"Festivals serve to connect humanity with the rhythms of nature and of the cosmos. They join children to the seasonal moods of the year in a festive way.” Rudolf Steiner.
The whole school came together today for pancake racing to celebrate Shrove.
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School Calendar Dates
2022
- 7th - 15th March - Prelims
- 11th March - Class 7 play, Eleanor of Aquitaine
- 14th March - Classes 6 - 8 Racism & Micro-aggression Workshop
- 24th & 25th March - Class 8 play Romeo & Juliet
- 31st March - Defer Entry To P1 application deadline
- 31st March - deadline to order Summer Term school lunches
- 5th May - ESS 83rd Anniversary
- 21st May - Spring Fair with Raffle
- 1st - 5th August - Summer Camp (Week 1)
- 8th - 12th August - Summer Camp (Week 2)
Click on any link above to learn more.
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College News is written this term by Alistair Pugh - Co-Chair of College. It is linked to here each week. These reports will resume next week.
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Appointments can be booked during the above times through the School Office. Please give the Office Staff your details and when and how you would prefer to be contacted.
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To book school lunches, extra curricular clubs, ESS Wraparound, Waldorf stationery, toddler groups and ESS hoodies: edsteiner.org/shop |
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Sustainable School Run Travel In Spite Of Distances
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The recent Council Road Safety Survey was completed by over 200 of our school community, including pupils from Class 5 upwards, parents and staff. One of the Pupil Survey questions asked 'How do you usually travel to and from school? Taking into account some pupils take a blend of transport on either/both journeys, over 54% answered that they walk or cycle, 46% travel by public transport (bus or train); and of the 50% who go to or from school by car, 1 in 5 Park & Stride.
Pupils travel up to 29 miles each way. Of the 17% of pupils who only travel by car, over 80% travel three or more miles to school.
Over a third of respondents said free student travel would encourage them to catch public transport or improve their journey if they already do so. Since 31st January of this year, all young people under 22 in Edinburgh are eligible for a free bus pass. (Apply here).
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A quarter of pupils noted better timed buses would do the same; whilst around 1 in 5 said a more direct route to school, more frequent and faster services would help.
Our school is on the National Cycle Network 754 along the Union Canal, a stone's throw from the School's back gate. 19 pupils fed back that having their own bike. Improved on-road routes and more off-road routes would also encourage many of our pupils to cycle to school or improve their experience if they already did.
A fifth of pupils said a quieter route with little or no motor traffic would encourage them to walk. More crossing places, cleaner streets and better lighting were also highest on the priority list.
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Feedback on the temporary widened pedestrian area (above) from pupils showed a majority vote for it to be retained (41.41%), whilst 28.91% considered this measure needed improved, and 18.75% would like it removed.
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See the full summary by Edinburgh Council here. (The above looks at the data for both to and from school)
The below graph shows how Edinburgh Steiner School pupils have travelled to and from school over the past 14 years. This survey, carried out in school annually on one day of the year, asks pupils how they travelled to school on that day (which may differ to their typical mode of travel).
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Mark Symonds, Road Safety and Active Travel Liaison Officer, notes of the above snapshot: "This shows quite an increase in cycling and driving hasn’t increased either, so you’re doing pretty well for sustainable travel, considering the distances some of your pupils are travelling!"
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Car Share Opportunities
Pupils travel from a quarter of a mile to 29 miles to get to school, coming from almost every Edinburgh postcode and further afield.
If you are interested in car sharing with another Steiner Waldorf family, and would be happy for the School to share your contact details with others who live within your postcode, please get in touch and we will make the connection, helping to reduce our collective school-run carbon footprint.
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Map above shows number of families with an enrolled child or children at ESS by EH postcode.
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Unicycling To School, Wholesale
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A unique mode of transport fed into the recent survey that looked at pupils' general school run travel: unicyling to school. This has undoubtedly been encouraged by the very popular Circus Skills Extra Curricular Clubs offered to pupils from Class 1 - 7, with tens of pupils peddling around the campus at breaks and lunchtimes on their own or school unicycles.
