October 25, 2020

REPLACEMENT FOR FAILED STEINER SCHOOL

IS STILL FAILING, INSPECTORS ALLEGE AGAIN

One of the UK Steiner/Waldorf schools that collapsed in recent months was the Rudolf Steiner School Kings Langley (RSSKL) [1]. After inspectors twice determined that the school was "inadequate" — that is, it was failing its students — RSSKL was ordered to close [2]. 

The most disturbing fault the inspectors found at RSSKL was the school's failure to adequately safeguard the students. But serious shortcomings were also found in many other areas of the school's operations. As the chairman of the school's trustees said at the time, "There are lots and lots of problems at the school" [3].

Supporters of RSSKL have subsequently pursued a plan to reopen the school — or a variant of the school — under a different name. Langley Hill Independent School would hypothetically make a fresh start, aiming to implement policies that would satisfy inspectors and, among other objectives, improve the quality of instruction offered [4]. The school would attach itself to the Steiner/Waldorf movement, but perhaps less overtly than RSSKL did. Langley Hill Independents's website offers this description:

"Langley Hill Independent School has a unique, engaging and modern curriculum. The curriculum draws upon the best of Waldorf principles and inspires citizenship, out-of-the-box thinking, wonder and creativity." [5]

Unfortunately, in the days since plans for Langley Hill Independent began to be formulated, inspectors have twice evaluated the effort and declared that the new school would likely fall below acceptable standards [6]. 

Now it has happened again. For the third time, inspectors have expressed grave misgivings about Langley Hill Independent as it is shaping up. Here are excerpts from an article appearing in The Watford Observer [Hertfordshire, UK]:

Langley Hill Independent School 

fails Ofsted inspection for 

third time before opening 

By Daisy Smith

The Steiner School site before it closed 

photo: Holly Cant

A private school is still not likely to meet standards before opening, an education watchdog has said for the third time.

Langley Hill Independent School, which had been expected to open in September last year, was supposed to replace the former Rudolf Steiner School in Kings Langley.

Inspectors found at the most recent inspection, which was carried out last month, that the school’s current plans for teaching early years topics such as phonics and reading were not sufficient to meet statutory requirements.

Steiner [7] closed last year after Ofsted [8] inspections in December 2016 and November 2018 led to 'Inadequate' ratings [9]. Inspectors said the closure was due to...safeguarding issues [10].

In May last year an Ofsted report suggested the school would not meet standards when it opens and a second report, published in October last year, took the same stance.

It was also found at a previous inspection that the board of trustees attached to Rudolf Steiner is still the landlord of the site.

Inspectors referred to this lease agreement and said it "remains unacceptable" as it does not allow school leaders to fully control their own safeguarding arrangements [11]...

The school has applied to teach pupils from age three to 14 and stated to inspectors that it does not intend to teach secondary-age pupils in the first year of opening.

For early years, inspectors said the current plans for teaching topics such as phonics, early reading and writing were not sufficient to meet statutory requirements.

The quality of the curriculum and plans had also not improved enough since last year. School leaders also didn't demonstrate how they will meet the requirements for supporting literacy and technology for three and four-year-olds well enough...

[The inspectors added] there still remains weaknesses in the leadership and management [12]...

Inspectors did acknowledge in their report some strengths and said the anti-bullying police [13], health and safety [14], first-aid training and the complaints policy were likely to meet standards.

Langley Hill was approached but said at this stage it has no comment [15].

[11/25/2020   https://www.watfordobserver.co.uk/news/18815332.langley-hill-independent-school-fails-ofsted-inspection-third-time-opening/     This article originally appeared on October 23.]

Waldorf Watch Footnotes 

[1] See "RSSKL". 

Kings Langley is a village in Hertfordshire.

[2] See "Conclusion in Kings Langley", June 19, 2018 — scroll down to this item.

[3] See "Many Problems; Consistent Failings", June 6, 2018 — scroll down.

[4] See "Langley Hill".

[5] See https://langleyhill.org.uk.

[6] Inspectors conducted examinations in May and September, 2019. [See "Steiner School Inspections: Win Some, Lose Some (Cont.)", Part 2, July 1, 2019, and "Failed Steiner School Likely to Fail Again - II", November 4, 2019.]

[7] I.e., Rudolf Steiner School Kings Langley.

[8] Ofsted is the UK's Office for Standards in Education. Ofsted is the "watchdog" mentioned in the article. The inspectors who have criticized RSSKL and its proposed successor are Ofsted officers. 

[9] "Inadequate" is the lowest rating issued by Ofsted — it is a failing grade. A school deemed "Inadequate" must improve quickly or shut down.

[10] Failure to protect students was the most urgent alleged failing at RSSKL. But inspectors also found numerous other failings at the school, ranging from the quality of management to the quality of teaching.

[11] The landlord — "trustees attached to Rudolf Steiner" — would allegedly retain too much control over the school. Inspectors said this would limit the school's ability to adequately protect its students.

[12] So, in addition to their continuing concerns about child safety, inspectors expressed concern about teaching and management at the planned school.

[13] Sic. Presumably the correct word here would be "policy."

[14] "Health and safety" is presumably a different matter (centering on health education) than safeguarding (a more general concern for the protection of students). A good anti-bullying policy would presumably apply in the latter case.

[15] This is fairly typical. Steiner representatives tend to be unwilling to discuss school issues with outsiders. [See "Secrets".]

— R.R.

October 24, 2020

RAIMENT FOR  BODY  AND  SOUL —

WHAT BECOMES OF STEINER NOW?

Among the Steiner schools in the UK that have failed or come to the brink of failure in recent years are three Steiner "academies" — institutions that, in the USA, would be called Steiner charter schools.

Leaders of the Steiner academies in question sought to save their schools by forging an alliance with the Avanti Schools Trust, an educational combine that to date has specialized in running Hindu schools in the UK. The Steinerists evidently hope Avanti would allow them to continue running their schools more or less as they had been doing, as institutions basing their curricula and methods on the teachings of Rudolf Steiner. But evidently Avanti's leadership has other plans. 

