Viva Brighton Issue #83 January 2020

INTERVIEW
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Damian Mooncie
Director, Brighton Waldorf School
Until 2019, your school
was called the ‘Brighton
Steiner School’. Why the
name change? Dr Rudolf
Steiner founded the first
school 100 years ago, in a
factory in Stuttgart, the
‘Waldorf-Astoria’ from which
the schooling takes its name.
There are now over 1,150
schools, all over the world, and
everywhere apart from the
UK they are called ‘Waldorf
Schools’. We rebranded to
mark the anniversary, and to
connect with the worldwide
Waldorf family of schools.
We have recently added new
subject strands, of ecology, and
global citizenship.
What, in a nutshell, is a
‘Steiner’ (or ‘Waldorf’)
education? In a nutshell?
Creativity is encouraged, to
enable children to discover
themselves and develop their
individuality. The purpose
is for children to become
well-rounded individuals both
in their learning and their
emotions, so they can set forth
into adulthood with confidence
in their ability and a deep
understanding of themselves.
So it’s very different from
traditional schooling? In
mainstream school, children
are expected to park their
childhood at the school gate.
Waldorf Education ensures
that childhood is an intrinsic
element of schooling, and
that learning supports and
nourishes the individual at this
crucial development stage of
their life. We are, in effect, an
extension of home life. In the
morning children leave their
family home, and come to
their school home.
What about ‘the three Rs’?
Children are not taught formal
literacy and numeracy skills
until they are seven, which
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