Dear All,

We have had a wonderful and productive half term, as always following Class I's Michaelmas message: 'We will work with our will, with our strength and our skill'. 

Landscape work

Over the summer we began the development work of the gardens. We have extended the Kindergarten garden towards the repaired wall which now has a timber fence. Over time, it will become a green wall covered with ivy. Apart from improving the space, this has made the security better.

We will have seven new trees planted over the break. These are replacing the trees we needed to remove. The school has been given shrubs by the Woodland Trust which will be planted in gardening sessions. 

Much work will happen over the half-term break:

We want to create a playground for the youngest school classes as their play is really interrupted by streams of parents, students, and deliveries. This will be done by moving the Marquess Road gate further up, closer to the main entrance of reception. This new gate will welcome all school children on arrival and departure as well as breaks on the green. Please note that we only want Class I and II parents inside the schoolyard at pick-up times for a calm handover.

We will also open a new gate by the Hall. You will have seen the preparatory work to improve the alleyway by the shed. Beginning after the break, the main entrance for Kindergartens will be on the Apple Tree/Chestnut Tree side.

Most children arrive by public transport, on foot or cycle to school. Many school children make the journey on their own. Please be aware of the darker mornings with less visibility and use reflectors and lights.

Those who are arriving by car are asked not to leave your car outside the school gate. We have received a complaint via Islington council from residents about parents parking on St Paul's road in parts where it is not allowed. We always need to be mindful of our neighbours.  

Throughout the year we will work on signage for the school and map out the rest of the landscape work in conjunction with the necessary building work. It is now 30 years ago when Jonathan Knight took over the building, and it is always a miracle to imagine the transformation the building has made over the 30 years with the support of so many people.

The school held an Open House Festival day in September and it was such a moment for the visitors who came to see the building to discover this very special school housed inside.

Smartphones

A challenge for our time is the use of smartphones. We will invite Kate Potts for an evening of discussion on how to manage screen time and the internet. We are moving forward with the phasing out of smartphones at St Paul's. The only class who will be allowed their smartphones this year is the current Class VIII.

St Paul's has always been a mobile phone-free school in that the phones are handed in at the beginning of the day but only 'brick phones' will be allowed to be brought in to school from January 2025.

Lastly, I would like to introduce our new members of staff. Molly Hurley, our new School Cook, Sukriti Chowdhary, an Early Years Practitioner who will also look after the After School Club children, and Nils Stas, our new High-Level Learning Assistant, and Renata Vitor also a High-Level Learning Assistant in Class I. 

We wish you all a restful half-term and we look forward to seeing you all back on Monday 4th November. 

Happy Diwali if you are celebrating!

Anna Retsler

Head teacher

St Paul's Steiner School

Class VI spent three days learning about the ancient art of Blacksmithing with our friend Bernard.  As part of their Geology block they learnt about metals and how to manipulate iron with heat.

As part of their Anatomy block, Class VIII's Art lessons this term have accompanied their Main lesson by looking at the proportions of the face and body and artists' interpretations of the Human figure.  The students looked closely eyes and made beautiful big collages.  They made quick, 10 minute charcoal life drawings of each other and carved clay into portraits.  Inspired by artists Lubaina Himid, Jimmie Durham and Leigh Bowery, they made some wonderfully eccentric figurative sculptures out of recycled materials.

We have had a lovely start to the term at our Beehive group for 0- 3 years.  We have made bread together, collected Autumn leaves and pressed them, sang songs and heard all about the giant turnip that would not budge!  We still have a couple of places on our Saturday Group so please email parentandchild@stpaulssteinerschool.org if you are interested, or want to join our waiting list for Spring Term.

Booking for Beehive in Spring term will start soon so keep an eye out HERE

Despite the extremely wet weather, the whole School and parent body join together on the Green to celebrate Michaelmas and the arrival of Autumn.  Michaelmas is named in honour of Saint Michael, the archangel mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament, and the Quran, who is most famous for defeating darkness in the form of a dragon.  We celebrate Michaelmas and the change of season and the start of the School year by being busy.  The Kindergarten and Classes made bread, juiced apples, churned butter, chopped vegetables for soup and planted bulbs along with their parents for the morning. The Classes came together to pick litter along the New River, garden on the Green, play games, joining in the Nave for a well-deserved feast of dragon bread and freshly pressed apple juice!

