Description
Ringwood Waldorf School is Independent Secondary school in Non-selective for kids aged 3 to 18 (Gender - 3 to 18 )
Founded in 1974, Ringwood Waldorf School is part of the fastest growing independent educational system. The Waldorf curriculum is designed to work in harmony with the different phases of each child's development to balance their physical, emotional, intellectual, cultural and spiritual needs.They work out of respect for the dignity of each human being and strive to maintain a community where diversity and collaboration are promoted and celebrated. As a result, they strive to be inclusive of all, irrespective of circumstances and our policies and development plans have been built on these principles.The emphasis is not only on the intellectual development of the child, but focuses equally on developing the child’s feeling life (artistic and emotional) and also her life of will (the ability to carry through ideas into a finished piece of work, incorporating all the steps in between). In this way, they allow the child’s potential to unfold and to grow into a self-motivated, content adult.
Facilities
The Early Years Programme
In our Early Years programme they work with children in the first phase of human development, which is primarily focused on building the physical body and strong healthy senses as a foundation for future learning. It is a time when the child learns best through imitation and play rather than instruction. In the first seven years of life, children are one with their surroundings.Ash Tree Parent and Child Group provides a warm and homely environment where families with young children, from around six months to four years old, spend time together in a session led by a Parent and Child Group leader. They aim to nurture healthy child development through opportunities for free movement, imaginative child-led play, gentle sensory exploration and secure connections. The two hour sessions run Monday to Friday during term time.
Kindergarten
The Kindergartens at Ringwood Waldorf School provide a secure, inspiring and nurturing learning environment for children aged three to six years old. Our educational principles, policy and practice are based on and informed by the Waldorf Early Years curriculum and framework. Each of the three Kindergartens usually has around 15 children of mixed ages, from age three to six, and is led by a specially trained Kindergarten teacher and at least one trained assistant. They strive to give each child the best possible start in life and the individual support that enables them to unfold their potential, as well as providing a solid foundation step for all their future learning. The foundation skills in literacy and numeracy are laid through an environment rich in hands on activity and play and where language and communication are enabled through a rich oral tradition.
Lower School
Throughout the eight years of the Lower School - Classes One to Eight - the Class Teacher presents the subjects as they appear in the curriculum at the appropriate stage in the development of the children so that their real inner needs are met and satisfied.One of the main characteristics of children between the seventh and ninth year [age 6-8] is their desire to learn, without any need to form their own judgements. Memory, imagination, enjoyment of rhythmical repetition and a desire for universal concepts presented in pictorial form, come to the fore at this stage. Children actively seek guidance from the adult world and whilst they continue to imitate what they experience, their behaviour is modelled on how the significant others and in school the teachers are. Children start observing those around them for signs of how to be.
The Upper School
The adolescent has reached a stage of development in which the individual sense of self is emerging in relation to a growing intellect and search for truth. As teenagers mature inwardly, they also grow socially. The teenage years are a time when adolescents hone their powers of judgment and seek to align their inner ideals with truths they experience in nature and culture. During this period, adolescents crave strong sense impressions, actively test limits, and seek truthful answers to questions of destiny and purpose. They need experiences that exercise their growing intellect, imagination and physical and emotional bodies, and expand capacities for personal and social involvement.
Features
Things to note
Daily rhythm
Each Parent and Child Group session flows with a strong daily rhythm similar to a simplified Waldorf Kindergarten morning, with periods of breathing in and out, alternating between free movement and play, and adult led activities. The changing months and seasons are reflected in the yearly rhythm, incorporating seasonal songs and festivals in a simple way. Each session includes baking bread or scones, space and time for free play, ring time songs and rhymes, a healthy shared snack, and a story. They hope that parents and carers will find support, make connections with others and feel part of the vibrant community at Ringwood Waldorf School. For many families, Parent and Child Groups are a first introduction to Waldorf education, and the groups support a smooth transition into Kindergarten when a child is ready.
Free play and movement
From birth throughout the first seven years, and most rapidly in the first three years, young children build foundations for their lives ahead. Play naturally brings such joy, as well as opportunities for developing movement, balance, memory, strength, problem solving, and understanding the world around them. At Ash Tree Parent and Child Group, you will find different areas of the room for children to explore alongside others, as children shape their social connections.
Extra Curricular
Please check the school website link for details.
4.58 miles
