Steiner School Education

pigiron

Myself and family have moved to east Clare. We have three young kids and are looking to enroll them in primary schools around the area. I have heard a lot of good things about the Raheen Wood Steiner School but also have heard people express reservations about this alternative style of education.

We are going to enroll our kids in lots of schools around the area in order to leave our options open. I welcome the opinions of Boards.ie posters out there who may have some insight on Steiner school education in general.

Thanks

overmantle

pigiron wrote: »

Myself and family have moved to east Clare. We have three young kids and are looking to enroll them in primary schools around the area. I have heard a lot of good things about the Raheen Wood Steiner School but also have heard people express reservations about this alternative style of education.

We are going to enroll our kids in lots of schools around the area in order to leave our options open. I welcome the opinions of Boards.ie posters out there who may have some insight on Steiner school education in general.

Thanks

In the present climate, things are very difficult for schools. One of the most difficult aspects of all is to plan ahead for the following year. It must be one of the most inconsiderate and unfair things for parents to do to enrol their children in 'lots of schools in the area'. All of those schools will have to be planning their numbers, classes, staffing etc etc for the year ahead. If three or four families do the same thing, then this can have devastating effects on schools that have been deceived.I say this as I have seen and heard the effects that these actions have on schools where parents often have little or no intention of sending their children but simply want to 'keep their options opened'. I know of situations where parents held places in several schools where other children were turned away. Many of these parents never bothered to inform the schools until the last minute, if at all, by which time the children who had been earlier turned away, had gone elsewhere. These schools ended up losing a teacher, unnecessarily, the following year.I hope things work out for you in the move but this is a most unfair thing to do, which you may not have realised.

Tom Dunne

overmantle wrote: »

In the present climate, things are very difficult for schools. One of the most difficult aspects of all is to plan ahead for the following year. It must be one of the most inconsiderate and unfair things for parents to do to enrol their children in 'lots of schools in the area'. All of those schools will have to be planning their numbers, classes, staffing etc etc for the year ahead. If three or four families do the same thing, then this can have devastating effects on schools that have been deceived.I say this as I have seen and heard the effects that these actions have on schools where parents often have little or no intention of sending their children but simply want to 'keep their options opened'. I know of situations where parents held places in several schools where other children were turned away. Many of these parents never bothered to inform the schools until the last minute, if at all, by which time the children who had been earlier turned away, had gone elsewhere. These schools ended up losing a teacher, unnecessarily, the following year.I hope things work out for you in the move but this is a most unfair thing to do, which you may not have realised.

Please get back on topic - this thread is not about multiple enrollments, this thread is about the Steiner method of education.

Thank you.:)


Multiple bickering, off-topic posts deleted. Please get back on topic or I will be issuing infractions

autograph

Must say that the Steiner system is NOT for me. I have close friends who sent their child there. It was a bit all over the place and the child had difficulty fitting in when he transferred to mainstream. There were some who sent their children to Steiner as it seemed like the 'trendy' thing to do. It did not work for my friend and they seem to be still paying the price several years later.I know you can't generalise but it definitely would not be for me. I can also identify with the poster who said about enrolling in several schools. As parents, we like to keep our options open but I hadn't realised the implications for the other schools. Thanks for that.

pigiron

autograph wrote: »

Must say that the Steiner system is NOT for me. I have close friends who sent their child there. It was a bit all over the place and the child had difficulty fitting in when he transferred to mainstream. There were some who sent their children to Steiner as it seemed like the 'trendy' thing to do. It did not work for my friend and they seem to be still paying the price several years later.I know you can't generalise but it definitely would not be for me. I can also identify with the poster who said about enrolling in several schools. As parents, we like to keep our options open but I hadn't realised the implications for the other schools. Thanks for that.

Thanks for your opinion on Steiner Schools Autograph. As for enrolling my kids in lots of schools - I won't be doing that and retract that - what I meant to say in my original post was I'm just keeping my options open. I'd welcome any further opinions from posters about Steiner Schools.

gogsy

Steiner method of education is fascinating. Be great for kinda new-age, hippy families. At the end of the day we all have a curriculum to cover, if they are doing that and bringing the alternative style of ed into action, why not?
It depends what you are into.
Would I do it personally, no...its a question of taste and so forth.

Actually some of Steiner's family are now based in Dingle, had the pleasure of meeting them last year. A great crew!!

micmuinteoir

I think the Steiner philosophy is a great one. The only caution I would have is to check the credentials of the teachers in the school - are they real Steiner teachers? Or, are they regular teachers who are working in a Steiner school (in which case you might be better to send your children to a mainstream school). Steiner is, like most other schools, only as good as the teachers. There are lots of good schools in the area if you decide to opt for regular schooling.

As regards parental choice and schools, if you don't shop around and look after the best interests of your child - then who will? Enough of that now before I get in trouble!

pigiron

Cheers micmuinteoir, thanks for your thoughts. You've got to be soooo careful when fishing for info, you never know who might be watching.:rolleyes:

Wantobe

Hi Pigiron, I am also in the east Clare area. I thought long and hard about the Steiner school for my eldest child. I first heard about it via the David Coleman book ( parenting is childs play)= at the end he mentions he sends his children there= he lives in the area. I really admire him and thought that if he sent his own children there it was a strong recommendation.

