as well as being instrumental in helping to create a more gender equal society.
At Steiner Waldorf Schools we aim to offer all children the tools they need to flourish as resourceful, considerate, honest, successful and socially responsible adults, regardless of their gender.
In celebration of International Women’s Day, we would like to pay homage to some of our most fantastic female alumni and their achievements.
 

 European Parent Meeting

Dear Waldorf Steiner friends! We proudly announce the annual meeting of European Steiner Waldorf parents in Latvia, May 5-8, 2017.
Here is the program and registration form. (If you have friends whose e-mail address is not on the recipient list, please, forward this message to them as well.) We in Latvia hope very much you will accept our invitation to visit the Waldorf schools in Latvia.
We offer 2 hotels in the surroundings of the Waldorf school where the conference will take place. You can choose between the more democratic option, www.baltvilla.lv  and the more luxurious option, www.porthotel.lv . The transportation to school from both hotels will be provided every day. Both the hotels are informed and will give a little discount if you mention WALDORF CONFERENCE. Notice, that this will only work if you book by email, not if you book via their website.
Useful tips, such as how to get to the hotels from airport etc., will be send to those of you who have registered at a later date.  Again, you can find the program and the online registration at our website www.enswap.org and feel free to forward this message.
NB! A parallel program for youngsters will be prepared, so your teenagers are also welcome!
Dear friends, we would be very very grateful if you could register before the end of March, 2017! It will help a lot, allowing us to organize the conference according to the highest standards.
If you have any questions concerning the conference, please, do not hesitate to ask them! Here is the link again: https://enswap.org/conferences/2017-adazi/
Anita Legzdiņa, Coordinator, European Network of Steiner Waldorf Parents (ENSWaP) conference in Latvia
 

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Delegates from the UK and Nordic Steiner Waldorf Schools Associations have concluded the first phase of transnational conferences around the curricular design of a groundbreaking, Europe-wide 14-19 diploma, aimed at developing creative thinking skills.
The ‘Acknowledging Creative Thinking Skills (ACTS)’ project brings together teachers and the Steiner Waldorf associations of the UK, Demark, Finland and Norway with registered awarding body, Crossfields Institute. The partners are working collaboratively in developing the diploma, which is due to launch in 2018. The Ofqual regulated qualification will be available to any school that wishes to take it up.
The qualification will be offered as an alternative to GCSE and A-Level. Combining highly focused, analytical thinking with non-verbal, creative methods, and cross-curricular activities, the qualification will be the first of its kind in the UK.
The meeting this autumn in Brighton was the fourth and final of four transnational conferences involving around 50 experienced educationalists from participating countries. Each meeting has focused on the curricular approach for a specific range of projects. The Brighton conference looked at crafts and practical subjects, following previous meetings held in Norway, Denmark and Finland to examine language, literature, maths, science and humanities.
Across the four meetings, which began in September 2015, representatives researched and explored ways of enhancing and accrediting creative thinking skills, and the best ways to integrate formal and non-formal learning into the more formal elements of the diplomas, The core content of each main curriculum has now been agreed.
The next year of the project will focus on the design of assessment procedures, and the nomination of moderators to oversee the process in their home countries. Over the next 12 months, specialists at the Crossfields Institute will draft the content of the qualification.
The three-year project was awarded EU Erasmus+ funding last year.
Kevin Avison, senior adviser at the Steiner Waldorf Schools Fellowship, said: “We are designing this diploma due to a recognised need within schools to offer an alternative approach to education, that develops creative thinking skills and is valid across Europe.
“I’m delighted with the progress made during this first year of the project. It is attracting growing interest across Europe and globally, and we have had expressions of interest from as far as South Africa and South America.
“A representative from the American Association of Steiner Waldorf Schools attended the Brighton event and left very enthusiastic about exploring ways of incorporating ideas from the project in schools in America, Canada and Mexico. We have completed a very exciting and successful first phase of the project and are looking forward to progressing it further in 2017.”
The Steiner Waldorf Schools Fellowship will be hosting a conference in autumn 2017 where it will be discussing the need for a change of emphasis away from test-driven education towards a more creative method. The event will feature presentations from world-renowned educationalists.
If you would like to interview Kevin Avison, please contact Leila Taleb at Liquid: Leila@weareliquid.com or call 0121 285 3767.
ENDS
For more information, contact Jon Perks or Leila Taleb at Liquid – jon@weareliquid.com or Leila@weareliquid.com
0121 285 3760

We are pleased to announce that Alder Bridge Steiner Waldorf School near Reading has completed the accreditation necessary to become a fully accredited Steiner school and were welcomed as such by the Trustees at their meeting on November 4th 2016

see article here

Class 6 students at South Devon Steiner School practised the art of gratitude last week, creating a beautiful mandala in the school gardens from plants, flowers and produce collected from the grounds.
The project which was led by Art teacher Sandy Smith, was a lesson for the 11-12 year old students in cooperative working, inspired by the recent trend in Turner prizes for collaborative art. Sandy said “The experience of working together was as much an art as the Mandala itself, allowing students to draw their attention to, and feel gratitude for the natural school environment and all the beautiful things they get to do, to help them to become more useful adults to the world, particularly their ability to work together”.
Sandy developed the multi-faceted lesson after learning of a friends’ tradition of walking her land each year and creating a Mandala out of gratitude. The students approached the task sensitively, aiming to ‘take kindly’ from the plants and only what they needed. Sandy said “They worked so enthusiastically and harmoniously, thinking about colour schemes and the names of the plants they used”.
Nearing the completion of the Mandala, the class enjoyed their Music lesson outside, where they sang in a four part harmony for a while, then said a verse around their creation to bless it.