Research in Japan has shown unicycling is a good activity for both body and mind; so much so, their government is giving them to all 5 to 7 years olds in their school system.
Whilst the Japanese research is really hard to get hold of in English, Liverpool Hope University produced a paper by Wendy Bignold in 2008 about the positive effect of unicycle on children with ADHD. Here are some articles on the Japanese schools and unicycles:
Tools to Help Japanese School children Find Balance: Unicycles - The New York Times
Japanese Education Is Perfectly Summed up in Its Love of Unicycles (businessinsider.com)
Unicycles - What's Cool in Japan
Why do Japanese children ride unicycles? - YouTube
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Unicycle.com has offered Edinburgh Steiner children the opportunity to buy a unicycle at wholesale price, delivered free to the school campus. (See unicycles here). "For recommendations I would suggest that the Club unicycles are ideal. They are both robust and set-up to take the riders from not just learning but also to more advance freestyle tricks." Roger (MD)
Many pupils already have the Leaf 20" (right), which has a large price reduction on their website, and could be included in the shipment.
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If you would like to add your child's order to the shipment, please get in touch. The order will be placed on 9th March.
The School also has several unicycles, which are lent out to pupils over play time.
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Edinburgh Steiner Summer Camp Is Coming Up
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We are very much looking forward to welcoming your child(ren) to Camp this summer.
We will start the mornings all together at 8:30am, doing a variety of activities, games, music, and group challenges. Then we will split into three groups, and each group will have an hour through the morning with the following activities which will be tailored to the different groups and be age appropriate:
Arts and Crafts
Outdoor Games / Activities
Circus Arts, Acrobatics/Gymnastics
The Camp Program will end at 1:30pm, but for those families that wish, we are offering an extended day option until 3pm.
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Spring Fair - Save The Date
The School will host the Spring Fair on Saturday 21st May from 10am - 4pm. This event will be open to family and friends of our school only. There will be performances from individual pupils and Classes throughout the day; as well as children's activities; plants sale and crafts. Food and drink will also be on offer. It will be a cashless, ticketed event, both in the hall and throughout the outside areas of the campus.
Many Classes have not had an opportunity to fundraise for their school trips, which are an integral part of the Waldorf curriculum, such as:
- Class 5's trip to the Waldorf Greek Olympics hosted in England over several days,
- Class 6's Hadrian’s Wall trip over 2-3 days
- Class 7's ‘Outward bound’ exploration over 2-3 days
- Class 8's weeks-long exchange with a German or French speaking Waldorf Class
- Class 9 work on a farm for up to two weeks as well as Main Lesson Geology and Biology field trips
- Class 10: various field trips connected to Main Lessons (in addition to the Work Experience Programme)
- Class 11: Surveying Trip as well as various field trips connected to Main Lessons; and careers visits
- Class 12 wrap up their school career with a 1 - 2 weeks trip together in addition to careers and field trips throughout the academic year.
Following the tradition of previous Spring Fairs, the day's programme will incorporate individual Classes hosting their own stall, with activities and entry tickets proceeds going to general school funds.
Please keep an eye on the School calendar and the Tuesday notice for updates to this evolving event.
Please note, the Spring Raffle will be postponed until the Christmas Market, on the third Saturday of November this year.
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Urgent Collection For Ukrainian Refugees
Please can pupils bring the items to their classrooms where there will be a collection box. These will be gathered by Teacher Daria on a weekly basis over the next period. The items in dire need are included in the list below:
1. bandages
2. plasters
3. pain killers
4. rubber gloves
5. sleeping bags
6. blankets
7. underwear
8. nappies
9. paper towels
10. toothpaste
11. toilet paper
12. first aid dressings
13. sterile dressing
Food: pasta, rice, cans of food.
The organisation we will be shipping the collected items to, Wroclaw Centre of Social Development, will then distribute medication and bandages etc to the Ukrainian hospitals; and the rest will go to the shelters for Ukrainian refugees in Poland.
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Ukranian school children sheltering underground from Russian shelling.
