A field of dreams
There are stages in the realisation of dreams. And sometimes they can seem a long time coming.
The Kildare Steiner School had an Open Day last weekend, and anybody who went along could see that a key stage in the school's own dream had been reached.
From now, with the foundations of the school's first proper building laid, the next stages will move much faster.
Sometime in the next three to five years there should be three permanent buildings on the campus at Rathargid, just past Gormanstown Church.
"These will be in addition to the two prefabricated units we have now," says School Council chairman Caryl Traynor, pictured above with teacher Gale Pullen.
The school was established originally in Dublin in 1987 as a Steiner Kindergarten based on the child-centred principles developed by the movement's Austrian founder, Rudolf Steiner. His methods are neatly encapsulated in the quote: 'Receive the child with reverence, educate the child with love, and send the child forth in freedom'.
That first Kindergarten became a school which had well outgrown its place a dozen years later. Courtesy of the Camphill Community at Dunshane, the school relocated to accommodation at Carnalway on a temporary basis.
Seven years from that time, the school is now on its own 4-acre site. It moved its Kindergarten onto the Rathargid location in September last, a year after taking possession of the property.
"The builder has promised us that the new permanent building will be finished and ready for use by September," Caryl Traynor says. "At that stage we will be catering for 70-80 children, which is about halfway to our eventual goal in numbers."
Steiner schools, as completely independent educational entities, get no state funding of any kind. With charitable status, the Rathargid school relies on donations and school fees to pay for its development and its teachers.
"We believe there should be some form of partial state funding," Caryl says. "To that end there is ongoing dialogue between the Steiner schools of the country and the Government, but at the moment we're on our own."
The Steiner educational ethos is based on themes related to the natural development of children rather than being overly academic as a main focus. That said, research shows that Steiner-educated children are not disadvantaged when they go on to traditional schools, or when they do state examinations from Steiner second level schools.
"The children in general end up in the same place," Caryl Traynor says. "I think if there is any conflict with the state curriculum, it is is related to the rhythm and timing. For instance, we're not doing the same things educationally with a seven-year-old as they would at the same age in the national curriculum. But it all comes together ... and they all eventually get the same level of academic education."
Teacher Gale Pullen says that in some ways, the Steiner system stands for 'the old-fashioned values', not only of education, but of living.
"What we try and do is create an environment where children are happy to come to school. Where it is not a chore, because they are not seen as vessels which are to be pumped full of facts. In Steiner, each child is an individual, and the teachers are facilitators who draw out what each child inherently has and what they learn."
The ethos is presenting lessons in such a way that a sense of intrigue, of wonder, is created. Encouraging enthusiasm for life and whatever is around them.
That might seem a recipe for some anarchy, if it merely resulted in each child learning only what he or she is enthusiastic about. Gale Pullen says that's not so.
"You get certain children who are mathematically inclined, for instance, and others who are good at reading and writing, others who are more musical and artistic.
"What we try to do is actually stretch each of them, so that the mathematician, for instance, also gets interested in art and music, and is also encouraged to write. At the end of the day you have actually got all your children excited about everything that comes, and you end up with a much more rounded child."
The curriculum involves nature in a substantial way and appreciation of it. There is also a strong element of story-telling, legends, and the practicalities of life including farming, building and crafts. The pupils also learn about ancient civilisations, and the lessons that can be learned from them.
People who wish to have their children educated in the Steiner way are prepared to move their lives around the availibality of schools.
"I'm an example," says Caryl Traynor. "We were living in Luxembourg, where our children attended a Steiner school. When we came back, though I work in Dublin we decided to live near here because of the existence of Kildare Steiner School."
The teachers at a Steiner school are generally people who have a state qualification and then gain a Steiner qualification with further study.
At its current stage of development, with just three teachers and and assistant, the primary classes at Athargid are combined. Eventually though, the six classes of the primary cycle will have their own individual teacher, who will 'travel' with the class as it moves from year to year. There are also two Kindergarten teachers.
"We're hoping to get a fourth teacher next year," Gale Pullen says.
And Caryl Traynor adds that there will likely also be some part-time specialist teachers, such as in the crafts.
The Open Day last weekend was also part of what the school hopes is a wider engagement with the local community, now that they have their own place to engage from.
Brian Byrne.
