Mumsnet Reviews - Steiner School in Scotland

http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/education/554507-steiner-school-scotland/AllOnOnePage

suzun Tue 24-Jun-08 14:32:41

I know there are lots of threads on this subject already but just wondered if anyone elses children have been ruined by the steiner education.

My dd has been bullied for the last 4yrs and have only just realised from threads on here about the Anthroposothy side. Yes i know after 4yrs.

DD was diagnosed with Aspergers Syndrome but now we have been told by the clinical psych that he believes she was wrongly diagnosed in the beginning and it was a result of constant bullying that was not dealt with.
She was bullied on a daily basis and there are also child protection issues which i wont go into.

She is now home educated and is almost a different child although will take some time to recover.

I really am furious and hoping to get a report from the psych to send to the school and also the HMIE are due to inspect soon and i want them to also have a copy.

There are so many thing that the school should be answerable to but you never get a straight answer.

My son is 8 and has had 5 teachers in the space of a year.I really want out of the school but my boys want to stay.
I'm sure it is because they know nothing else.

We are ostricised by my dds old teacher and really feel outside of the 'community'lol.

Both my boys will be so behind accademically that they will really struggle in a mainstream school and also they are not used to full days either.

A friend of mine was given 8,000 pounds by a uk steiner school to keep quiet about the bullying of his child by a steiner teacher.

There was a recent class trip and on the last night the boys and girls were allowed to stay in the same tent. These were 13/14 and 15yr olds :0

There are so many shocking things that i want to blurt out but have to be careful.

I find the teachers well most of them very odd and it seems to be the norm to swap partners there too.I'm not joking either .

We have just recieved a letter asking for a full years fees upfront by end of July. Has anyone had this type of thing happen.

Bws

s

northernrefugee39 Tue 24-Jun-08 16:46:51

Hi Suzan, I totally sympathise with this situaion, and have seen similar ones at Steiner schools before.
I'm so glad your daughter is recovering now she's left.
Our three children were at Steiner school for two/three years. There was horrendous bullying, some to our children and alot to others. It was physical and emotional. The teachers ignored it, as anthrposophically it's a past life situation which needs to be played out.
To deal with difficult behaviour in the classroom the children told us that two large male teachers were often brought in to physically drag the children out; one boy allegedly was dragged accross the room by his neck
Steiner schools seem to get away with things which in a normal situation would be called assault.
Health and safety was a big issue too; they don't worry too much, because guardian angels are watching the children; if an accident happens, it's karma.

The school asking you for money does not surprise me one bit- they are disorganised wit paperwork on almost every issue, swet, bumbling and spiritual; but when it comes to asking for money, they turn into aggressive machines! I'm not sure wher you stand legally, (you may have signed something which promised to pay at sme point) but i would certainly look into this; particularly since your daughter suffered at their hands.

I've just finished writing an article of sorts about our experience, which I'm sending to a couple of journalists who were interested, and some websites.
It's focus is on the secrecy and deception about recruiting parents to seiner schools and not being up front about anthroposohy,the racial beliefs it's hinged on, and the appalling teaching and bullying.
Sound familiar?

barking Tue 24-Jun-08 17:27:07

Hi Suzan and Northern 

The hardest part is making the decision, they will lead you to believe the modern outside world is not to be trusted, only feared. I so wanted it to work at the time (before I had access to the internet).

Its all about control. I feel so angry on your behalf, I would ask for your £8000 silence money and run as far away from the buggers as possible.

The central theme of anthoposophy underpins everything, steiner's idea of karma and reincarnation is incredibly disempowering to both child and parent, I believe you can take responsibility and make your own fate. Nature is free, you don't have to subscribe to a cultcommunity to be part of it.

We left, but we are still living in a steiner community, can you imagine the passive aggressive hell we're in, they can't even feel sorry for us for being ignorant, we are their worst nightmare as we know what lurks behind the smiles, silk scarves and rounded corners. We hope to leave soon, but until then I must be good and quiet and work out my karma on mumsnet 

I have a couple of friends who work high up in mental health and these schools are famous, having a high concentration of fragile adults who weren't parented very well themselves and very angry and vunerable children.

Ah yes partner swapping,,,it must be that they are terrified of being intimate with anyone outside of the community. At least they don't have to go through all the agro of persuading the other half to adopt their new alternative lifestyle....all common in a cult environment.

suzun Wed 25-Jun-08 11:26:17

Thank you for you messages of support.
From what i have read and heard from lots of others about steiner education is horrendous to say the least.

I wish i had never stepped foot inside the school but truly believe Anthroposophy is hidden from the parents.

When people go to look at these schools all they see is sweet smiling teachers but there is a lot hidden behind those sweet smiles.

Northernrefugee i can relate to what you have been through with your children because i read your story on another thread.

I hope your childern are ok and recovering.

This person that STALKS you obviously dosen't like the truth but all what you have said i can totally understand.

You are telling the truth and these school can be very damaging to children.

It has taken us a lot of time to see behind those smiles but when we take my two boys out of the school we will tell our story.

My husband is a journalist and if we can help you in any way then we will.

People need to know what these schools are about and how the anthros are damaging our children.

I say spread the word and let people know.

Bws to you all on here

s xx

JaneGI Tue 06-May-14 19:25:40

Hope you don`t mind me writing on here but i have been thinking of this for that last few days. I was a child at a Steiner School in the 1970`s, bullying there was rife by Staff and Pupils alike, no one ever listened, no one ever stopped it, don`t know if i can go into it all because it is quite painful, but there was a girl in my class who was slightly different to everyone else because she had a medical condition that meant she was over weight. One particular PE lesson, i don`t exactly know what happened because i wasn`t there that day, some other girls in the class went into the changing rooms, stripped her and put stinging nettles on her buttocks, nothing was done about it because the idea was it was her own fault. I was a boarder there for some time and on regular occasions i had a boy come into my room at night who told me i would be dead in the morning. I also witnessed a teacher hit a child on the back of the neck so hard the child vomited. And witnessed another teacher drag a small girl by her hair along a path very hard because she didn`t want to go outside. I know this is an old thread but i just needed to tell some one. Thanks for reading.