Lower School classes 1 to 5
Between the ages of six and seven pupils, enter the Main School where academic learning is introduced. Ideally they will stay with the same class teacher through to Class 8, building a strong relationship of mutual understanding and respect. The evolution of academic subjects throughout the years is designed to reflect the child’s own inner development and to support their growing awareness of the world around them.
All instruction is presented in a creative and multi-sensory way. This involves and develops the artistic sensibilities and capacities of each child and makes the gaining of knowledge a fully integrated experience.
Main Lesson
This is a fundamental element of the steiner curriculum, taught by the class teacher in two-hour blocks each day. Specific topics (i.e. Farming, Ancient Greece, Chemistry, depending on the children’s age) are studied over a number of weeks and these are presented through a variety of approaches; stories, painting, recitation, music, movement, physical group projects and games, each bringing the subject alive and fuelling the pupils’ natural enthusiasm for learning.
Each child produces their own main lesson workbook, through writing and drawing. It records their experiences and what they have learned.
In addition to the main lesson the children also receive tuition in music, gardening and land-work, languages, handwork, form drawing, painting, pottery, woodworking and physical education.
Learning at the Moray Steiner School is non-competitive, with grades only given in the upper classes. The class teacher and subject teachers monitor each child’s development closely and write detailed evaluations at the end of each year. Parents also meet with the their class teacher collectively and individually every term.
CLASSES 1-3
Educational aims, to help the children be at home in the world, through:
- Beginning of formal learning (sounds, forms and sequencing of letters and number symbols)
- Developing good habits of classroom life and work
- Cultivating a socially cohesive group
- Practising and developing skills
- Practical farming and building lessons
CLASSES 4-6
Educational aims, to strengthen the children’s connection to the world through:
- Local geography, map-making, natural science (the human being and animals)
- Moving from myth into history (from the Norse Gods to the Middle Ages)
- Developing social awareness
- Experiencing the phenomena of physics (acoustics, optics, magnetism, heat, static electricity)
- Beginning to develop expertise in woodwork.