How Lucky Am I To Have Something That Makes Saying Goodbye So Hard

December 17 2024

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As we prepare to wrap the year 2024, VAT-free tuition fees, the Autumn Term, we look forward to welcoming new faces in the Spring Term; but first we must say our farewells to families who enrich our Waldorf community.

With an admissions policy that is distinct – accepting applicants year-round and without an academic enrolment test to determine whether our School is a good fit –  our pupils, teachers and parents are well-versed in welcoming the gradual inflow of new classmates into the class cohort and beyond the school gates, not just at the start of a new academic year, but the beginning of the calendar year too. Embracing individuals, who bring with them a revitalising force.

Love school

The reasons for moving schools are plentiful, with pupils in Scotland typically changing from state to independent for secondary. In a 2018 report, one in ten children in Scotland attended a fee-paying primary. This number doubled for secondary. The question most frequestly asked at Open Tours is: How will my child be accepted here? There is noone more equipped to respond than the pupils themselves who have made the journey.

At our most recent full Open Tour at the beginning of December, Class 12 pupil, Ali Mirmohammad Sadeghi, was one of four pupils to take part in a Q&A with prospective parents. Ali reflected back five years, remembering how the different educational model of the Main Lesson Programme that is unique to Waldorf and often not face-forward to the board or nose-deep in a textbook, supported his move from Iran. Bringing the whole class together each morning, irrelevant of individuals’ particular exam subjects that are taught in much small groups of 3 – 8 pupils, cultivated cohesion; an opportunity that is offered every morning to build on these connections from Class 1 – 12.

Joining the school in Class 8 coming from abroad seemed daunting at first but through the Main Lessons, in particular Crafts, I was able to transition seamlessly. The unique learning and social environment facilitated this and has allowed me to flourish during my years here.

To add, the skills I’ve gained through Main Lesson have been transferable in my engineering work placements.”

Ali Mirmohammad Sadeghi

Class 8 are studying Platonic Solids in Main Lesson this term. Pupil Clara, above, joined in June.

The vast majority of new pupils integrate quickly. Academically, being ‘ahead’ or ‘behind’ are notions that are not applied in the classroom – some may find they have some knowledge and skills which their Steiner school classmates haven’t yet acquired. But they will also be challenged with new subjects they probably haven’t encountered elsewhere. Socially, new pupils are assigned a buddy from their Class, and the single class per age group of up to 25 pupils means that the cohort know each other like family.

Luca Sheen – Co-Chair Student Council

When issues arise, Co-Chair of the Student Council, Luca Sheen, explained, it is true there is less of a chance to just ‘bounce to another social group’ in a way his friends attending other larger school settings report they do. Yet great relationships aren’t great because they have no problems. They are this way because both people care enough about the other to find a way to make it work. That is as true in the classroom as it is in life; the longevity of ESS pupils’ school situation cultivates this attitude organically. Luca advocates this is in fact beneficial. That said, the Student Council recognise the impact Covid has had on young people their age. In collaboration with Co-Chair, Bella Tree and other Council members they are working towards building back the social elements of the Upper School.

Alistair Pugh, Education Manager

There is an emerging crisis of anxiety and mental health affecting the younger generation. All schools are aware of this, Edinburgh Steiner School is no different”, says Education Manager, Alistair Pugh (right). “ESS isn’t a faith school. It isn’t a specialist school. But we do have a distinct approach which is firmly rooted in connection.

Connections between each other. Connections with the natural worlds. And connections with the wider community. This, we believe, allows pupils to thrive as whole individuals, so that they can go out and meet the challenges and opportunities that are ahead. It makes us well placed to address this crisis.”

Owing to this conscious nurturing of community on campus, through the bustling school calendar, ESS becomes much more than a school to families with enrolled pupils. This is evident even in the testomonials from families who were here only a short prescribed time.

