Meet Our People

How the School is Organised, Who to Reach, and Our Team

Board of Trustees

The legal, financial and employment matters of the School are the responsibility of the Trustees, who are usually present or former parents.

The school is constituted under The Memorandum and Articles of Association which established the school as a ‘limited trust’ in 1947. The school is therefore a company limited by guarantee and the Trustees are its directors.

The school is also a registered charity and is subject to the provisions of the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 including supervision by the Office of the Scottish Regulator (OSCR).

College of Teachers

This structure is adopted by the majority of Steiner schools throughout the UK and abroad.

College is made up of staff who have been at the school for at least a year and have shown their commitment and dedication to the philosophical principles of the school. Membership:

Senior Management Team

The day-to-day running of the School is delegated to the responsibility of the Senior Management Team (SMT), who hold an overview of the various Mandated Groups within the School:

Head of School

School coordinator (who oversees human resources and administration and works closely with the Bursar)
Education Manager (who oversees timetabling, qualifications and the delivery of the curriculum).

Surgery times are available each week when any member of the School community can book an appointment to see a member of Senior Management. 20-minute slots are offered unless otherwise requested. To book a slot please contact: office@edinburghsteinerschool.org.uk

Accounts Department

School Bursar and Accounts Department, managing tuition fees, bursary and Hardship Fund.

Early Years Department

Early Years education has a high profile in Steiner-Waldorf schools where practitioners have always been accorded equal status within the profession.

The work of teachers in a Steiner Waldorf Kindergarten is inspired by the wisdom and contemporary relevance of Rudolf Steiner’s educational philosophy and prepares children for the changing modern world. It is grounded in a specialist 3-year Steiner Waldorf Early Years Training Course. All those in the Early Years sector must have an accredited ‘full and relevant’ qualification recognised by SSSC or Education Scotland.

Lower School Class Teachers

In most instances the same teacher will remain with their pupils from the start of formal education in Class 1 to the age of 14 years (Class 8).

It is the Class Teacher’s responsibility to bring each Main Lesson to the pupils in a vivid, pictorial way so that their imaginations are touched and their enthusiasm is fired. School trips expand and reinforce themes taught in Main Lessons.

Upper School Class Guardian

Each class is assigned a Guardian who looks after their overall well-being throughout their time in the Upper School. He or she carries a deep knowledge of the Steiner curriculum, as it relates to the Upper School program, and guides the pupils knowledgeably through the crucial stages of adolescence.

The Guardian is many things: mentor, confessor, authority figure, bank manager, diary secretary, curriculum manager, go- between, arbiter, and trip organiser.

The ultimate aim of the Guardian is to evolve from manager and authority figure into partner; someone who works with an independent and self-motivated group of young adults to help them achieve their potential and contribute in a lasting and positive way to the school and wider community. The most fundamental definition of Steiner education is ‘education towards freedom’.

At any time, pupils can make a confidential appointment with Careers Guidance, meet with their Class Guardian or a member of the School’s Management Team to discuss any issues or concerns that they may have.

Pastoral Care

Specialist Teachers

Non-teaching staff

Non-teaching Staff

After School

Extra-Curricular

Mandate Groups

Festivals Group

Remit:

To facilitate the celebration of the significant moments of the year
To collaborate with colleagues through the meetings to design programmes appropriate for the festival and ages of the pupils involved
To organise the practical aspects of festival celebrations
To organise gifts and cards for staff members who are leaving

Child Protection

Mission Statement:

To meet and maintain national safeguarding standards and provision in Edinburgh Steiner School

Pupil Support

Pedagogical and In-Service Meeting Group

Mission Statement:

To hold an overview of current educational and CPD (Continuing Professional Development) issues and facilitate development of these in Edinburgh Steiner School

Remit:

To plan and facilitate weekly meetings
To respond to pedagogical issues raised by staff
To support in-house CPD
To plan and facilitate agreed In-Service Days over the course of each session

Marketing Group

Mission Statement:

The remit of the Marketing Group is to take responsibility for promoting the School and managing its image to raise pupil numbers and raise awareness of Steiner education in the wider community, both in the education sector and among the general population.

Remit:

To handle/oversee communications strategy, marketing, publicity and public relations, including branding and brand identity, school vision and mission
To organise Open Tours monthly during term time
To monitor applications/leavers’ data; identify trends and respond

Trustee Mandate Group

Timetabling Group

Mission Statement:

To create the timetable for each new session at Edinburgh Steiner School.