The following is from an article published in 2019 in the journal Schools Week [1]:

Rebrokered free schools [2] won’t keep 

Steiner ethos, says new trust

[By] Pippa Allen-Kinross

An academy trust [3] selected to take over three failing Steiner schools is preparing to move them away from the Steiner Waldorf ethos that underpins them.

It was announced in June that the Avanti Schools Trust had been selected to run three state Steiner academies in the south west — Bristol (pictured), Exeter and Frome — after all three were placed in special measures by Ofsted [4].

When the transfer to Avanti was announced, the Steiner Waldorf Schools Fellowship [5], the umbrella body for Steiner schools, said the schools would remain Steiner under the new trust, and "carry forward our philosophy of Waldorf education, which sits at the heart of our ethos [6]".

However, with the transfer due to be completed in the coming weeks, Avanti has insisted it never intended to keep the schools Steiner...

A spokesperson for Avanti told Schools Week: "We have made it clear from the beginning, they will first and foremost be Avanti schools. This is not Avanti joining the Steiner Waldorf Schools Fellowship, this is Steiner schools joining Avanti"....

[October 22, 2019    https://schoolsweek.co.uk/rebrokered-free-schools-wont-keep-steiner-ethos-says-new-trust/]

The differing visions for these schools has, understandably, produced friction between Steiner proponents and Avanti. This friction has manifested in ways both large and small. Here are excerpts from a recent article in DevonLive. On the surface, the article deals with a dispute over the clothing students must wear at a "rescued" Steiner Academy. But at a deeper level, the issues center on the philosophy and purpose of the school now that Avanti is calling the shots.

School uniform row erupts at 

Exeter's former Steiner Academy

"They are trying to straight jacket our children in a restrictive uniform"

By Anita Merritt

Plans to introduce a compulsory school uniform for pupils at Exeter's former Steiner Academy has resulted in more than 120 parents signing a petition against the changes.

One parent has described it as trying to 'straight jacket our children in a restrictive uniform', whereas others are supportive of the new look.

Avanti Hall School [7] reopened in September on the site of the former Steiner Academy Exeter with a completely new leadership team and an overhaul of its curriculum which is said to still cater for the Steiner ethos by taking a "holistic" approach to learning [8].

The takeover by the Avanti Schools Trust (AST) came about after the school was deemed 'inadequate' [9] in October 2018 after serious failings were highlighted by inspectors...

As part of its changes, AST is introducing school uniform at all of the former Steiner schools it now runs...

The school believes having a uniform will create an identity as a school and community, and bring people together with a sense of belonging to a team and inclusion.

However, the changes are not being welcomed by some parents who feel so strongly against it that they have launched a petition...

"We are furious and feel very let down," [a parent with two children at the school] said. "The Avanti system has already clinicalised the school [10] in that there are now white boards instead of art displays, and now they are trying to straight jacket our children in a restrictive uniform.

"The underlying theme is whether you like it or not, there will be a uniform.

"One of the agreements between the Steiner parents and the Avanti Trust during the takeover was that the Steiner ethos would be incorporated wherever possible...

"It seems Avanti don’t care if Steiner children [11] leave now they have got their foot in their door, but we are not going anywhere and we are going to fight it"...

Principal Phil Arnold [responded] "On the whole, the feedback we have received has been really positive. Most importantly, the children are really excited about it...

Principal Arnold outside Avanti Hall School (Image: Pip Raud)

"Having a uniform is a new part of the journey for the school ... [I]t’s important because it’s about inclusion and about pride in the school as well. It will be used as part of us coming together as a new school in Exeter and as part of our identity of who we are."

[10/24/2020    https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/school-uniform-row-erupts-exeters-4631605    This article originally appeared on October 23.]

Waldorf Watch Response

"Our identity as who we are." That is the crux of the issue. What is the identity of the school now?

Parents and teachers who liked the school as it was — a Steiner school — want to maintain the school's former identity as thoroughly as possible. They claim Avanti promised them this could be done, and they insist (as the mother quoted above said), "[W]e are not going anywhere and we are going to fight."

But Avanti is now in charge. A vague Steiner "ethos" may not may not persist for a while, but the school now seems set on a different course. Steiner Academy Exeter is gone. There is now a "new school in Exeter." It is the Avanti Hall School.

Waldorf Watch Footnotes 

[1] For previous coverage here, see "Saving Themselves by Losing Themselves?", October 22, 2019 — scroll down to this item.

[2] UK charter schools are called "free schools" — the government pays to operate these schools, as it does all other public schools in the UK. Hence, students can attend for free.

(Somewhat confusingly, in Britain the term "public schools" used to be applied to institutions that in the USA were called private schools. British usage has now come closer to agreement with US usage.) 

Charter schools or free schools operate much as if they were private schools, setting their own curricula and using their own methods. But they are part of the public school system in that they receive most of their financing from the government (in other words, from taxpayers). 

UK charter or free schools are often referred to as "academies."

[3] Academy trusts, in the UK, are educational organizations that run two or more schools under a single board of trustees. These trusts in effect become the sponsors of the schools they oversee.

For information about the Avanti Schools Trust, see https://avanti.org.uk.

[4] Ofsted is the UK government's Office for Standards in Education. "Special measures" are emergency arrangements instituted with the aim of quickly improving a badly flawed school.

[5] See https://www.steinerwaldorf.org.

[6] "Ethos" is a fuzzy term that may mean a lot or only a little. Proponents of Steiner education evidently believe Avanti promised them a lot about preserving the Steiner spirit and philosophy at the affected schools. Avanti evidently believes it made only generalized commitments, subsumed under the reality that Avanti will transform the schools to be consistent with its own principles. (Where the Steiner approach and the Avanti approach are compatible, the Steiner approach may remain, if only in modified form. But where the Steiner approach and the Avanti approach disagree, the Avanti approach will prevail.)

[7] See https://avanti.org.uk/avantihall/.

[8] "Holistic" is another fuzzy term. Both Steiner and Avanti claim to offer holistic schooling, but they may mean quite different things. [For the Steiner/Waldorf meaning, see "Holistic Education".]

[9] This is the lowest evaluation issued by Ofsted — it means a school is failing its students in important ways. [For an overview of Ofsted's evaluations of Steiner schools, see "The Steiner School Crisis".]

