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WALDORF / STEINER
NEWS ARCHIVE
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August, 2017
to
September, 2017
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This site supplements Waldorf Watch.
To go to Waldorf Watch itself, please click here:
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The news items below are presented in reverse chronological order — newest first, oldest last.
Please excuse a certain amount of repetition in the contents of this archive. Items that now appear close together on the screen may have originally been separated by intervals of several days.
Many of the items in this archive generalize about Waldorf schools, describing them as Rudolf Steiner and leading Waldorf representatives have said they should be and as evidence shows they often are today. Not all Waldorf schools, Waldorf charter schools, and Waldorf-inspired schools conform to this model precisely. To evaluate an individual school, you should carefully examine its stated purposes, its practices (which may or may not be consistent with its stated purposes), and the composition of its faculty.
— Roger Rawlings
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STROUD NEWS AND JOURNAL
7th September
Former director of Downfield Sixth Form
in attempt to rescue Hertfordshire school
Sam Evans @samevanssnj
Reporter
THE former director of Downfield Sixth Form will attempt to rescue a school that has been ordered to close by the Government.
Tim Byford is appealing the decision to close Rudolf Steiner School in Kings Langley, Hertfordshire....
The latest report in May gave the school a rating of inadequate, sighting safeguarding as a real issue.
Lead inspector Philippa Darley said: "Leaders have underplayed and misrepresented the school's safeguarding failings to parents...."
The inspectors also found that the while the leader of safeguarding at the school was highly regarded by her colleagues her "understanding of safeguarding is not comprehensive".
Ms Darley said: "Records of pupils going off-site at lunchtime continue to be poorly kept. It is not always clear if pupils have returned to school. This poses a safeguarding risk."
The closeness between staff and students was also an issue for inspectors with a senior member of staff Dennis McCarthy being dismissed in January for gross misconduct.
"Professional boundaries between staff, parents and pupils are not maintained," said Ms Darley.
"Staff, including senior leaders, do not follow the school's own policies on social media access.
"Parents arrange for pupils to see their teachers, and former teachers, off the school site. This culture is unchanged...."
[http://www.stroudnewsandjournal.co.uk/news/15521643.Former_director_of_Downfield_Sixth_Form_in_attempt_to_rescue_Hertfordshire_school/]
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HERTFORDSHIRE MERCURY
Kings Langley's Rudolf Steiner School ordered to close
by Government over safeguarding concerns
By Matthew_MH | Posted: September 04, 2017
A school in Hertfordshire which let students go off-site during lunch time and failed to keep track of if they returned has been ordered to close by the Government.
The Department of Education issued a notice of de-regulation to Rudolf Steiner School in Kings Langley in July after an Ofsted inspection, meaning that it will be shut down.
The school was rated as being 'inadequate' after a visit by the education watchdog between December 13 and December 16 last year, finding the independent school standards were not being met.
In March 2017 the Department of Education applied a relevant restriction as a result of the inspection, meaning that the Rudolf Steiner School could not admit any new pupils.
Lead investigator Philippa Darley and her team found that "teachers still do not plan lessons effectively”.
In the report they wrote: "Leaders have underplayed and misrepresented the school's safeguarding failings to parents.
"On more than one occasion, they have publicly stated that the failure is simply one of 'record keeping’.
"They have also stated that 'no transgressions or wrongdoings were found to have taken place' and have implied that former parents who expressed concerns have misrepresented the position.
"These messages are not supported by the inspection evidence...."
"Records of pupils going off-site at lunchtime continue to be poorly kept. It is not always clear if pupils have returned to school. This poses a safeguarding risk.”
The closeness between staff and students was also highlighted as an issue by the inspectors.
"Professional boundaries between staff, parents and pupils are not maintained," they wrote in the report....
However in a statement on the Rudolf Steiner School's website the principle Tim Byford and chair of trustees Peter Harrington say that they are fighting the decision to shut the school....
[http://www.hertfordshiremercury.co.uk/kings-langley-s-rudolf-steiner-school-ordered-to-close-by-government-over-safeguarding-concerns/story-30503144-detail/story.html]
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Measles spike prompts govt warnings
The hospitalisation of a child with measles has prompted
WA Health to urge parents to vaccination their children.
Greg Roberts
Australian Associated Press
AUGUST 30, 20173:17PM
West Australian parents are being urged to vaccinate their children by the health department after a seriously ill child was hospitalised with measles amid a spike in cases.
There have been four cases that started with an unvaccinated year 10 student from a Perth alternative Steiner school who returned from Italy with measles....