Remit:

To establish a ‘safe space’ for pupils and staff to find support
To be a visible point of contact
To source, develop and deliver relevant staff training in collaboration with the Staff Development Group and Pedagogical Meeting Group
To ensure external equality and diversity training is delivered to pupils as per the Life Skills Tracking Document and in collaboration with relevant staff

Equality/Diversity Group

Mission Statement:
To ensure that everyone in school feels ‘seen’ and ‘heard’

Remit:

To establish a ‘safe space’ for pupils and staff to find support
To be a visible point of contact
To source, develop and deliver relevant staff training in collaboration with the Staff Development Group and Pedagogical Meeting Group
To ensure external equality and diversity training is delivered to pupils as per the Life Skills Tracking Document and in collaboration with relevant staff

Waldorf Education Course

Student Council

The Student Council was founded in 2019 and now meets regularly to provide a forum for discussion between Upper School pupils and to act as a formal means of communication between pupils throughout the school and teachers.

It is made up of at least two representitives from Classes 8 -12, who observe a clear remit set in constitution.

PTA

Parent Teacher Association

Children are more likely to thrive when there is a close relationship between home and school. Every Class in the School is composed of children who come together daily from a wide variety of families, homes and cultural and religious backgrounds. What we experience as a group is the Steiner Waldorf curriculum, as interpreted and presented to the pupils by their teachers.

Current PTA Initiatives

The PTA are focussing on two key projects over the coming months, identified as vitally important to enhancing the School:
New Parents and Access to University

PTA Member

All parents and/or carers of pupils and teachers attending the School are automatically a PTA Member.

ESS PTA Constitution
(Updated November, 2024 at AGM)

It is recognised that parental / carer participation in the educational process at ESS is foremost through supporting your child’s learning at home, which looks at education from a different standpoint to mainstream schools. We have only to look back to our own childhood to recall the important part that home life played in our own growth and development.

A well-directed Parent Teacher Association can strengthen the spirit of what makes this approach to education critically relevant in instilling a lifelong curiosity for learning, whilst equipping them to meet the ever-increasing array of social, political, economical and natural challenges.

Joining the PTA is one of the many ways parents are an engaged part of the school community. Other areas include being part of a PTA Working Group (such as the Friday Market, Extra Curricular Clubs), Trip volunteer, member of the Board of Trustees, contributing to the parent-led Christmas Market (the School’s largest annual fundraiser) and sitting on the Christmas Market Investment Group.

The PTA meet monthly, with the Minutes of each meeting made available to the wider PTA members (i.e. all parents / carers of enrolled pupils) here once approved. (Read here). Contact: pta@edinburghsteinerschool.org.uk

NEXT MONDAY MEETING:
4.30pm – 6pm, in the School Library2nd Dec
13th Jan3rd Feb3rd Mar24th March5th May2nd June30th June
Want to join?

Meet Our People

Board of Trustees

College of Teachers

Deirdre Hill

Helen Newton

Nick Bretts

Alistair Pugh

Barbara Scott

Lisa Gordon

Bruce Houldsworth

Charlotte Wilson

Jenna Dunlop

Karen Ford

Molly Gibb

Leonie Le-Maistre

Lorna Marshall

Peter Sheen

Tess McNatt

Ximena Rohde

Senior Management Team

Nick Brett

Helen Newton

Alistair Pugh

Accounts Department

Donna Ewing

Frances Brady

Early Years Department

Laura Macrae

Yifat Leibner

Lorna Marshall

Ellie Canepa-Anson

Sarah Miller

Wei Ling Yong

MariPaz Escobar

Serena Salvdori

Inna Maksymenko

Aki Ippolito

Annie Solymos Morocz

Tess McNatt

Bree Quinn

Christina Fernandez Sanchez

Lottie Drummond-Herdman

Rakhi Sharma

Lower School Class Teachers

Jenna Dunlop

Bruce Houldsworth

Vivienne Mackay

Ximena Rohde

Molly Gibb

Lisa Gordon

Karen Ford

Tiffany Kopp

Leonie LeMaistre

Upper School Class Guardian

Karine Greffin

Rachel Craig

Peter Sheen

Deirdre Hill

Barbara Scott

Specialist Teachers

Penny Reid

Michael Hooper

Camille McHaffie

Deirdre Hill

Hester Machin

Leonie Le-Maistre

Peter Sheen

Rachel Craig

Uschi Rosmanith

Alistair Pugh

Amit Delori

Didi Jellema

Kathy Garrison

Iain Maclean

Barbara Scott

Daria Blazejewska

Bruce Houldsworth

Ximena Rohde

Kirsty MacDonald-Russell

Karine Greffin