[10] Defenders of Steiner/Waldorf schools generally oppose "clinical" or "scientific" or "intellectual" or "modern" education. The Steiner/Waldorf approach is fundamentally "spiritual" or "occult" — that is, they are based on the religion devised by Steiner, Anthroposophy. [See "Here's the Answer" and "Is Anthroposophy a Religion?"] Whether typical Steinerist criticisms can justifiably be applied to Avanti schools (with their Hindu leanings) seems doubtful.

[11] I.e., children of parents who strongly support Steiner education. At least some of these parents — like at least some of the teachers at a typical Steiner/Waldorf school — are likely devout Anthroposophists. [For an overview of Anthroposophy, see the entry for "Anthroposophy" in the Brief Waldorf / Steiner Encyclopedia.]

— R.R.

October 21, 2020

AIMING TO ERASE A STEINER FAILURE  —

EFFORT TO REVIVE WYNSTONES SCHOOL

[Photo by Paul Nicholls.]

Inspectors have hammered a number of Steiner/Waldorf school in the UK, determining that they are defective by numerous measures, ranging from poor teaching to poor safeguarding of students [1]. Some of the schools have closed as a result.

But supporters of the failed schools are persisting in their efforts to reopen these institutions [2]. Here is the latest about Wynstones School, a Steiner school in southwestern England. Wynstone closed in January, 2020 [3].

From GloucestershireLive [Gloucester News, England]:

Steiner Waldorf School in Gloucester 

unveils reopening plans

Wynstones School in Whaddon closed after a second Ofsted report [4] in January 2020

By Zasha Whiteway-Wilkinson

A Gloucester school that that closed after a damning Ofsted report has set out a timescale for reopening.

Wynstones School is calling on the local community to help it 'rebuild' and plans a series of online consultations about its plans.

The Steiner Waldorf School, in Whaddon [5], had previously wanted to reopen in September gone [6], but Gloucestershire Live reported in July that this was delayed.

It has now said it is "currently aiming towards September 2021, or an earlier point should that become possible".

The school closed after education watchdog Ofsted found the boarding school had 'serious and widespread failures'.

The independent boarding school was rated 'inadequate' [7] in January 2019 after inspectors reported 'significant safeguarding concerns' [8].

A further inspection held in January 2020, found a failure in safeguarding, according to a spokeswoman for the Steiner Waldorf Schools Fellowship.

Following this it is understood that parents were emailed and told the school was closed with immediate effect...

In a letter shared with Gloucestershire Live, the school wrote..."Principal Paul Hougham and Trustees will launch on October 21, 2020 a series of community forums to shape the school's vision and priorities [9] ahead of the planned relaunch"....

[10/21/2020    https://www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk/news/gloucester-news/steiner-waldorf-school-gloucester-unveils-4625393]

Waldorf Watch Footnotes 

[1] See "The Steiner School Crisis".

[2] A recent instance concerns Michael House School, a closed Steiner school in central England [See "Small Reincarnation of Michael House School?", October 18, 2020 — scroll down to this item.]

For committed followers of Rudolf Steiner, Steiner schools are virtually holy institutions. [See "Schools as Churches".] Allowing such institutions to close is, for these followers, almost unthinkable.

[3] For previous coverage of the situation at Wynstones, see "Failed Steiner School May Reopen Next Fall", October 10, 2020.

[4] Ofsted is the UK government's Office for Standards in Education.

[5] Whaddon is a small community south of the city of Gloucester, in the county of Gloucestershire.

[6] I.e., September, 2020.

[7] This is the lowest rating given by Ofsted — it is a failing grade.

[8] The school was also found to be inadequate by several other criteria. In fact, Ofsted judged the school to be failing on all important measures of school performance. [See the Ofsted report card reprinted with "Failed Steiner School May Reopen Next Fall".]

[9] Efforts to involve the local community and to be responsive to community needs are commendable. But if Wynstones remains a true Steiner school, its "vision and priorities" will be fundamentally based on the Steiner belief system, Anthroposophy. [See "Anthroposophy" in The Brief Waldorf / Steiner Encyclopedia.]

— R.R.

October 19, 2020

◊ Editorial ◊

CORONAVIRUS

AND THE HERD

Some members of the Waldorf/Anthroposophical community reject mask-wearing, social distancing, and associated measures as a response to Covid-19. Instead, they embrace the proposition that the disease should be allowed to spread widely, so that "herd immunity" can be created.

This led me to post a few recent messages at the Waldorf Critics list. Here two of these messages, edited slightly for use here:

1.

October 16

If the USA tries to attain herd immunity by allowing people to contract Covid-19 — hoping these people will then be immune — millions of Americans may die in the process. 

The New York Times says that as of today, there have been 8,000,000+ Covid cases in the USA, including about 217,600 deaths. [1] According to the Census Bureau, the population of the USA is currently about 331,000,000. [2] While nobody knows what percentage of the population would need to contract Covid-19 to produce herd immunity (if this is possible at all), I've seen estimates ranging from 70 to 90 percent. [3]

Ok. Using these numbers, we can do some back-of-the-envelope calculating.

Let's say herd immunity will be reached after 70% of the American population catches Covid. Seventy percent of 331,000,000 is about 232,000,000. In other words, about 232 million Americans need to get the disease. (If herd immunity won't be reached until 90% of us get sick, then about 298,000,000 of us need to contract Covid. But let's be optimistic and use the lower number.) [4]

How many of these people will die? Currently, the death rate in the USA is about 2.7% (217,600 deaths out of 8,000,000 illnesses). If this percentage holds (a big if), then overall 6,264,000 will die (232,000,000 x .027) before we reach herd immunity. To date, 217,600 have already died, so we may expect about 6,046,400 more deaths before we reach our goal (6,264,000 - 217,600). [5]

I'm not a mathematician, nor am I a medical expert. And all of this is highly speculative. But (correct me if I'm wrong), I think we can reasonably argue that the effort to reach herd immunity by allowing lots of people to catch Covid-19 will lead to many, many deaths. It is not the way to go, IMO. We are talking about Holocaust-size numbers, here.

Let that sink in.

Millions dead. 