The affected children are students from the Perth Waldorf School in Bibra Lake and Steiner schools are renowned for low immunisation rates among students with parents that oppose vaccinations.
"The latest case was particularly concerning, because it resulted in a child being hospitalised for three days," he said....
There was a controversy when the school did not respond for days to department offers to "bring the jabs to them" through free clinics, given about half of its 400-plus students had not been vaccinated, before later agreeing...
[http://www.news.com.au/national/breaking-news/measles-spike-prompts-govt-warnings/news-story/dae5a2ed75083d8917fc9dea0e3459a6]
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DailyMail.com/
Sunday, Sep 3rd 2017
5PM
Liberal school that's just too liberal:
Top £10,000-a-year Steiner school is ordered to close
amid child safety fears after series of damning inspections
• The Rudolf Steiner School, in Hertfordshire, has been ordered to close down
• Inspectors say teachers were meeting up with students outside the classroom
• There were also concerns about students being free to walk off the site at lunch
• The school is appealing the closure will run as normal until this is settled
By Paddy Dinham For Mailonline
PUBLISHED: 08:19 EDT, 3 September 2017 | UPDATED: 12:03 EDT, 3 September 2017
A top £10,000 a year school has been ordered to close following a damning report from Ofsted [the Office for Standards in Education] that flagged up serious fears of child safety.
The Rudolf Steiner School, in Kings Langley, Hertfordshire, will close down after failing to make improvements since the education watchdog's last visit in December, when it stopped any new pupils from coming aboard.
But now the school has been ordered to close down for good, with inspectors saying data protection had been breached, pupils were able to wander off-site during lunch breaks and that there were no 'professional boundaries' between students and teachers, with some meeting up outside school.
The school is currently appealing the decision and will continue to operate as normal until a decision on this has been made..
[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4848266/Top-10-000-year-Steiner-school-ordered-close.html]
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Telegraph News
Exclusive: Top Steiner school ordered to close
by Government over child safety fears
Camilla Turner, education editor
2 September 2017 9:59PM
Britain’s flagship Steiner school has been ordered to close amid fears over child safety, The Sunday Telegraph has learned.
The Rudolf Steiner School Kings Langley had already been banned by the Department for Education (DfE) from admitting any new pupils, following a series of damning Ofsted inspections which uncovered a raft of safeguarding failings.
It comes after Denis McCarthy, a senior staff member who was also a leading figure in the UK’s Steiner school movement, was sacked from the school for gross misconduct.
“He was a senior figure in anthroposophy,” a source close to the school told The Sunday Telegraph. “He was the most powerful person in the school, he had a large following.
“The school did everything that they could to protect him: minimising or dismissing concerns, and deleting safeguarding emails."
The development raises questions about the 34 other Steiner schools in the UK and Ireland, which includes four state funded Steiner academies....
The Rudolf Steiner School Kings Langley charges up to £9,570-a-year in fees and is set on ten acres of grounds on the site of a 13th-century Plantagenet royal palace in Hertfordshire.
The school has issued a public apology to children and their families for “real and serious failings going back several years”, acknowledging that it failed to act on “repeated concerns raised by parents” over safeguarding.
The school was notified in July of the Secretary of State for Education’s intention to remove it from the independent schools’ register, a decision which the school is now appealing....
[9-2-2017 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/09/02/exclusive-top-steiner-school-ordered-close-government-child/]
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NATIONAL BREAKING NEWS
Fourth case of measles at Perth school
Australian Associated Press
5:45 August 25, 2017
A fourth child has been diagnosed with measles at Perth Waldorf School, more than a week after the health department gave an on-site vaccine to students.
A Health Department spokeswoman confirmed the latest case, which comes three weeks after the highly contagious disease was first detected in an unvaccinated year 10 student who had returned from Italy.
Revelations that about half the school's 400 students were unvaccinated against the disease led the Health Department to offer a voluntary, free on-site vaccine to students, but it is unknown how many took up the offer.
[http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/latest-news/fourth-case-of-measles-at-perth-school/news-story/ece041f55111645e10f70046d92479dd]
WA NEWS
Fourth Perth Waldorf School student contracts measles
Cathy O'Leary, PerthNow
August 25, 2017 5:10 am
A FOURTH case of measles has been confirmed in a student from the Perth Waldorf School in Bibra Lake.
The WA Health Department’s Virus Watch bulletin has confirmed the latest case, with three students contracting the disease from a high school student who developed measles after a holiday in Italy which is in the midst of a measles epidemic.
