Wednesday 13 April 2011

A Talk on Waldorf Education


A little while ago now we arranged for Kevin Avison, an influential member of the Steiner Waldorf Schools Fellowship, to come to North Devon and give an introductory talk on Steiner Waldorf education,

We booked the Barn at Tapely as the venue, as we felt that it would be good to organise the talk as near as possible to the school site.


We set the hall up in the morning. We had our craft stall, a table of info and prospectuses, and an information display full of photos of what we had been up to so far.


Kevin arrived late morning and we had a good meeting with him, discussing what we were doing and asking him a whole plethora of questions about other Steiner Waldorf set ups and his own experiences.


We had put up posters around and about in both Barnstaple and Bideford, but we had all been so busy with the works on site that we all felt the whole thing was a bit rushed and underprepared, so we really had no idea if anyone would turn up.


We set up the cafe area in the bar, adjacent to the main hall, and put up signs to direct people through so they would hopefully buy tea and cakes on their way in. I stood by the door to take the entrance fee of £2, and we waited for 2 o'clock to roll around.


The first few people started to wander in at about 1.45, and they didn't stop. 

By about 2.15 I had to leave admissions to someone else and go and introduce Kevin so the talk could start. 
It was packed, standing room only, and only about 3 people had previously been involved with Bluebells or the Two Rivers project. In fact, the vast majority had been to one or other of my classes which left me with a warm glowy feeling inside! 


The talk went really well. I learnt a ton of stuff, and loved standing at the back and watching every ones reactions to what was being said.

And I know, I know, that all this interest doesn't necessarily translate into involvement with the school, or children enrolled, but it's a start.



Oh yes, it's a good start.

2 comments:

  1. WOW.
    that is amazing..
    ironically, I attended a meeting about a waldorf charter school in our area tonight....we would be the second of its kind on the entire East coast of the USA.
    Our consultant and brains behind the operation is Eugene Schwartz...I am sure you've heard of him, and he is completely amazing in person. I am still reeling from his speech tonight...
    I am more interested in the traditional pedagogy, but I am looking forward to playing a large hand in this charter school.
    I am so excited for you....your preparations look so very lovely...I'll bet it was amazing watching all of those people come through the door...you've captured the moments oh so well...we must keep in touch, friend!!!
    xoxoxoxox

    ReplyDelete
  2. How amazing! And how exciting to be both heading out on such similar adventures at the same time but so far apart.
    It was fantastic..I was shaking like a leaf when I gave the introduction.. part excitement, part nerves, part coffee!
    We will keep each other posted, friend xx

    ReplyDelete

Please feel free to leave a comment. I love reading them and hearing your thoughts.