[https://groups.io/g/waldorf-critics/message/32174]

2.

October 19

An op-ed in today's New York Times bears on the issues we have been discussing here. See "What Fans of 'Herd Immunity' Don't Tell You". [6]

Citing the optimistic (pie-in-the-sky?) notion that herd immunity might "be achieved with only 40 percent of the population infected or vaccinated," the author — John M. Barry — suggests that the death toll in America might nonetheless "far exceed one million."

A projected toll of a million or so deaths is much lower than my guesstimate of six million deaths. But note several points. 

1) "Far exceed" is slippery language. One million is the minimum projected in the op-ed, but no maximum is given. Two million would "far exceed one million," but so would three million, or four... The op-ed allows for the possibility that many millions of Americans will die.

2) Hoping to attain herd immunity at a 40% infection/vaccination rate seems Panglossian. Barry admits as much, saying many experts point to a infection/vaccination rate of "60 percent to 70 percent before transmission trends definitively down." This starts to bring the discussion into the range I imagined, suggesting that many millions of Americans may die.

3) Remember, no approved vaccine exists yet. So talking about people getting "infected or vaccinated" really means, for now, people getting infected — which means many will die.

4) Calculating death rates based on infection/vaccination rates is an imprecise business (not to mention morbid and grisly), but if the needed infection/vaccination rate is about twice 40% (i.e., 70, 80, or 90%), then the death toll may be twice as high. Thus, the minimum projection would exceed two million. And, again, the maximum would be somewhere north of there: three million, or four, or five...

So let's say I stand corrected. Let's say we do not currently anticipate an American death toll of six million. Great. But is anyone willing to accept even the lowest number Barry foresees, one million American deaths?

Then there's this. Barry adds some considerations I omitted. Perhaps the most ominous is the following: Many of the people who "recover" from Covid-19 remain seriously damaged, with injuries to their hearts and lungs. "One recent study of 100 recovered adults found that 78 of them showed signs of heart damage. We have no idea whether this damage will cut years from their lives or affect their quality of life." 

This suggests that the overall toll from Covid-19 will be far, far higher than the death toll alone. If we sanguinely imagine that herd immunity will be reached when 40% of the population has been infected or vaccinated, we're talking about 132 million Americans (331,000,000 x .4). Let's be cautiously hopeful and say that half of these people will become immune thanks to vaccination. This means that 66 million Americans (132,000,000 / 2) will become immune because they became infected and then "recovered." If 78% of these people suffer damage to their hearts or lungs, this will amount to 52 million Americans badly injured by Covid-19 (66,000,000 x .78). Thus, recovery from Covid-19 may often not be full recovery. Instead, millions of lives will be damaged or ruined. Is anyone really willing to accept this outcome, 52,000,000 Americans with damaged or ruined lives? [7]

At least on the issue of deaths, Barry offers somewhat more optimism than I did, and he knows far more about this subject than I do. I bow to his expertise. Still, I think his op-ed reinforces the argument that responding to Covid-19 by hoping for quick and easy herd immunity would be a tragic error. The sensible course, IMO, is to fend off Covid-19 with masks, social distancing, etc., until we can produce and distribute effective vaccines. [8]

And, although I have painted Barry as my opponent in this debate, he and I actually agree on the essential point. He commends "social distancing, avoiding crowds, wearing masks, washing hands and a robust contact tracing system, with support for those who are asked to self-quarantine and for selected closures when and where necessary ... Nothing, including monoclonal antibodies, rapid antigen testing, or even a vaccine, will provide a silver bullet. But everything will help. And hundreds of thousands of Americans will keep living who would otherwise have died under a policy of herd immunity."

I would guess the number of Americans saved will reach into the millions, not just hundreds of thousands. But, that highly important point aside, Barry has many truths to tell. I suggest we listen to him.

[https://groups.io/g/waldorf-critics/message/32176] [9]

Waldorf Watch Footnotes

 [1] See https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/coronavirus-us-cases.html.

[2] See https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/3-ways-that-the-u-s-population-will-change-over-the-next-decade.

[3] See, e.g., https://blog.gao.gov/2020/07/23/the-role-and-risk-of-herd-immunity-when-it-comes-to-covid-19/.

[4] Actually, if we want to reach 70% of the population getting sick and winding up immune, we should not include the deaths on the "productive" side of the ledger. The people who die of Covid will not contribute to the establishment of immunity. So shooting for 70% really means shooting for considerably more than 70% (the folks who become immune plus the folks who die).

[5] Remember that herd immunity may not be reached until 90% or more of the population gets sick and recovers. Or maybe we won't be able to reach herd immunity at all by this route — meaning that all the deaths will have been in vain. They will all be, for the individuals and families involved, tragedies.

[6] See https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/19/opinion/coronavirus-herd-immunity.html?action=click&module=Opinion&pgtype=Homepage.

The piece was originally titled "Herd Immunity? Or 'Mass Murder'?" Evidently the editors decide that title was too inflammatory.

[7] The number 52,000,000 is so enormous, it may seem to be obviously mistaken. But even if we discount a large part of it, the remainder would still represent a huge toll of human suffering. (If we cut the number by 90%, we are still left with the prospect of over five million lives grievously afflicted.) 

[8] Besides opposing the use of masks, social distancing, and so forth, some of Rudolf Steiner's followers (including some who work in or around Waldorf schools) oppose vaccination to prevent any and all infectious diseases. This is a terrible error. [See "vaccination" in The Brief Waldorf / Steiner Encyclopedia — scroll down to this entry.]

[9] Other messages in this series are https://groups.io/g/waldorf-critics/message/32166, https://groups.io/g/waldorf-critics/message/32167, https://groups.io/g/waldorf-critics/message/32172, https://groups.io/g/waldorf-critics/message/32175, and https://groups.io/g/waldorf-critics/message/32177.

— R.R.

October 18, 2020

SMALL REINCARNATION OF

MICHAEL HOUSE SCHOOL?

Logo of Michael House School.

[Twitter.]

Waldorf or Steiner schools do not die easily. Their supporters — especially those who are devout disciples of Waldorf founder Rudolf Steiner — often strive mightily to rescue them. For at least some of these supporters, breathing renewed life into such schools is virtually a religious obligation [1].

