Melbourne Rudolf Steiner School - Anyone have any feedback?

[Ginger]

I don't think it's full of crunchies. I just think that it's important that the philosophies behind the teachings are aligned with your family's values, or I don't really see the point in going there.

[Trillian]

I had a look at their site and one thing stood out - how do you enroll your child? their site says that they are interviewing prospective 2014 year 7 students now, which for me, is pretty late in the year, especially as it sounds like they are a selective school because it cuts it pretty find to get her into any other competitive school if you don't get in at this one. So you would have to ask how many places do they have available for new students entering year 7, because you have to remember that they already have a year 6 class coming through. And then you have to ask yourself what would you do if DD didn't get a place? At DS1's school they are 100% selective and this year they had 70 students apply for 6 places in year 8 for 2014 and for the year 7's they had 120 students apply for 50 places - so would your school be a highly competitive school and hard to get into? How do you think your DD would cope with an interview process to get her into the school? And what other options do you have if she doesn't get in? It really does sound like a fantastic school though and it would suit her to a T I think, just make sure you ask those questions though when you speak with them.

[Netix]

My brother went to Steiner in Collingwood from year 8 I think, then finished off at Warrenwood. He has aspergers, and it was just right for him. After he finished year 12, he went to uni and got a degree, with honours. The two Steiner schools helped him come out of his shell, and he even had speaking roles in the school performance at Collingwood. At the time there was a mini van that took students from the Ivanhoe area to school and back each day.

So, seeing how happy my brother was to go to school, instead of pretty much being kicked out of a grammar school for not fitting in, I would highly recommend it. I even remember at Collingwood that at lunchtimes teachers would sit on a banana lounge in the middle of a playground, reading aloud from a book, surrounded by students.