Kildare Steiner School 'is sleeping'

Kildare Steiner School have had to cancel their Easter Gala planned for 29th March and have also postponed the Open Day which was due to take place on 28th March, writes Brian Byrne. They will set up an alternative Open Day date when things become clearer and the schools reopen.

"We hope you keep well — our school is 'sleeping' at the moment," they say, "as we tell our Kindergarten children when holidays come …"

In the meantime, below is an article I wrote following a recent chat with Nikki Ellis, the Guardian of the new Secondary School, before all this difficulty happened. It was originally published in a Kildare Nationalist.


Steiner Secondary School showing good results

When Nikki Ellis cut the ribbon to mark the opening of the Kildare Steiner Secondary School last September, it was the beginning of a new phase for the school, and also for herself in a long career of Steiner teaching, writes Brian Byrne.

Before joining the campus at Athargid, between Kilcullen and Dunlavin, she had been working at a Steiner school in Gloucestershire. Prior to that she had taught in Devon and at the Bristol Steiner Academy. She says she had reached a stage where she was looking for a new challenge. "My youngest son was already in university, and my husband and I felt we were ready for 'the next thing'. So we started looking around."

The Steiner movement is worldwide. So their search got worldwide results. Nikki received offers from Florida, Bolivia, Guatemala, Hawaii and Kildare. "We certainly did consider Hawaii," she says with a smile, "but when I looked at this job, which was to set up a new school, that was the appeal. It was being involved in something pioneering."

There was also the fact that her grandfather on her mother's side was Irish. "I never knew him, he died before I was born, but I knew Ireland was part of my heritage, and I had visited here a number of times. I was born in England, we lived in Canada for five years, and then I spent my formative years in Australia until we moved back to the UK when I was 18."

Nikki had begun training as a teacher when she first heard about the Rudolf Steiner method and enquired about it further. "I went to a Steiner School in Wales to see what it was all about, and the thing that got it for me was that the banister on the stairs was made of a tree branch. It was polished over many years of use, and as I touched it I felt that this was connecting with much more than just education."

She found an appropriate course, trained in the Steiner ethos and techniques, and subsequently earned a degree in Steiner teaching. Over her career she became one of a relatively few teachers who have taught from Kindergarten right through primary and secondary in the Steiner system.

Coming to the Kildare Steiner Secondary School, she knew it was going to be a challenge. Not least because the final decision to open the school had only been been taken last year. It left very little time for students previously in the primary school, and expecting to go to mainstream second level, to get used to the idea. But Nikki has seen the youngsters in the new class becoming really interested in their work. "They seem to be very happy now."

In the current class there are seven students, and indications are already that for next year there will be more. There are some differences in how second level classes are taught compared to the earlier years. The secondary students at Athargid come in earlier than the primary school pupils, have a different break time, and go home later. So there's a physical separation between the two levels.

"The teaching is also much more intellectualised than they would have been used to in the primary school. They learn all the things they would in a standard second level school, and the educational level compared to the standard schools isn't different, but the approach is. For instance, we have recently been looking at the great explorers, and I asked them to create a game based on one of them and take me on that journey. It's much more creative in that sense."

In coming years, it is envisaged that the secondary school will grow to Transition Year, and after that the students will go into mainstream schools for their Leaving Certificate completion. "At that stage, we feel they will be fully equipped to deal with the changes in how things are done."

Dealing with a smaller class, as she is at the moment, Nikki says there are flip sides. "It's easier when you're marking, for instance, because there are smaller numbers. And also easier to give more individual attention. But when it comes to games or social education, it's a small number. I don't think we will ever have large classes here, but around 16 would be a good size."

Nikki's husband Rob also works at the school, teaching woodwork to both primary and secondary students.

At some stage there will be a new Open Day date to generate interest in next year's enrolments. Nikki will be emphasising the 'gentle approach' which is a feature of Steiner at all levels. "The other element is when they come in and see the things that the children do, they invariably find that very interesting. It is always very artistic and creative. Combining that with the intellectual element they appreciate that we are educating the 'whole person'."


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