In recent years, several Steiner schools in the UK have failed or come to the brink of failure. The primary reason, in most cases, has been severely critical inspection reports on these schools issued by Ofsted, the UK government's Office for Standards in Education [2].

Today, efforts are afoot to resurrect a failed Steiner school, Michael House School [3]. The following is from NottinghamshireLive [Nottingham Post, England]:

School which shut down 

and left a 'hole in community' 

could be restarted

Children would take shelter in a caravan [4]

By Jamie Barlow

An independent early years school [5] which shut down due to financial reasons [6] could be restarted in a Nottinghamshire village...

A planning statement, in an application submitted to Broxtowe Borough Council, clarified the project was to 'restart' a school.

"Michael House School...was a Steiner Waldorf independent school that existed for at least 60 years and was a strong presence in the local and wider community," the statement read.

"Unfortunately the school closed down for financial reasons...

"We want to restart this school in a small capacity...

"We [propose]...registering the site as a kindergarten for up to 12 children aged three-six years...

"This will be run like a forest school [7], as a Steiner Waldorf inspired setting [8].

"The children will play outdoors in the natural environment and take shelter in a 35 ft x 12 ft caravan/mobile home..."

It was reported last year that Michael House School would close at the end of that academic year after Ofsted inspectors rated it as 'inadequate' [9].

Steiner Waldorf schools educate children according to the principles of the Austrian philosopher and scientist Rudolf Steiner [10]...."

[10/18/2020    https://www.nottinghampost.com/news/school-shut-down-left-hole-4608537    This article originally appeared on October 17.]

Waldorf Watch Footnotes 

[1] See "Is Anthroposophy a Religion?" and "Schools as Churches".

[2] See "The Steiner School Crisis".

[3] In Anthroposophical belief, Michael is a warrior god who is overseeing human evolution during the current historical epoch. [See "Michael".]

[4] In British usage, a "caravan" is a trailer, van, or mobile home.

[5] Michael House School, as it was previously, was a K-12 institution: kindergarten through twelfth grade. The school closed in December, 2019.

[6] Financial strain was only one reason for the school's collapse. As this article mentions further down, the school received devastating criticism from Ofsted.

[7] Forest schools are institutions that conduct most classes and activities outdoors, including in woods or forests. Most Waldorf/Steiner schools are not forest schools, but they usually want children to spend at least part of each day outdoors, in nature. [For the Waldorf view of nature, see "Neutered Nature".] In recent years, increasing numbers of Waldorf/Steiner schools — or proposed Waldorf/Steiner schools — have moved toward adoption of a forest school model.

[8] Some "Waldorf-inspired" schools adopt various Waldorf methods and practices without fully embracing the underlying Waldorf belief system, Anthroposophy. [For an overview of this belief system, see "Anthroposophy" in The Brief Waldorf / Steiner Encyclopedia.] In other cases, however, schools that bill themselves as "Waldorf-inspired" are run by committed Anthroposophists (or their allies) who wish to eventually make these institutions full-fledged Waldorfs schools. Steiner or Waldorf schools often start small (perhaps with a single kindergarten class) and then gradually expand from year to year as the children in that first class grow older.

[9] This is the lowest evaluation issued by Ofsted — it is a failing grade.

[10] Rudolf Steiner's followers often refer to him by such inaccurate euphemisms as "philosopher" or "scientist," and unwary journalists sometimes accept these designations. But Steiner was in fact a mystic or, to use the term he himself preferred, an occultist. [See "Occultism".]

[11] I.e., the school was effectively bankrupt. Its assets had been taken over by an officially appointed administrator.

— R.R.

October 16, 2020

COVID AT WALDORF -

THIS TIME IN OREGON

It will probably be impossible to keep track of all the Covid clusters arising in and around Waldorf schools. And perhaps there would be little point. If Covid hits Waldorf communities at about the same rate it hits other segments of society, then there will be a lot of Covid at Waldorf — but only because there is a lot of Covid everywhere.

The worry, however, is that students and staff at Waldorf schools may turn out to be especially susceptible to Covid infection. The Waldorf belief system, Anthroposophy, includes a general aversion to modern science and technology — including modern medicine [1]. And there have been reports of Waldorf teachers taking leading roles in the rebellion against mask-wearing and the potential requirement for citizens to receive injections if and when vaccines become available [2].

Just as Waldorf schools have often been epicenters of such infectious diseases as measles [3], it is possible they will become Covid epicenters. The rates of Covid infection among Waldorf students and staff would then wind up exceeding the rates at other schools and in other communities. If this were to happen, it would of course be a matter of concern — and certainly it would be newsworthy [4].

In any event, today there is a report of a Covid outbreak at a second Waldorf school in the USA. 

The following is from News Channel 21 [Oregon, USA]:

Waldorf School of Bend 

deals with COVID-19 outbreak 

involving 5 students, staff

By Alec Nolan

On Wednesday, the Oregon Health Authority reported 21 cases of COVID-19 at schools around the state. The largest single school outbreak in its weekly report was at the Waldorf School of Bend [5].

The school's interim director, Nate Brocious, told NewsChannel 21 on Thursday that the OHA report was inaccurate in its report of seven COVID-19 cases — three students and four staff or volunteers — and that the total has actually been five cases.

But Brocious said they are in fact still dealing with positive cases among students and staff members...

Out of the 62 students and 14 staff, two of the COVID-19 cases are students [6]. The other three are faculty members.

Brocious said the school had to work with the Oregon Department of Education to create a blueprint for reopening...

Brocious said staff and students have used face masks or face shields, and in some cases both at the same time [7].

When we asked Brocious if the school had any regrets, he replied, "I try not to live with a lot of regret. I think really, it's about saying, 'What can we learn from this?'...."

[10/16/2020    https://ktvz.com/news/coronavirus/2020/10/15/waldorf-school-of-bend-deals-with-covid-19-outbreak-involving-5-students-staff/    This story originally aired on October 15.

Waldorf Watch Footnotes 

[1] For background, see, e.g., the following entries in The Brief Waldorf / Steiner Encyclopedia: "Anthroposophy", "science, and Waldorf opposition to it", "technology", and "medicine".