Special thank you to the parents of Class III who updated our dragon this year for the play - the children formed part of a beautifully sparkly scaly dragon who wowed the audience on the grey October day!

Class V had a wonderful day in Kew Gardens looking at all the plants and trees there as part of their Botany Main lesson.  They have been studying mushrooms, and they found lots of wonderful species around the grounds.  The class had an Art workshop to encourage them to look very closely at the plants and record as much information as possible.  The children produced some lovely pastel drawings and made some ephemeral art with leaves and seeds they found on their walk.

Sacred Singing in the School Hall on November 9th and 23rd @ 2pm - 4pm. For adults and children Class VI and upwards. Tea and cake will follow the singing. 

"Hello and greetings to the St. Paul's community. I hope the school year has started with excitement and enthusiasm as we move through Autumn. My name is Michael and I am an alumni of Waldorf education, starting in kindergarten and going all the way through. Upon graduating, I took a risk and used all my savings to follow my dream of training as a flamenco guitarist. I spent four years at the Fundacion Cristina Heeren in Seville, utterly immersed in the wonderful tradition that is Flamenco. 

Flamenco is something deeply powerful - full of presence, precision, spontaneity… and of course, fun! It is a beautiful oral tradition, and the main way for it to survive is to pass it on, a cherished gift from teacher to student. It would be an absolute honour to teach the Waldorf community here in London in this way, and provide access to this musical heritage. 

To be a guitarist, we must know rhythm, harmony, and technique. To be a Flamenco guitarist, we must have empathy, security, and the capacity to listen. In my classes, we will cultivate both practical and conceptual skills. 

If Flamenco calls you or you know someone who might be interested please do not hesitate to reach out. Rates are competitive and classes can be in either English or Spanish, if that is something that interests you. 

Best wishes for the coming term, 

Michael”

Hello, 

I am looking for an English-speaking family to live with for about 1 month to learn English.

I am French and a former student of the Steiner School in Colmar, France.

If you are looking for an "au pair" for a short period of time, please get in touch.

Irénée Rouilly

ireneerouilly1@gmail.com

Come and join us for our forest school and nature connection experiences.

Exciting news- there is a forest school after-school club again at St Paul's Steiner School on Thursday at 1.15-3.15pm (in the shrubbery) for Kindergarten and Class I and 3.30-5.30pm for Class 2 and rising.

The children will be picked up from school. Ages 4.5+

If you are interested in joining please book a place at:

https://urbanoutdoorslondon.co.uk

Hope to see you there

I am looking for baby that is going to be born between January and April 2025.

As part of a psychotherapy training I am required to spend an hour a week with an infant in a family setting, from soon after birth until the baby is eighteen months old.

The purpose of this is to offer training therapists the opportunity to observe, at first hand, the physical and psychological development of an infant within the attachment relationship with the caregivers during the early months of life. I understand it can be an interesting and joyful experience for the mother and family.

I am a mother of children who were pupils of St. Paul’s from Kindergarten to Class eight.

If you think you might be interested or would like any further information from me or my training supervisor at The Bowlby Centre you can reach me on

esther@eboulton.co.uk or 07957645995

Local Schools Special Discount Offer! 

You can enjoy an exclusive 10% discount for local school pupils when you book your child on Sparks Islington up coming October half term filmmaking camp.

Save £30 by using the code below during checkout:

Discount Code: OCTHT10diss2024

Click here to book now

This years October half term holiday camp Halloween theme is “FX feast”

Over three days, young filmmakers will celebrate a range of different scary movie special effects.

In age-tiered crews – Studio 2 / Studio 3 / Studio 4 – filmmakers taking part will explore how to create a series of different production and post-production special fx.

Throughout the workshop, they will create their own effects using different techniques and they will capture their creativity on camera to bring you a stunning showreel full of spectacular special FX!

For any questions or further details, feel free to contact us at:
Email: Islington@sparksarts.co.uk
Phone: 0203 488 7434

We hope to see you there for an unforgettable filmmaking experience!