The department said all four students who developed measles were unvaccinated.
The school, which is believed to have a high rate of unvaccinated students, recently agreed to a Health Department offer to set up an immunisation clinic at the school.
[http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/western-australia/fourth-perth-waldorf-school-student-contracts-measles/news-story/c5dcd5f2979ff00f3ce20f376132aa61]
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HEAD OF PERTH SCHOOL AT CENTRE
of anti-vax row, measles outbreak quits
of anti-vax row, measles outbreak quits
AAP
Friday, 11 August 2017 2:54AM
The principal of a Steiner school in Perth at the centre of a possible measles outbreak has resigned amid controversy over his anti-vaccination views.
It comes as a second student has been infected with measles at the school.
The student was isolated at home and is not considered a risk to others, a Health Department spokeswoman said....
The school did not initially respond to a department offer to immediately provide vaccinations, prompting sharp criticism from the Australian Medical Association and the suggestion taxpayer funding be cut from schools that similarly did so.
The school then revealed in a letter published by staff and parents on its website that its principal, Jean-Michel David, had resigned.
Mr David stood as a candidate for the 2014 Victorian election on an anti-vaccination....
[https://thewest.com.au/news/wa/head-of-perth-steiner-school-at-centre-of-anti-vax-row-measles-outbreak-quits-ng-b88565743z]
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Second Steiner school student
in Perth infected with measles
AAP, PerthNow
August 11, 2017 3:02am
A SECOND student has been infected with measles at a Steiner school in Perth, which is at the centre of a possible outbreak, following the resignation of the principal amid controversy over his anti-vaccination views....
The West Australian government issued a citywide alert last week when it emerged an unvaccinated year 10 student had returned from Italy with measles.
The department warned a substantial number of Perth Waldorf School's more than 400 students — possibly half — had not been vaccinated....
Steiner Education Australia denies it opposes vaccination, saying it is up to parents, but Steiner alternative schools are known globally for having far higher rates of unvaccinated children than the general population and are considered at risk of measles outbreaks....
[http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/western-australia/second-steiner-school-student-in-perth-infected-with-measles/news-story/67aec0de166a14c41185e0e3b6c7d1ab]
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Measles scare for 200 unvaccinated children
Measles scare for 200 unvaccinated children
at Perth Waldorf School in Bibra Lake
at Perth Waldorf School in Bibra Lake
By Graeme Powell
Updated 9 Aug 2017, 4:16am
The West Australian Health Department says it has taken steps to try to stop the spread of a measles outbreak at a Perth private school attended by up to 200 children who have not been immunised.
Perth Waldorf School — a Steiner school in the southern suburb of Bibra Lake — confirmed a high school student had been diagnosed with measles after becoming infected while holidaying in Europe.
There are now fears he may have infected fellow students at the school, where a Health Department spokeswoman said as many as half of the 400 pupils could be unvaccinated.
Measles is generally well contained through an established immunisation program in Australia, but if a person is not immunised then serious cases of the disease can be potentially life-threatening.
The Health Department released a statement saying it was powerless to force parents to immunise their children....
Perth Waldorf School includes a playgroup for two-year-olds, a pre-school and a primary school.
The Education Department Act states that schools in WA can ask for vaccination records of children during enrolment, but can not reject applications based on vaccination status.
[http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-08-08/measles-scare-for-unvaccinated-children-at-perth-waldorf-school/8785070]
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THE AUSTRALIAN
Measles-exposed school has 200 at-risk kids
ANDREW BURRELL
WA Chief Reporter
Perth
@AndrewBurrell7
A Steiner school in Perth at the centre of a potential measles outbreak has more than 200 unvaccinated students and has told parents in official documents they can decide whether to immunise their children.
The West Australian Health Department was yesterday attempting to arrange a special vaccination clinic to attend Perth Waldorf School, in the southern suburb of Bibra Lake, but it remained unclear if the school would agree to such a move.
Last week, a high school student from the school was diagnosed with measles after contracting the disease while on holiday in Europe. Before being diagnosed, and while still infectious, the unvaccinated student attended PWS, which includes preschool and primary school students as well as a playgroup for children as young as two....
In its official primary school handbook for parents, the school says: “The school respects the parents’ freedom to decide for or against immunisation.”
Its enrolment guide tells parents they need to provide a range of documents, including “psychological assessments” and a birth certificate, but makes no mention of vaccination records....
[https://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/health/measlesexposed-school-has-200-atrisk-kids/news-story/259ea0fc9d0339eae3cda9b125651076]
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