I actually applied and went through the interview process and had a place. There are a lot of things about it that I think are good- for eg the children go for a walk in the forest each morning before school, all weathers, it really connects them with nature. They have porridge for breakfast, they have pizza day where they make their own in their own pizza oven, they do a lot of creative projects. The school setting is in a wood and the buildings are charmingly higgledy piggledy. The kindergarten is really gorgeous, a round building with it's own kitchen area etc.

I believe there is an advent fair coming up one of the weekends coming and you should really go and look for yourself- everyone is welcome and you will be able to meet some of the teachers if you ask.

It is extremely hippyish, as you can easily see, but I don't see that as a disadvantage, necessarily. The philosophy behind the school is interesting and you should read up on it. They don't believe in formal education until, AFAIK, around 7 or 8. Before that, it's a kindergarten. Now to achieve recognition by the dept of educ I think they have had to change certain things, teach irish etc. But someone mentioned to me lately that they lost that recognition again? I'm not sure that's true. They also have some kind of wierd dance thing, biorhytyms or something that they think all the kids should do. I read up on it at the time but honestly it was a bit 'far out' for me. You have to pay for your child to attend- when I enquired it was around 70 per week or thereabouts, but that's the max and if you can't afford it I think they can do something for you.

I spoke to a number of parents who sent their children there- some of whom went on to Villiers with no difficulty. But there certainly was a sense from some parents that assimilation to a 'normal' secondary school afterwards could well be difficult. There is a kind of secondary sschool called the ALFA project in the early stages in Scariff but there are very few children going to it, I was told that by the time my child would be finished in the 'primary' they would hope to be better set up in the secondary.

At the end of the day I decided against it- mainly because my OH was vehemently opposed. He felt that there was too much emphasis on the creative ( hippy dippy) side and no fostering of ambition. He also attended an open day where every one had to join hands and chant which put him right off! LOL.

So my eldest is now in a 'normal' primary school, and she loves it. Her teacher is very warm, she loves her. They also do ( mostly) lots of drawing, projects, painting, singing, PE etc. They do irish dancing, all sorts of sports, including sailing...I'm happy we made the right choice for us, but I wouldn't dismiss the raheen school in any way- I really believe it is an interesting choice and could be very good for children. Maybe we weren't brave enough to take a risk on it.

blowin123

My two children attend a Steiner National school in Clare. They have homework every night, English, Maths and Irish Mostly.
From my point of view the school uses the Steiner methodology to teach the National Curriculum, but there is less emphasis
on rote learning and more emphasis on discovery, but nevertheless the fundamental building blocks required for the junior and leaving cert
are being taught. The ethos is non-denominational. There are weekly spelling tests, and their are maths tests, but no repercussions
for failure. They use the normal text books you get in other schools. The teaching staff are excellent,highly motivated and caring.
Each class does a play every year where you can see self esteem being built year on year. For sports they do: Gaelic Games,
Cross Country Running, Basketball, Swimming and Surfing. They also do hands on projects with art, knitting, needlework, crochet,
woodwork and gardening. They sing and learn music through the pentatonic flute. There is definitely an emphasis on developing your
childs creativity. There is a lot of parental involvement. In fact you can volunteer as much as want, it depends how much time you
have available. Their are jumble sales and feile's to raise money for the school, much like other schools always needing to raise money.

There is also a different approach to learning to read. They wait until your child's spoken language abilities are developed
sufficiently then they start to learn to read. My two started learning to read at six and could read at seven. It was nerve
wracking for me at the time, but as of now, a few years later they are reading The Boy in Striped Pajamas and Harry Potter.

For work reasons, for a short period we moved to a different part of Ireland and enrolled our children in a local national school.
The school was excellent and very welcoming. Big difference was that all subjects were covered every day, rather than in-depth 4 week
blocks that that you get in Steiner. And of course the Catholic Ethos. No hands-on on work that term, but there may have been
in other terms. Gaelic games for sports which they loved. Same spelling and math tests but they would be kept in at break time
if too many spellings were incorrect to re-learn them. Homework for every subject every night. It did seem like more of an
academic grindstone, perhaps less interesting for the children, but I suppose this is the traditional tried and tested approach
most National Schools follow. The staff their were also excellent,highly motivated and caring. All the Parents I met were very
happy with their childrens education and the children were great too. Made me realize how most children will respond positively to
encouragement.

If your going to decide where to send your children, best thing is to visit the school and talk to the teachers and talk to
other parents.Why did we choose Steiner? Well, the more you read about it, the more it makes sense. So if you want the traditional
Catholic National school approach you got as a child then go that way. If you want a non-denominational, self-esteem building,
discovery/hands-on based approach that education systems in Sweden,Finland and Germany are leaning towards then go with Steiner.

On the 'Hippy-Dippy' label. All of the parents and staff I know are far from this. Academics, Engineers, Psychologists,
Self Employed, Artists, Farmers etc, probably much like the broad mix you get in any National School. The school has been
created from the ground up with an unbelievable amount of hard work, grit and determination by highly motivated parents and teachers.
The above 'Hippy-Dippy' carelessly flung around in any of the above critiques couldn't be further from the truth.

byhookorbycrook

Please don't resurrect zombie threads.