Origin and Foundation

Since the inception of the Waldorf School in Stuttgart in 1919, Steiner Schools have earned an enviable reputation throughout the world as successful educators of creative, socially aware and clear minded individuals keen to take their place in, and contribute to, their community. Consequently, the Steiner School movement has become the fastest growing independent school initiative in the world, with some 800 educational establishments found throughout Europe, North America, Asia and Australia.
Steiner inspired education is based on three perennially supportive principles: 

• veneration for the child’s past, 
  
• protection for its present, and;
  
• optimism for its future

This approach strives to recognise the individuality of each child and aims to create a physical, social and spiritual environment in which that individuality can unfold with confidence. It also seeks to develop an inner mobility and subtlety in children in order to help them deal with the challenges of rapidly changing social structures and technology. To meet these aims, Steiner education offers a broadly based learning program balancing artistic, practical and academic activities. Teachers are dedicated to generating a genuine inner enthusiasm for learning in every child through powerful, imaginative and dynamic presentation, designed to make even apparently dry and prosaic subjects interesting and relevant.
This method removes the pressure for competitive testing, placing and rewards as motivation is encouraged to come from within. The perceived changes in the child’s development and the crucial changes in students/teacher relationships determine the lesson content and teaching process. 

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