[2] See, e.g., "Protests, Conspiracy Theories, and Rudolf Steiner's Followers", September 1, 2020; "Waldorf Teacher-Trainer Explains the Coronavirus", September 12, 2020; and "'Take that thing off' — Waldorf teacher ignores corona protection ordinance", October 2, 2020.

[3] See the entries under "measles" in the Waldorf Watch Annex Index.

[4] Tracking this may be difficult. It will depend on whether reliable statistics become available — something Waldorf authorities, with their history of defensiveness and secrecy [see "Secrets"], may obstruct. It will also depend on whether local news media in the regions containing Waldorf schools publish accurate reports on the situations within these schools.

[5] See https://www.bendwaldorf.com.

Bend is a small city in central Oregon, about 170 miles southeast of Portland.

[6] If the total number of people at the school is generally 76 (62 + 14), and if there have been five Covid cases, then the infection rate at the school is around 8% (5 / 76). If there have been two cases among students and three among staff, then the infection rate among students is about 3% (2 / 62), and the rate among staff is about 21% (3 / 14).

Bear in mind that there is some question about the number of cases and the total number of people who are typically present at the school. (The news story tells of cases among students and staff, but it does not tell whether there have been cases among the "volunteers" mentioned in the story. There is also some vagueness about the definition of "staff." Does this include all workers at the school, or just teachers?)

[7] Experts are nearly unanimous in recommending the wearing of masks. They also recommend social distancing, frequent handwashing, and other measures. It is unclear how many of these measures have been observed at the school, and how strictly they have been applied. So, for instance, has mask-wearing been required of everyone throughout the school and throughout the day?

Face shields are generally deemed less protective than masks, and almost no experts prescribe wearing both masks and shields simultaneously.

— R.R.

Waldorf Watch Footnotes 

[1] See, e.g., "Bad For Health: Waldorf Schools", August 13, 2020 — scroll down the page to find this item.

[2] See "Chickenpox in Asheville".

[3] See "Steiner's Quackery".

[4] See, e.g., "'Take that thing off' — Waldorf teacher ignores corona protection ordinance", October 2, 2020 — scroll down.

[5] Rudolf Steiner enjoined Waldorf teachers to withhold information from outsiders. For instance, he told teachers at the first Waldorf school, "We should be quiet about how we handle things in the school, we should maintain a kind of school confidentiality. We should not speak to people outside the school...." — Rudolf Steiner, FACULTY MEETINGS WITH RUDOLF STEINER (Anthroposophic Press, 1998), p, 10. [See "Secrets".]

[6] The school, located northeast of Boulder, describes itself as offering "a safe and nurturing environment." [See https://bvwaldorf.org.]

[7] This is an assisted-living facility for elders; it is located in Longmont, Colorado. [See https://www.caring.com/senior-living/colorado/longmont/cinnamon-park-assisted-living.]

[8] The school reportedly has 135 students. [See https://www.niche.com/k12/boulder-valley-waldorf-school-niwot-co/.] If three students have tested positive, this would represent 2.2% of the student body. (Note that the actual situation at the school is unclear. What is meant by "attendee," for instance?)

[9] The situation at Boulder Valley Waldorf School is being reported more than a week after the outbreak there was first determined. The number of infected "attendees" at the school may have changed in the days since the outbreak began.

— R.R.

October 13, 2020

NOT HOW TO CORRAL COVID:

THE WRONG WAY TO HERD US

Some of Rudolf Steiner's followers have argued that schools should continue operating more or less normally during the coronavirus pandemic. Such advice presumably applies particularly to Waldorf schools, where Anthroposophical medicine is generally held in high regard [1]. If the advice is followed, some children in these schools will get sick and spread the virus to their classmates. But this will be okay, some Anthroposophists say. It will promote so-called "herd immunity."

Anthroposophical doctor Harald Matthes, for one, has made such an argument. Matthes opines that children generally contract only mild cases of Covid-19 — the disease is a serious concern only for the elderly. Hence, letting kids catch the illness should be both safe and socially beneficial:

"[Dr. Matthes asserts] the 'virus only becomes dangerous with age' ... For this health worker, a large number of young people must be infected in order to achieve 'the indispensable 70% herd immunity ... [I]t is good that younger people are infected first, to build up a collective immunity....'" [2]

It is true that Covid-19 kills a disproportionately high number of the elderly, but children are not immune by any means. Some children become extremely ill with Covid, and a small number have died [3]. For the parents of these children, failure to protect young people from the disease must seem completely unacceptable. Perhaps the rest of us should share this view, out of compassion if nothing else.

Still, herd immunity is an important concept. Harvard Medical School describes the concept in these words:

"Herd immunity occurs when enough people become immune to a disease to make its spread unlikely. As a result, the entire community is protected, even those who are not themselves immune. Herd immunity is usually achieved through vaccination, but it can also occur through natural infection." [4]

Herd immunity is important. But this brings us back to the question whether we should seek herd immunity by, among other things, putting children at risk.

Allowing children to get sick because this might possibly benefit other people is surely a dubious proposition. We have discussed this issue here previously [5]. Now the world Health Organization has taken a stance, declaring the pursuit of herd immunity in such a manner is unethical. The following is from CBS News today:

Letting COVID-19 spread 

to achieve herd immunity 

is "unethical," WHO [6] chief says

The head of the World Health Organization warned Monday against suggestions by some to just allow COVID-19 to spread in the hope of achieving so-called herd immunity, saying this was "unethical." 

"Herd immunity is achieved by protecting people from a virus, not by exposing them to it," Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said during a virtual press briefing. He explained that "herd immunity is a concept used for vaccination, in which a population can be protected from a certain virus if a threshold of vaccination is reached."

He pointed out that for measles, for example, it is estimated that if 95% of the population is vaccinated, the remaining 5% will also be protected from the spread of the virus...

However, Tedros said, "Never in the history of public health has herd immunity been used as a strategy for responding to an outbreak, let alone a pandemic [7]."

According to Johns Hopkins University, 70% to 90% of Americans would need to have coronavirus antibodies for herd immunity to be achieved. But the nation is nowhere near that level yet...

