Our School Life

Curiosity

Creativity

Collaboration

Our School Day

We believe every day at school should be joyful. Our days begin promptly from 8.20am and are structured to support each age development - academically, emotionally and physically.

The structure of our day and our approach to teaching is based on contemporary Waldorf pedagogy, educational research coupled with an expert understanding of child psychology, learning and behaviour.

Throughout the day we balance academic, artistic and practical learning, bringing together intellectual, physical and emotional development.

Academic excellence based on Waldorf principles is at the heart of everything we do, with creativity, personal research, music and physical activity an essential part of daily school life.

The morning starts with a warm welcome from the teacher, followed by verse, singing and movement and moves directly into the Main Lesson which runs for 2-hours through to morning break and time outside.

The day typically continues focusing on an academic area, eg maths, literacy or language before lunch break at 1pm, with further study plus crafts, games , sports and arts typically taking place in the afternoon.

Class 1 to 8 each enjoy their home-packed lunch as a class community in their own rooms before enjoying time with different ages together in the garden for around an hour main break.

Classes 9-12 have access to the cafe and facilities at Charlton House for lunch.

We go outside whatever the weather - on the rare occasion of extreme weather children enjoy boardgames and books.

Wraparound Care

We offer Breakfast Club 7.30am-9am for all pupils and Wraparound Care 07.30am-5.30pm for Kindergarten children.

  • Breakfast Club 07.30am to start of school

  • Kindergarten Extended Curriculum 1pm-3.30pm

  • Afternoon Care Club 3.30-5.30pm

Our School day starts from 08.20 -3.30pm.

Our core Kindergarten runs 8.50am-1pm.

Care, Respect & Responsibility

We teach children to enjoy caring for each other and their surroundings. From our Kindergarten upwards, all pupils take on responsibility for helping to keep their classrooms looking beautiful, ordered and tidy.

From Class 1 upwards, children become ‘Helping Hands’ and take on different chores or jobs in class throughout the term for the care and presentation of their room - for example helping cleaning up, looking after plants, setting up painting, and tidying away.

Pupil Wellbeing

Strong safeguarding and pupil wellbeing is the foundation of everything we do at school.

In keeping with Waldorf pedagogy, we cover all legal requirements of the national RE & RSE curriculum (Relationships Sex and Education)in an age-appropriate way. We protect childhood and focus on wellbeing to ensure that all children, their families and the wider community are respected, represented and validated.

Our approach includes appropriate representation and discussion around relationships of all kinds including LGBTQIA+ which reflect the world and communities in which we live.

Our practice follows the statutory guidance given by the Department for Education, is internally moderated, and is overseen by Ofsted and the Independent Schools Inspectorate.

Festivals, Assemblies and Celebrations

Our festivals, assemblies and celebrations are a key part of school life. They follow the seasons and key moments across both our year and the wider world.

Secular, they provide rhythm and moments for self-reflection, reverence of the world and nature, and recognise different cultures and religions. They also allow an acknowledgment of personal achievements and rites of passage, and provide a link to historical traditions and the cycle of the natural world.

  • Black History Month

  • Chinese New Year

  • LGBT Month

  • Science Week

  • Candlemass

  • World Book Day

  • Easter

  • Maypole

  • Ramadan - Eid

  • St John's

  • Diwali

  • Rosh Hashanah

  • Michaelmas

  • Martinmas

  • Advent Spiral

  • Lantern Walks

  • St Nicholas

  • Epiphany

  • Whitsun

  • Festivals of Work

  • Handwork Festival

  • Pancake Day

Children at the Centre

Throughout our school, our ethos is to do what is best for pupils, with staff focusing on each child as an individual.

The Class Teacher uses specialist Waldorf ‘Point In Time Assessments’ (PITA) to track each child’s progress, involving summative assessment methodology, evaluating each child’s individual learning and academic progress.

Using formal and informal assessments teachers build a multi-layered understanding of each child’s development, academic progress and engagement with their education.

These impact assessments form the basis of regular ‘Child Study’ meetings between Class Teacher/Class Guardian with Subject Teachers to discuss the development of each pupil in depth,

Regular ‘Child Study’ sessions enable our expert educators to have the time and space to reflect on each pupil as an individual and assess how to best advance their academic learning and ensure emotional and phycological wellbeing.

Based on positive data and without ‘categorising’ pupils, PITA and Child Study form the basis of our biannual Pupil Reports for parents that record each child’s progress.

Homework

Self-driven work, research skills and self-management are a key element of Waldorf education.

From Class 3 upwards pupils have major projects that involve in-depth work at home over a period of weeks, including fact-finding, art work, written composition and practical projects.

Individual instrument tuition (Viola/Violin/Cello) also begins in Class 3 and time at home to practice playing and consolidate learning is then needed on an ongoing basis - with children able to study for Grades 1-8 if they wish.

