Ethos Statement
“Receive the child with reverence,
Educate the child with love,
Let the child go forth in freedom.”
Rudolf Steiner
Established in September 2008, Raheen Wood Steiner National School is a democraticallyrun, co-educational, multidenominational, child centred National School under the patronage of Lifeways Ireland.
Raheen Wood Steiner National School is founded on the conviction that a true education must engage and nourish the whole child: body, mind and spirit. It is an education that seeks to awaken capacities. We work to develop an education that is a living, loving process. This education recognises that as a child changes and grows, so does his or her readiness and ability to take up certain tasks in their lives. This education will awaken in them the confidence and truth of their connection to and place in the wider community and world.
The policies, practices and attitudes of Raheen Wood Steiner National School are guided by the principles of Steiner education, founded on the work of the Austrian philosopher and educator Rudolf Steiner. In the early part of the twentieth century Steiner set out to create a form of education which would help pupils achieve clarity of thought, sensitivity of feeling and strength of will. We implement the aims, principles and outcomes of the Primary Curriculum through the Steiner model of education.
Our mission is
- To honour and protect the precious nature of childhood and recognise the gift that children bring to the future of humanity.
- To develop a deep connection with nature and natural rhythms.
- To awaken and expand within each child the space that is necessary to experience the essential goodness and beauty of the world, and to thereby nurture creativity and a sense of beauty.
- To nurture and develop a sense of truth, individual morality and responsibility that is the foundation for true freedom.
- To value learning through experience.
- To provide a balance between thinking, feeling and willing that meets the developmental needs of the growing child.
- To uphold the need for teachers to work out of their relationship with the children and with the curriculum in order to meet the developmental needs of the children in their care.
- To encourage teachers and parents to respect each other and also work in partnership to surround the child with love and security.
- To provide an emotionally and physically nourishing environment for work and learning.
- To endeavour to create an environment where children and adults feel understood, accepted, valued and nurtured.
- To create an inclusive school that fosters acceptance and respect for diversity of culture, practices, customs, and beliefs, intellectual and physical abilities.
These core values inspire and inform the shaping of policies, practices and attitudes within the School.