Even once a vaccine is approved, it's unclear how many people would immediately receive it. Vaccine opponents had already begun efforts to disparage a future vaccine [8]...

[Worldwide,] COVID-19 has killed well over one million people and has infected more than 37 million since it first surfaced in China late last year.

Relying on naturally obtaining herd immunity in such a situation would be "scientifically and ethically problematic," Tedros said. "Allowing a dangerous virus that we don't fully understand to run free is simply unethical. It's not an option"....

[10/13/2020   https://www.cbsnews.com/news/covid-19-herd-immunity-unethical-world-health-organization/]

Waldorf Watch Footnotes 

[1] See "Steiner's Quackery".

[2] Thomas Mahler, "5G, contamination bienvenue... Ces médecins qui diffusent des théories folles sur le coronavirus", L'EXPRESS, March 23, 2020 [https://www.lexpress.fr/actualite/societe/sante/5g-contamination-bienvenue-ces-medecins-qui-diffusent-des-theories-folles-sur-le-coronavirus_2121606.html; translation by Roger Rawlings, using DeepL Translator].

[3] For an overview of the situation in the USA, see the following from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC): "COVID-19 Trends Among School-Aged Children — United States, March 1–September 19, 2020" [https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6939e2.htm]. The CDC's report includes this recommendation: "It is important for schools and communities to monitor multiple indicators of COVID-19 among school-aged children and layer prevention strategies to reduce COVID-19 disease risk for students, teachers, school staff, and families." 

[4]  "Preventing the Spread of the Coronavirus", Harvard Medical School, September 17, 2020 [https://www.health.harvard.edu/diseases-and-conditions/preventing-the-spread-of-the-coronavirus].

[5]  See "Don't Let Children Contract Covid-19", March 25, 2020 — scroll down the page.

[6] WHO is the World Health Organization.

[7] I.e., aiming to attain herd immunity by allowing people to become infected is not a valid medical procedure. The way to defeat Covid-19 will be to develop a vaccine and use it widely. Perhaps as much as 90% of the population will need to be vaccinated before herd immunity is attained.

[8] Opposition to vaccination is widespread in Anthroposophy, including in and around Waldorf schools. [See "vaccination" in The Brief Waldorf / Steiner Encyclopedia".] Some Waldorf teachers have been prominent in anti-vaccination demonstrations in Germany and elsewhere. [See, e.g., "Protests, Conspiracy Theories, and Rudolf Steiner's Followers", September 1, 2020.]

— R.R.

October 10, 2020

FAILED STEINER SCHOOL 

MAY REOPEN NEXT FALL

Steiner or Waldorf schools in the UK have been under enormous pressure in recent months. Inspectors have found serious faults at a number of these schools [1]. As a result, some of the schools have closed, while others have attempted to mend their ways by, at least partially, cutting their ties to the Steiner/Waldorf movement [2].

Wynstones Steiner School, in Glouchester, England, closed early this year after receiving devastating critiques from official education inspectors. The school had been judged "good" in the past [3], but under a more stringent inspection regime Wynstones was downgraded to "inadequate" — the lowest possible assessment, equivalent to a grade of F.

Summary of inspection conducted at Wynstones in 2019.

[Ofsted.]

Inspectors judged Wynstones to be failing in all its essential functions, including management, teaching, and safeguarding.

Now Wynstones has announced plans to reopen in the autumn of 2021. Evidently the school will continue to base its approach on the preachments of Rudolf Steiner [4], but sweeping changes are being implemented. Virtually everyone who was involved in running the school previously — including almost all of the teachers — will be replaced. The school's future course may depend on whether the new hires advocate the Steiner ethos and methodology [5].

Here are excerpts from a recent BBC news report:

Wynstones Steiner School 

to reopen in September 2021

The school closed in January due to a damning Ofsted report.

[Google.]

A Steiner school which shut in January after Ofsted [6] found "fundamental failings" had put children "at risk of harm" is to reopen next year.

Wynstones School, near Gloucester, has appointed a new management team and board of trustees, and will replace all but two of its 64 staff.

Its new principal said it would reopen in September 2021...

Paul Hougham, who was appointed as the new principal in March, said reopening was a "big challenge" but also a "big opportunity"...

[He added] "The Ofsted report...is very sobering and serious reading. It is informing how we are resetting the school's culture."

The report, published in February, said school leaders did not address or challenge staff behaviour which was "unacceptable and places pupils at significant risk".

Ofsted said a group of "resistant" teachers had blocked any attempts to change the school.

Inspectors also found parents felt intimidated raising bullying problems, resulting in children leaving the school...

[The school] teaches the principles of Rudolph Steiner [sic]....

[10/10/2020   https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-gloucestershire-54477594   The BBC released this article on October 9.]

Here are excerpts from previous news accounts detailing Wynstones' travails.

From The Stroud News and Journal [Glouchestershire], January 28, 2020:

Wynstones School closes 

following damning Ofsted report

WYNSTONES School has closed following a damning Ofsted report.

The Steiner Waldorf school...has been closed weeks after education watchdog Ofsted found it had 'serious and widespread failures'...

Ofsted’s website says the school has been closed, and a spokesman for the Trustees said 'robust action' will be taken to tackle the issues with an aim to 'enable the school to re-open safely'...

An Ofsted report published in November found that untrained staff 'had restrained children on two occasions', after the school assured Ofsted that no restraints had occurred...

The report...said "The safeguarding culture in the school is weak. Leaders, managers, staff and trustees do not protect children from harm. Statutory safeguarding guidance is not fully understood or followed...."

[https://www.stroudnewsandjournal.co.uk/news/18191961.wynstones-school-closed-following-damning-ofsted-report/]

From Gloucerstershire Live, February 12, 2020:

Kindergarten children were 

'at significant risk of harm' 

at 'toxic' Wynstones Steiner School 

A Steiner school which closed last month left children 'at risk of serious harm'...

In a damning report published today, Ofsted said leaders did not address or challenge staff behaviour 'that is unacceptable and places pupils at significant risk'.

Children in kindergarten aged between three and four years old were also 'at risk of significant harm' as child protection issues were not dealt with 'in line with statutory safeguarding requirements.'