Visiting Students from Abroad

The introduction of Visiting Students from one of over a thousand of our sister schools in some eighty countries around the globe into Classes 10, 11 and 12 add to the adapting dynamic of class cohorts in the Upper School. In recent years, this ever-evolving pool of new blood from overseas is being energised still further by a growing demographic of visiting students whose whole families are joining our school community for a term or more in our Kindergarten, Lower and Upper School, as an increasing number of parents take up a sabbatical, secondment or are reaping the benefits of flexible employment and are choosing a Waldorf education with a kilt as part of the overseas experience. Despite attending for a relatively short time, testimonials time and again hold the common thread of a very welcoming school. (Read: ESS Sees An Increase In Whole Families Overseas Seeking a Waldorf Education With A Kilt)

Thirty Languages On Our Small Campus

With a diverse array of languages (and the cultures they express and strengthen) swirling together with the gust of campus life, materialised in conversation at breaktimes, pick-ups, drop-offs, the bustling Shool Calendar and playdates, imprinting on our children’s expanding horizons, this last week of term is infused with gratitude for our children’s well travelled learning environment.

Our school is 85 years young, and while the pedagogical principles are common to all Waldorf kindergartens and schools, each school and teacher has the freedom to interpret and develop the curriculum in individual ways. This is because Steiner Waldorf education is rooted in values and intentions: it is not a collection of syllabuses which list specific bullet points of knowledge.

In the lead up to this last week of term, Convenors have been busily gathering Class Teacher / Guardian hampers and joint presents from the parent body to recognise and thank teachers for holding their particular cohort of characters, learning styles and family cultures who come together as a unique Class each school day. Advent Angels have been keeping a classmate in their thoughts.

Class 4 Advent time in the morning, lighting their handmade beeswax candle and the Advent wreath in the middle.

Pupils – of Christian faith and not – have shaped their desks into a circle, marking Advent each morning. And the school staff have devoted evenings and weekends to rehearsing two of the Oberufer plays as a gift to the pupils, that will take place later today and tomorrow.

The humorous Shepherds Play on Wednesday is open to everyone as a gift to the Waldorf community. There will be a whole-school performance at 2pm, which invites Kindergarten families to join (RSVP). This will be followed by an evening performance that dovetails the end of the first of the Oberufer plays. Classes 3+ watched the school performance of the Paradise Play above this afternoon. Two former teachers, Philip Shinton (Devil) and Fopper Jellema (God) joined Class 4 teacher Ximena Rodhe (Eva), Drama Facilitator, James Cumming (Adam), Bursar Donna Ewing (Angel) and Hester Machin (Star holder).

As a bastion of Waldorf education in the Capital, we are non-denominational and inclusive.

Recognising and seeking to take care of the spiritual or inner life of children is what distinguishes Waldorf Education. In Waldorf terms the “spiritual “or “soul” is not religious but the inner aspect of being human that is not material.” (Waldorf UK).

“Waldorf schools seek to cultivate positive human values of compassion, reverence for life, respect, cooperation, love of nature, interest in the world, and social conscience, as well as to develop cognitive, artistic and practical skills. The soul life of the child is affirmed and nourished as the ground for healthy, active thinking… It sees the human being as more than a culturally conditioned, genetically determined, biological organism. The fundamental tone of this [anthroposophical] worldview – which is not a religion – is in harmony with many world religions and philosophies.” William Ward, Renewal

In January, we will adapt once more to the cohorts before us, grasping the opportunities this shift offers. The next few days, however, are about the people who are here with us now; some of whom who have been part of our community for just a term, others enrolled for close to two decades, and a portion who’ll be moving on to pastures new in 2025.

From our staff body, we will be saying goodbye to Craig Herbertson, Upper School Philosophy Teacher and Lower School Music Teacher and Alice Paine, Lower School Music Instructor (maternity cover for Kathy Garrison, who will be returning in the new year). Alice will still be offering extra-curricular singing and cello lessons to pupils.

Our school is represented by a logo that incorporates the lemniscate – similar to the shape of a bee and is the symbol of infinity, the hexagonal avatar replicating a honeycomb cell that starts out as a circle. Bees work as a community, each taking time to serve in the many roles needed to ensure the future of the swarm. In the words of an adored children’s character, renowned for his love of honey, Winnie the Poo infamously says:

How lucky am I to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard’.