Why in school nutrition, as in so many other areas, does it always seem to take the “mainstream” so long to catch up with the global Steiner schools movement?
Our children have been eating organic food for decades - but no-one seems to have noticed. Recent issues of The TES read like a manifesto for Steiner education - with the advocacy of integrated physical exercise to support formal learning (“Motor skills drive success”, TES, April 1); the 11th-hour discovery of the role of artistic creativity in learning (“Jowell vows to put sons and daughters on the stage”, TES, April 1); and the pioneering of empowering forms of assessment (“What have we learnt today?”, TES, March 25).
You have also woken up to the dangers of the surveillance culture (“Why we’re at war with Ofsted”, TES, March 25); the questionable benefit of the king’s ransom spent on uncritically foisting IT on schools (“Hardware with a hitch”, TES, April 1); and last but not least, questioned whether the state should determine the structure and content of education (“Teachers know best”, TES, March 25).
At this rate, our schooling system will soon be Steiner-inspired in all but name - that would be something to celebrate!
(Dr) Richard House Norfolk Initiative Steiner School 13 Denbigh Road Norwich, Norfolk