According to the report, child protection records are 'not kept effectively' and leaders are 'unable to explain the actions they have taken or describe the outcomes'...

[Inspectors] said: "There are behaviour and anti-bullying policies published on the school’s website.

"However, these policies do not promote good behaviour or prevent bullying among pupils. There is little evidence to suggest that staff follow, implement or understand these policies well enough..."

The report also said: "The principal summed up inspectors’ description of the school’s culture as 'toxic'.

"Relationships between staff and parents and carers have led to a situation where children’s safety is secondary to vested interests.

"The staff body is divided and those who want to change are intimidated by other staff and a body of parents who want to retain control over the school...."

[https://www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk/news/gloucester-news/kindergarten-children-were-at-significant-3841034]

Press coverage of the problems at UK Steiner schools has tended to focus on the issue of child safety. This is wholly understandable. But we should remember that inspectors often found problems in other areas of school responsibility, including management and teaching. Note that in the Ofsted summary reproduced above Wynstones School was found to have inadequate "leadership and management" and inadequate "quality of teaching." Overall, inspectors concluded that the school failed in virtually every way a school could possibly fail.

Waldorf Watch Footnotes 

[1] See "The Steiner School Crisis".

[2] Some Steiner academies, for instance, have joined the Avanti Schools Trust, a multi-academy trust that, until recently, exclusively operated Hindu schools in the UK. Avanti has indicated that it may implement basic changes at the Steiner academies, perhaps eliminating or at least limiting the influence of Steiner pedagogy.

[3] The highest evaluation made by official school inspectors in the UK is "outstanding," meaning that a school is excellent. "Good" is the second evaluation, meaning that a school is okay but should be improved. The third evaluation, "requires improvement," means that a school is sub-par and must be made better. The lowest evaluation, "inadequate," means that a school has severe flaws — it must either be significantly improved or it should be shut down.

[4] See "Steiner, Rudolf" in The Brief Waldorf / Steiner Encyclopedia (BWSE) — scroll down the page to this entry.

[5] See "Waldorf schools: core principles", "Waldorf schools: goals", and "Waldorf schools, Steiner schools" in the BWSE.

[6] Ofsted is the UK government's Office for Standards in Education.

— R.R.

October 2, 2020

◊ ROUNDUP: WALDORF NEWS BRIEFS ◊

1.

From Stuff [New Zealand]:

School's new farm-based 

home a labour of love

[By] Katy Jones

Nestled between apple orchards and grazing sheep, 

this classroom at Mouteka Steiner School’s new farmland site 

is the first of six to be completed on the 13 hectare property in Lower Moutere. 

[Photo by Martin de Ruyter / Stuff.]

Years of fundraising and working bees have seen a long-held vision come to life for a close-knit school community near Nelson.

Tears flowed among parents and staff from Motueka Steiner School as the school’s first classroom, that they helped build and pay for, was officially opened on farmland last week.

The private, soon-to-be state integrated school, is shifting from a rented building on Motueka’s High St to the working farm property a few kilometres away...

The idea of building a permanent home for the school on farmland was first mooted by families more than 35 years ago, around the time the school trust set up its first kindergarten near Motueka in 1984...

The move to the farm allowed the nature-based school, for children from kindergarten age up to 13, to fully develop its outdoor classroom curriculum, [development manager Peter] Garlick said...

Becoming state integrated next year would make the Motueka Steiner school more affordable for parents in the long term, Garlick said.

While the school had to pay off the loans and for new buildings, it no longer had to pay staff salaries or school operations.

The school could cater for 100 students, with 80 children expected next year, when the rest of the classrooms were due to be ready for use....

[10/2/2020    https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/education/122859316/schools-new-farmbased-home-a-labour-of-love    This article originally appeared on October 1.]

2. 

From Anthroposophie.blog [Germany]:

"Take the thing off" —

Waldorf teacher ignores 

corona protection ordinance

[By] Anthroblogger [Oliver Rautenberg]

Right-wing demonstrations against coronavirus protective measures apparently can no longer do without the participation of Anthroposophists. In dozens of cities, teachers and trainers for esoteric Waldorf education appear as speakers or organize the demos themselves.

At the corona demo in Düsseldorf last Sunday, a Waldorf teacher/trainer from Witten spoke...

The lady, who introduced herself as Irmgard B...called for people to violate the state's corona protection ordinance...

Ms. B...says that she consciously ignores the corona protection ordinance of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. This is accepted at her [Waldorf] school:

"My name is Irmgard and I am a Waldorf teacher...

"I said very clearly: I can't put on a mask when I go in front of children — I don't do that. [Cries of "Bravo," applause]

"And my colleagues [i.e., fellow Waldorf faculty members] tolerate this so much..."

This Waldorf teacher's pupils also do not wear masks in their lessons...

"Two thirds [of the students' parents] came and brought a bouquet of flowers with them as a thank you that I handled it that way and that their children didn't have to wear a mask in my class. And that is now a matter of course for us, my colleagues allow me to do it that way...."

[10/2/2020    https://anthroposophie.blog/2020/09/22/zieh-das-ding-aus-waldorflehrerin-ignoriert-corona-schutzverordnung/     This article originally appeared on September 22. Translation by RR, leaning on Google Translate.]

3. 

From Saratoga Today [New York State, USA]:

Open Air Classes

By Megin Potter

Students throughout Saratoga are spending more class time outside this year.

Open-air classrooms were utilized more than a century ago as a way to prevent the spread of tuberculous and are being reintroduced this year as a healthy way to adhere to social distancing guidelines...

Grounded in the philosophy of hands-on learning, the Waldorf School of Saratoga Springs was already running an all-outdoor Forest Kindergarten and is adding another following the same outdoor model.

Waldorf’s 1st through 7th grade students are now spending 75 percent of their school day outside...

Folding chairs equipped with supplies and even cushioned tree stumps have been set up to create outdoor classroom spaces. As the weather cools, the school will be setting up tents and heaters, as well.

When the weather is too wet, classes will be inside but the school’s big windows will remain open for increased ventilation....

[10/2/2020    https://saratogatodaynewspaper.com/today-in-saratoga/education/item/12380-open-air-classes    This article originally appeared on October 1.]