Family who’ve been at school for 50 years

Family who’ve been at school for 50 years
FELIX LOWE

WATCHING your child start school for the first time is a special day for any parent.
But when little Michael Maclean walks through the school gates on Wednesday it will be a momentous occasion for the entire family.
The six-year-old will be the 24th Maclean to attend Rudolf Steiner School, in Morningside, continuing a family tradition that has stretched back 50 years.
Since 1956, not a year has passed when the name did not feature on one class register or another.
Michael will be joining six cousins, Sophia, Lisbeth, Christina, Herman, Olga and Brenda, and his step brother, Duncan, who are already at the school.
“I am very excited to be starting in Class One,” said Michael. “The teachers are nice and I will be at school with my cousins, which will be fun. I am not nervous about Wednesday and am lucky as I live near to the school.”
Michael is keeping alive a tradition started by his uncle Christian Maclean.
Christian, 56, was sent to the special independent school after his mother attended a Steiner school in Germany during her childhood. He said: “She loved it so much that she never doubted which school she would choose for us.”
Christian became the first member of the Maclean Steiner dynasty at Edinburgh after he joined the school in 1956. He was soon joined by his six siblings, three of whom – including Michael’s father Iain – decided their children should follow in their footsteps.
Christian, whose own three children attended the school too, added: “We all shared [my mother’s] enthusiasm because the style of education that you receive at a Steiner school is unique.”
Andrew Farquharson, head of management at the school, said: “We are looking forward to the next 50 years of the Maclean family.”
This article: https://edinburghnews.scotsman.com/edinburgh.cfm?id=1268482006
Last updated: 28-Aug-06 12:53 BST

Family who’ve been at school for 50 years
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