Admission
New pupils are accepted
on the basis of an interview at which we try to gain an all round picture
of each child and to gauge whether he or she will fit comfortably into the
social fabric
of the class. There is no entrance examination. All successful applicants
are accepted on a three month trial basis.
Although admission to the school at the beginning of a term is preferable,
this is not a fixed policy. Admission to the Nursery and Kindergarten is
by interview with the Nursery and Kindergarten teachers.
Children joining Elmfield School are allocated to classes by age, not
ability. Generally, maturity goes with age, not intelligence. Therefore we
do not in principle put a child ‘up’ a year, finding from experience
that emotional immaturity by adolescence becomes a real handicap,
irrespective of academic capacity.
Children who are not doing well in other schools may flourish at Elmfield,
but there are learning, emotional and disciplinary problems which are
beyond our scope. We aim to have a ‘healthy constellation’ of pupils
in each class and not to overburden the class and teachers with more than
a few children needing extra help.
Although we especially welcome pupils from other Steiner schools, the
normal admission policies still apply. Children coming up from
Kindergarten will be accepted after consultation with the Kindergarten
teachers and the school doctor.
Elmfield Rudolf Steiner School, like all Steiner Waldorf schools in the
UK, receives no subsidy from the state. Although it does not wish to, the
school relies for its running costs entirely on fees and contributions
from its parents.
For further information including a prospectus and a fee schedule for the
current year please write to the School Secretary or e-mail
us with your details.
Students of countries other than the UK are welcome to apply for a place
for a term or longer. See our page on Overseas
Students.