The Steiner Waldorf School in Aberdeen is typical of its kind. It has 140 pupils aged from two-and-a-half to 16 years, but no headteacher. But the position is not considered vacant; the role is carried out on a collective basis by all the teachers.
'There is no hierarchy here and all the teachers and parents work together for the good of the children,' says Libby Redman, one of the teachers.
'Although we are a small school we have a playgroup which takes children up to three years, a nursery for those aged three to four, and a kindergarten for children aged from five to six,' says Libby. 'The children don't enter formal education until they are six or seven but can stay with us until they are 16.'
The school, five miles south-west of Aberdeen, was opened in 1977. It is one of 780 Steiner Waldorf schools worldwide. Educationalist and philospher Rudolf Steiner believed that very young children are developmentally unready for formal education, and that creativity and the development of social, language and fine motor skills should lie at the heart of early years teaching.
As a result, and also to help children make the transition from home to school, domestic activities such as baking, cooking, cleaning and gardening form part of the daily curriculum.
The first Steiner school was opened in Germany in 1919, primarily for the workers of the Waldorf cigarette factory in Stuttgart. Its aim was to create a method of teaching where children could attain their own sense of worth in an imaginative and creative way.
The methods were seen to be so successful that now, 80 years later, as well as 780 schools worldwide, there are 1,500 kindergartens and 60 teacher training institutes in over 56 countries. In the UK and Ireland alone, there are 26 schools and 56 early years centres.
Advocates of Steiner Waldorf schools believe that a great deal of their success may lie in the fact that there is no stress placed on the children to succeed. While mainstream education lays great emphasis on academic success, the Steiner schools strive for a balance between artistic, practical and intellectual studies as well as social skills.
All Steiner Waldorf schools operate on a non-hierachical basis like the Aberdeen school. Most emphasise the importance of parental involvement. Before pupils are accepted, it is common practice for the teacher to visit the family home and get to know everyone, while allowing the family to get to know the teacher. Something that pleases many parents is that in Steiner Waldorf schools pupils remain with the same teacher for seven years.
'We also feel it is important that parents are encouraged to participate socially and practically in the running of the school,' says Libby Redman. 'We welcome them to come in and help out whenever they have the time, to listen to the children read or even to arrange flowers around the school.'
Another of the great attractions about the Aberdeen Waldorf School is class sizes. As far as possible classes are split into 10 or 11 pupils, with the largest no more than 24 pupils.
Though formal education doesn't begin until six or seven, from that age all children learn two foreign languages, and mental arithmetic and learning of multiplication tables by heart are part of the daily routine. No calculators are used until children reach the age of 12 and no computers until 14.
The schools set their own tests instead of using National Curriculum tests and GCSE exams. For schools who take pupils beyond age 16, A-levels are usually taken a year later than state schools, but results are almost double the national average.
All schools are mixed sex and acceptance is accessible to everyone irrespective of creed or race. 'We never refuse any children,' says Libby Redman, 'but because we are not state-funded there is a fee-paying system. However, each case is calculated individually on the parents' income, even if the family is on income support.' Teachers lessen the fee burden on families by taking very low salaries.
'As Scotland now has its own Parliament we are hoping there may be some changes in the education system and that we may not have to charge parents,' says Libby. 'We hope that schools other than state schools will begin to receive state funding.' l
