Our Classes
Féileacáin
Our Féileacáin (meaning butterfly in Irish) class corresponds with the junior and senior infant cycle in the national school system and caters for children aged 4 to 6. The teachers in Féileacáin strive to build a bridge between the home and school and to form a connection with each child’s family.
During these years, the children are encouraged to learn through imitation, play and engagement with nature. We support the child in meeting the world, their fellow human beings and their own emerging self in these years. Through movement, art and craft we nurture the healthy sensory development that is so important in these years. The child’s innate capacity for wonder is fostered by the many stories, songs, puppet shows and festivals.
At Kilkenny Steiner School, we believe that play is an essential part of childhood and we find a balance between free play, both inside and outdoors; with more structured, collaborative and interactive games and activities. Our early years programme is designed to enable each child to grow in self- confidence, security in their environment and to develop a real and enduring interest in the world and in their fellow pupils.
Up to the age of about 6 or 7, children learn most readily by imitation and through imagination. The method of learning is therefore through play, imitation and imagination rather than through reading, writing or arithmetic.
Primary Level (Classes 1 to 6)
Transition from the imaginary world of the young child to abstract thought of later years is a gentle process. Initially, teaching and learning happens primarily through art, activity and imagination. Subjects are taken in blocks of several weeks at a time: several weeks of nature stories, perhaps followed by several weeks of number work or writing. The reason for this immersive approach is that concentrated periods of study allow a deeper and more comprehensive understanding of the subject to be achieved. Lessons allow many activities within the period, making it possible for the teacher to integrate many activities into a main lesson, for example painting, clay work, drawing, nature stories etcetera.
When children join Class 1, they are considered to be developmentally ready to begin the journey of learning to read and write, and of performing mathematical operations. These subjects are introduced gently in a way that addresses or appeals to the child’s imaginative capacity. A gradual process which engages the whole being of the child is followed, of going from movement and gesture to painting, drawing and writing and then finally leading to actual reading.
Steiner-Waldorf education is about encouraging progress across a broad spectrum of abilities and not intellectual development as a primary aim. Here, children are not grouped in accordance with intellectual ability but according to age, they are given the same work, but each child will approach that work in an individual way.
There is no formal assessment of the children’s capacities during these years. The teachers carefully observe and monitor each child’s progress and development and if he or she has any concerns, will share and discuss these with colleagues and parents. We do not do any formal examinations. We encourage the children to continually improve on their own abilities and to compete with themselves rather than with their fellow pupils. Howard Gardner’s idea of “multiple intelligences” has always been embedded in Steiner-Waldorf education, and we hold as much concern for a child who struggles socially, with knitting, or in games, as one who struggles with reading, writing or numbers.
At Kilkenny Steiner School, we aim aim to cultivate children with well rounded, complete personalities who are self-confident, resourceful and resilient, with an understanding and compassion for others alongside an interest and engagement with the world around them.
As a small school, we do not have sufficient numbers of children to have a teacher for each class, nor enough classroom availability, and so we currently have all classes combined in groups of two. This has, of course, both advantages and disadvantages. A great advantage is that one group of children get a preview of material that they will cover in depth the following year, while the older group will be able to recap on what they have done the year before. Also, the older and more able children in the class can be helpful and supportive to the younger children.
Kilkenny Steiner School is a non-denominational school, and open to children and families of all religions and beliefs, although its ethos is largely Christian based, in the broadest of terms. At the moment, we do not provide religious instruction, although we present and discuss the stories of many of the world religions during the course of the curriculum, as part of our common human cultural heritage. We do, however, consider it important to nurture in children the qualities of reverence and devotion, and that it is important for children to look up to something greater than themselves; whether that is a god / God, the creative force in the Universe, the sun which bestows warmth, colour and light upon us, or the abundant Earth where we find our home, and that these qualities of reverence and devotion will become a force for good in the life of the child.
Steiner-Waldorf education is grounded in an anthroposophical understanding of the human being as having both a bodily and a spiritual nature, and while this understanding guides the pedagogical approach, it is not taught to the children. Teachers will be happy to describe this approach and its background in more depth with any interested parents.
School Hours and Contact Information
Classes begin as follows:
Féileacáin and Class 1 – 9.15am to 1pm
Class 2 - 9.15am to 1pm or 3pm (this changes as the year progresses)
Classes 3 to 6 – 9.15am to 3pm
Break times are 11.15am – 11.45am and 1.15 – 1.45
Teachers do not use phones and computers during class. If you need to contact your child or your child’s teacher in an emergency, please call the School Administrator