SWSF seminar to hear Tory explain ’state funding opportunities for Steiner schools’

Mentioned in an earlier blog post was news of the Conservative Party’s policy regarding Steiner education.  Here’s a heads up to notify readers of a forthcoming ’special pre-election seminar’ organised by the Steiner Waldorf Schools Fellowship (SWSF). SWSF heavyweight Sylvie Sklan will kick off proceedings and high ranking Tory Sam Freedman will explain Conservative policy to the throng. Also speaking will be somebody from the New Schools Network  and Emma Craigie, presumably the daughter of Tory journalist William Rees-Mogg. Rees-Mogg is proud of his daughter’s choice of a Steiner school for her kids. The New Schools Network is newly set up and largely unknown to me, its website is here. It registered as a company in June this year and was formally registered a charity in October this year. Seems like they have a plan and know exactly how to go about organising themselves and they’re quick to make friends aren’t they. Not that they’d be without friends in the City because 4 of the 5 founding directors have or have held over 20 company directorships between them. One director of New Schools Network sits on Ark Schools, another used to sit on El Oro Mining & Exploration (amusing but old piece about El Oro here) but now sticks to Insurance. It’s good to see business types so speedily setting up a philanthropic venture and it’s surely coincidence that the establishment of New Schools Network is running more or less in tandem with the setting out of Conservative Party education policy.

Here’s the poster for the seminar:

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Moving Forward

A special pre-election seminar about possible developments in the state funding opportunity for Steiner schools

17 November 2009

10.00 – 15.00

VENUE:  Room 2, The Charity Centre, 24 Stevenson Way,

Euston, London

PROGRAMME

10.00    Arrival and coffee

10.15    Introductions, outline of the day and discussion – Sylvie Sklan

11.15    If the Conservatives win the election….

Rachel Wolf of the New Schools Network will present proposals for the state funding of Steiner Schools.

Sam Freedman, Conservative Special Advisor, will answer questions on future Conservative education policy.

12.45                     Lunch at Chutneys (vegetarian Indian)

13.45    Discussion about our perception of the benefits and concerns implied

by these proposals – Emma Craigie

14.45    Next steps

15.30                     End

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The news of the seminar is tucked away on the SWSF website in the area there titled ‘Professional Development’, a subarea of the website given over to teacher related things.  The £25  attendance fee goes to SWSF and the application to attend form is processed by Jane Avison. Readers of this blog might remember Jane from an earlier post (look for GATF toward the end of that post).

It’s clear the SWSF are cosying up to the Tories well in advance of the election. With Plymouth axing their beloved Steiner Education BA and other Steiner courses they still have high hopes for the future. Who can blame them either when the Tories are endorsing Steiner education and further fragmentation, oops should we say increasing diversity of provision within the education sector. The New Schools Network appears to me to have been  set up to enable that splintering process and at the forthcoming SWSF seminar their  spokesperson will be offering proposals  for the state funding of Steiner schools. Their more general role I’d expect to be disseminating info/resources for people to use in creating their very own personalised vision of what a school should be.