Daily and weekly subject homework begins in Class 6. The content and amount varies depending on both the class and each child’s stage of Main Lesson work and learning.

Knowledge Consolidation

We make children feel proud of their progress, empower them to take ownership of knowledge and to be excited to learn more.

Everything we do at school is part of our wider Waldorf curriculum and is designed solely for the purpose of benefiting each pupil.

We go beyond ‘surface’ learning - simply memorising facts and figures - to creating ‘deep’ and ‘transferable’ learning so pupils can demonstrate an in depth understanding of a subject, and are then able to think through issues and apply their knowledge in real life.

From Class 1 onwards we help pupils consolidate knowledge and give children the opportunity to feel a sense of achievement about how much they have learnt and their skills development, with regular reflective tests part of day to day class life.

We see tests from the perspective of the learner and make them positive experiences so that, as pupils move from Class 12 into the world beyond our school, they always look forward to meeting opportunities to demonstrate how much they have learnt.

Together We’re A Team

The class has a collaborative, community spirit, with pupils actively being encouraged to offer help and support to others throughout their work and play.

Pupils learn to take on active responsibilities, from setting up classroom painting and cleaning their room, to washing-up and collecting fire wood and water on school trips.

Our classes are small in size enabling strong relationships and team spirt to develop, with every pupil seen as an essential and valuable part of their class community.

School Council

Children and teenagers representing classes come together with our school leadership team each term as part of our ‘School Council’, bringing the thoughts, views and ideas from their class. It’s an introduction to democratic citizenship, a time to discuss thoughts, with new ideas for school life being proposed and discussed .

Our young people know that their views and voice matter and that they have the potential to make change happen.

“The need for imagination, a sense of truth and a feeling of responsibility – these are the three forces which are the very nerve of education.”

- Rudolf Steiner

Diversity & Inclusion

We’re a proudly inclusive school and and respectful of difference.

We promote social justice, human rights and equity, teaching children to be open-minded, tolerant and to celebrate diversity and aim to ensure that all children, their families and the wider community are respected, appropriately represented and validated.

We strive to ensure that different family structures, genders, racial and cultural heritages, belief systems, abilities and disabilities are represented and celebrated within the curriculum, festivals and resources for learning.

We prepare our students to flourish in the changing world by introducing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion related content in an age and developmentally appropriate way and take the same approach to the Government’s Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) curriculum which all schools are required to cover.

We are a Waldorf UK Member School and support its anti-racism policy.

‘French Day’ &

‘German Day’

Children learn French and German from Class 1 onwards and, alongside immersive trips and educational visits, we bring both countries to SE3 for two special immersive days each year.

The school becomes a French or German mini-town, with every classroom taking on a theme - from a French boulangerie, German pet shop to cafes - which pupils visit and practice out their language skills. We play French and German games, sing songs, shop using school ‘Euros’ and, of course, enjoy a taste of international cuisine.

The ‘Moving’ Classroom.

The concept of a classroom that can be changed with furniture frequently moved to enhance learning originated in Scandinavia and is embraced particularly in our Lower School for Classes 1-3.

The possibilities are endless with the teacher able to teacher rearrange the furniture for learning, playing, creating, performing to encourage pupils’ movement, flexibility of thinking and improve concentration and learning outcomes.

It ensures all pupils have equal access to their teacher and allows the teacher to engage with and be the guide for each child’s learning experience.

School Shop

Children in Class 3 run our weekly school shop - from weighing and pricing to serving and dealing with money. The shop runs at school pick up time with organic store cupboard essentials and snacks.

Our Locations and Facilities

We’re situated just between Greenwich, Charlton and Blackheath in leafy south east London.

Our Kindergartens, Lower and Upper School are currently over three local sites with use of beautiful woodlands, gardens or bespoke outdoor space.

As well as enjoying specialist local facilities for activities such as tennis, swimming, badminton and fencing, and sailing on the Thames, we make the most of Blackheath common and Greenwich Royal Park, and the Capital’s museums and cultural sites.

Meet Our Team

  • Kindergarten

  • School

  • Leadership

  • Governing Board

  • Administration & Support

Meet the team

Charity & Community

As a school we endeavour to play an active part in our local community, from voluntary acts of kindness to fundraising to help others. We also enjoy having visitors - including welcoming our local MP Matthew Pennycook amongst others.

Class 2 Litter-picking in Myceane Gardens

We’re For Everyone

Along with Waldorf UK we acknowledge the injustice and discrimination faced by people of colour in the UK and around the world over multiple generations and the immense damage this has done and continues to have on the members of those communities.  

We are deeply aware that racism permeates much of society. We are committed to being an anti-racist school and take conscious steps to identify, address and oppose racism and racist activity (whether conscious or not).