Contact: Kaycee Fordham
South Devon Steiner School
Hood Manor
Dartington
Devon. TQ9 6AB
Tel: 01803-897377 ext 2
 

First published in JUNO Magazine, Issue 44, Summer 2016
https://www.junomagazine.com/
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see article here

See website here
Children’s Charter Sign-up – SAVE CHILDHOOD MOVEMENT

see story here
 

 February 18th 2016
IONA STEINER SCHOOL ‘OUTSTANDING’ SAY INSPECTORS
Inspectors have praised The Iona School in Nottingham, after it was judged to be ‘outstanding’ in all five categories.
The visit by the School Inspection Service (SIS), from February 2-4, found teaching and the curriculum to be outstanding; a strong culture of school self-evaluation and improvement; pastoral care to be excellent.
The Iona School is part of the Steiner Waldorf Schools Fellowship (SWSF); it is the first Steiner school to be judged outstanding in all categories under the new Common Inspection Framework.
Fiona Stuart, school manager, said: “We are delighted with the findings of the SIS inspectors; at Iona School, our ethos is to give the children self confidence, love of learning, an ability to work with others and enduring and practical skills. This report is a great endorsement of our pupils’ hard work and the great support they receive from staff, trustees and parents.”
Other SIS observations included:

“School leaders are visionary”
“Leadership and management are outstanding”
“Pupils are rightly appreciative of the inspirational teaching they receive”
“A number of pupils said that they missed school during school holidays and were delighted when it was time to return”

Kevin Avison, executive officer of the Steiner Waldorf Schools Fellowship (SWSF) said: “The inspectors’ findings are a testament to everyone involved at Iona Steiner School and are confirmation that the Steiner approach to education produces well-rounded pupils, a safe environment and supportive community.”
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ENDS
For more information, contact Jon Perks or Leila Taleb at Liquid – jon@wereliquid.com or Leila@weareliquid.com
0121 285 3760
 
Editors’ notes
 
Iona Steiner School
The Iona School is founded on the educational ideas and spiritual world-view of the philosopher and educator, Rudolf Steiner (1861 – 1925).
The first school based on Rudolf Steiner’s indications was founded in Stuttgart, Germany in 1919. This was in response to a request to provide education for children of the workers of the Waldorf Astoria cigarette factory – hence the name Steiner Waldorf. The Iona School was founded in Nottingham in 1985. After spending its first year in temporary accommodation, the school moved to its present site. The school has grown and developed over the years and is a member of the Steiner Waldorf Schools Fellowship (SWSF).
 
steinerwaldorf.org

see article here
First published in the Autumn 2015 issue of JUNO, Issue 41
www.junomagazine.com

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Canterbury Steiner School Class 11 students (16 years old) are staging a charity benefit concert on Friday 6th November 2015 in the schools theatre.
The acts are drawn from the schools own pupils and teachers as well as local musicians. All proceeds will go to the Catching Lives charity.
The youngsters wanted to support a local charity and Catching Lives does valuable work with those who are affected by homelessness.
“We are a school that prides itself on nurturing a caring spirit in our pupils”, commented Mr Ewout Van-Manen School Leader, “Our students really want to contribute to society and this concert is real evidence of that”.
Doors open at 6:45 for 7pm start and all are welcome.
***********************************END************************
Press Contact: Martyn Nicholls
Mobile: 07583 015373
Tel: 01227 738285
Email: pr@canterburysteiner.co.uk
Canterbury Steiner School, Garlinge Green, Chartham, Canterbury, Kent. CT4 5RU
 
Further Information
Canterbury Steiner School, founded in 1976 and set in the beautiful Kent downs, is an independent co-educational school for children aged (3 to 16). We believe that childhood is the most important time of our lives. The experiences, feelings and education of our formative years will greatly colour and shape the adults we go on to become and the part we play in the world.
The proven and established Steiner Waldorf approach, one of the fastest growing educational systems in the world, is based on the simple but profound insight that each child is unique and that they learn in different ways at different stages of their development.
For forty years Canterbury has focused on enhancing each individual child’s strengths with a rich, creative curriculum that carefully meets the growing child’s developmental needs and engenders a passion for lifelong learning. Our primary task is to provide an environment and education that will allow our pupils to become creative, responsible and confident adults who are more than equipped to face the many challenges of life.
 

see Independent Schools Article here
 

Congratulations to Jago Brett and Theo Macdonald  (Class 10) who won an national computer coding competition organised by Young Rewired State.  They took part in a week long “Coding Camp” earlier in the summer and, with 2 other Bristol boys, designed and coded an app to help people follow their favourite bands and meet up with other fans at different festivals.  (Possibly inspired by spending the previous weekend getting extremely wet at WOMAD!) At the end of the week 160 teams from across the country came together at Birmingham University to present their work for judgement  by industry and academic leaders.   The Bristol team won the award for Best Written Code, receiving £70 each of computer equipment and the chance to develop their app for sale.  Well done Theo and Jago!

see article here

Congratulations to Kings Langley student who is amongst the winners of Physicist of the Year. see news item here

Our innovative Trainee Teacher Scheme won us an Education Business Award yesterday. Ruth Beachim and Ben Arnold received the award at a prestigious ceremony in London. We were one of three schools shortlisted in the UK and received praise for our forward thinking approach to recruitment and specifically Teacher Training. Photos and more information will be posted on the website soon!
see press coverage here

See pictures here