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Former Pupil Driving Supplies To Ukrainian Border
Class 12 pupil, Roseanna, is collaborating with teacher Daria above in the collection of vital resources. Her sister Nathalie, who also attended our School, is part of a team driving out several vans and a lorry to the Ukrainian border on 21st March.
Jacek and Nathalie and their team at OPIR & MOOL have set up a fundraising page for the convoy costs, website page where people can donate and view a list of needed items and resources; as well as social media accounts (Instagram / Facebook) with which to connect and follow the convoy as they document this Appeal, sharing the progress of the donations. Please share where you can.
You can read Roseanna's full letter here.
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Monday Fundraising Stall For Waldorf School In Kyiv
After the political decay of the Soviet Union from 1991 onwards, the interest in Waldorf education grew in the former Soviet republic. From 1993 onwards, the first Ukrainian Waldorf kindergartens and schools emerged and are now established in five cities throughout the country (Kharkov, Dnepropetrovsk, Odessa, Kiev and Kryvyj Rih): Dnipro - Waldorf School, Kiev - Sonnenhof, Kiev - Sophia Steiner School, Odessa - Stupeni.
Recent events in the second largest country in Europe are preoccupying the worried thoughts of many pupils in the school. Fear and other negative emotions around the circumstance does not promote overall emotional and mental well being of either those worrying or those whom they would help. One Class Teacher is instead facilitating her Class of children to elevate their own well being by having positive and altruistic wishes for others and focus on things that they can do something about.
With regard to doing something to help, Class 6 will be running a stall on Monday at the end of the school day, with 50p and £1 bags of popcorn to raise funds for the Waldorf school in Ukraine's capital and most populous city, Kyiv (or Kiev), which may or may not need rebuilding after current events, but which would certainly benefit from some funding to rebuild the pupils' wellbeing when they return to school.
They will also have a donation box on the stall for anyone who would like to add to this.
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Edinburgh Steiner School's social media pages for the School, Early Years, Growing Spaces, Teacher Training Course and Christmas Market can be found here.
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Putting An Advert In The Tuesday Notice
Edinburgh Steiner School’s weekly news ezine is sent out to over 800 subscribers’ inboxes every term-time Tuesday. (View the most recent Tuesday Notices here).
Anyone sharing a relationship with the School is welcome to submit a Notice for the upcoming edition(s) at £5 per edition (submitted and paid through the online school shop here). Submissions are up to 100 words and can include link(s) to an external website and/or social media page(s).
Steiner Waldorf education acknowledges pupils are profoundly affected by their built environment. All proceeds from Notices go towards the School’s Growing Spaces Project, benefiting all current and future ESS pupils.
Future publication dates for the Spring Term 2022 are:
March 8th, 15th, 22nd, 29th
Edinburgh Steiner School Session Dates
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Guitar/Song-writing Tutor
Guitar/song writing lessons in your own home. £25 hour class
20 years experience of working with young people (PVG registered.) I am a professional songwriter and you’ll recognise me from playing ceilidhs with Roland Fraser ! I teach guitar and help and support with song writing and kids’ bands, from composing to recording.
Music is sometimes taught in a very dry and classical way that doesn’t excite young people. I focus on the individual: writing and recording original songs and learning material they like. Neil S Barber Contact: Mobile 07986 183977 website Email |
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Women’s Yoga Retreat
Something for all you Amazing Mums - at the end of March, at the beautiful Greencraig House, over-looking the sea, this retreat is all about You. When you practice Women's Yoga, you are deeply nurturing, healing and celebrating the embodied experience of Being A Woman.
This is about your feminine body, your hips, your womb, your heart, your voice. I have been mentoring women and teaching yoga for over 10 years, so if you're ready to step into the true power and wisdom of your womanhood, this will be amazing for you.
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| Website Instagram Facebook Email Mobile: 07418 095622 |
PDF for event |
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Sarah Miller works alongside Alistair Pugh (Co-Chair of College), and Trustee Layla Tree.
The Tuesday Notice is produced by the Communications Team and edited by Helen Newton - School Coordinator and Alistair Pugh.
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Tel: 0131 337 3410 Ext 3
Email: communications@edinburghsteinerschool.org.uk
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