Dear School community,

Another term has passed, and we're sharing some of the recent highlights in this issue. Our Middle School pupils shared their work at the Middle school evening and yesterday they enjoyed a disco in the Hall, organised by the school council.  Classes III-V have their own choir, and they shared their carol singing with IV and V parents. 

The Advent Spiral was as deeply moving as ever. This time a group of teachers sang and played beautifully for us and in the Kindergarten Spiral a former pupil, Bice Sharp came to play.

The Oberufer Shepherds' play is performed in Steiner-Waldorf schools all over the world. I remember seeing my father playing a young shepherd as a child in my school and being very proud when the pupils laughed. This version is a translation of the play performed on the island of Oberufer for centuries, and it was seen by Dr Steiner to be something pure from a distant past. The question of how to convey the German dialect in English was solved by making it sound Shakespearian. It is a joy to work creatively with colleagues under the director Jane Akuwudike. The play can be experienced in many ways and the mix of high and low makes it meaningful and humorous at the same time. It highlights the hardship facing the new family and the resilience they showed.

The community came together to bring the Advent Fair to life yet again and it was particularly beautiful this year. We will know in the New Year how much the Fair made, as the expenses are still being counted. It was a delight to see so many current, new, and old faces in the school and all the children having a great time. Thank you so much to everyone who contributed, in large or small ways. 

Just this last week of the year we received news about the Landscape plan which has gone through the Islington planners. We are delighted to be able to begin the first phase of the Landscape plan this year with tree planting and work on the boundary wall. Future funding will determine how far and fast we will be able to go with our plans.

We are both in the Advent and Hannukah season and I wish you all a peaceful holiday.  I am looking forward to seeing you all in the New Year.

Anna Retsler

Head teacher

St Paul's Steiner School

Kindergarten have been busy baking for Advent, candle dipping, painting and lots of playing!  Parents are invited in today for a lovely feast and puppet show.

What a wonderful weekend at the Fair.  Such amazing crafts, Raffle, puppet shows, singing, food and Enchanted Room.  Thank you to all that took part, organised, and helped!

Class VI: Colours in Eurythmy

Following their Eurythmy performance of a poem in Latin during the Middle School Evening, class VI has embarked on preparing a presentation on Colours in Eurythmy writing individually, or in groups, their own poem on a chosen colour. The children are now busy creating choreographies for these poems. 

Every year the Daunt Books Short Story competition celebrates the wonderful creativity of children’s writing so why not get writing (or typing) and help make this another fantastic year. You might even have your story published, along with the other winners, in a book!

The winners’ anthology will have a cover designed by illustrator David Roberts and will be introduced by Sabine Adeyinka, author of Jummy at the River School series

The Rules:

• The competition is open to children between the ages of 4 and 15
• All entries must be submitted by an adult capable of giving permission on behalf of the child – parent/guardian or the child’s teacher who has obtained the parent or guardian’s permission.
• The story must be entirely the work of the child
• Entries can be up to 1500 words
• Entries must be submitted before 31st January 2024

Voices from the Ground

Sunday 17 December 4pm

with Iaia Chiesa

An attempt to convey how wars are experienced by ordinary people on the ground.

Poems written in response to the current wars.

Read by the poet and others.

No booking necessary.

£5 suggested donation at the door.

The Therapeutic Value of Raphael’s Madonnas

Saturday 30 December 10am - 5pm

The healing potential inherent in Raphael’s Madonnas was first acknowledged by Rudolf Steiner in 1911. At that time, he entrusted a specific sequence of 15 images to Dr. Felix Peipers, to be used as a therapeutic aid at the Johannesbau Institute in Munich. Since then, the sequence of images has evolved significantly, thanks to the efforts of researchers with a keen interest in art, medicine and psychology. One of the instrumental figures in this work was the Dutch artist Eva Mees Christeller. While in Italy in 1988, she personally invited Dr. Remigio Cenzato to further study the series of Raphaelite images. As a result, the sequence has grown from the initial 15 paintings to the present collection of 37 images, all exclusively by Raphael, portraying the Madonna and Child.

The seminar unveils the mysteries contained in the movements traced by the varying positions of the Child in the Madonna’s arms. Together, we’ll explore the imaginative geometric connections within the paintings, their correlations with celestial movements (Sun, Earth and Moon) and their implications on human physiology, particularly on the heart.

Special attention will be paid to the eurythmic gesture of the letter ‘L’ in the healing sequence of ‘Halleluiah’ in Eurythmy. Raphael’s masterpiece, ‘The Transfiguration’, will serve as leitmotif throughout the day as we delve into the deepest realms of human fulfillment and spiritual development. The seminar will be delivered in Italian and translated into English.

Speaker: Remigio Cenzato MD - Anthroposophical Physician, Psychotherapist, Anthropologist, Clinical Pedagogist.

For information and bookings contact Nabila Yakub: 07423 328240 or luminouspotential@gmail.com

Ticket: £50 Full price / £25 Concessions

Booking to be confirmed by 28 December.