FAQs

In the Kindergarten, academic work is not yet introduced. Instead, a strong foundation for literacy is laid through orality. Children are immersed in rich language experiences through storytelling, verse, songs, rhymes and conversation. This living relationship with language nourishes listening skills, memory and expressive speech and supports healthy physical, emotional and social development.

Formal academic learning, including reading and writing, begins in Class 1. Learning to read is intentionally delayed until this stage, as children are then developmentally ready to meet symbols, abstraction and structured learning with confidence and understanding. This allows literacy to arise in a way that feels natural rather than pressured.

When children are introduced to writing and reading in the primary school, they are able to move naturally and securely into these skills, as the groundwork has already been deeply established. Writing arises before reading, allowing children to experience language as something they create and shape. By Class 3, children are generally reading fluently and comprehending texts at a level that is often well beyond their years, supported by a strong inner connection to language and meaning.

In the primary school, the class teacher usually journeys with the same group of children for up to seven years. This continuity allows the teacher to develop a deep understanding of each child’s strengths, challenges and developmental needs.

This long term relationship creates a strong sense of security and trust, which supports both learning and social development. The teacher is able to guide the class through the curriculum in a way that is responsive, thoughtful and grounded in genuine knowledge of the children.

Discipline at Michael Oak is approached as a process of guidance, learning and relationship rather than punishment. Teachers seek to understand the underlying needs and developmental stage of the child and to respond with clarity, consistency and care. A focus is placed on connection before correction and each unique situation will determine the required response.

A key part of this approach includes the use of remedial stories, which allow children to meet challenges through imagination and picture rather than direct instruction or correction. These stories work gently and effectively at a deeper level, supporting growth and understanding over time.

Through rhythm, connection, clear boundaries and meaningful consequences, children are supported in developing self regulation, responsibility and respect for others. Open communication between teachers and parents is seen as an essential part of this process.

Michael Oak takes the wellbeing of every child seriously. Bullying is not viewed in isolation, but as something that arises within relationships and social dynamics. Teachers work proactively to foster a culture of kindness, empathy and inclusion within the class and the wider school community.

Concerns are addressed early through observation, conversation and appropriate intervention, with the aim of supporting all children involved and restoring healthy relationships.

The school recognises that children are growing up in a digitally connected world. In the early years and primary school, the emphasis is on protecting childhood by limiting exposure to social media and digital platforms. Our Primary School is proudly a screen-free zone.

As students mature, discussions around media use, responsibility and discernment become part of the educational journey. The school encourages families to work in partnership with teachers to support healthy, age appropriate relationships with technology and social media.

Health and wellbeing are seen as central to a child’s ability to learn and thrive. The school encourages wholesome, nourishing food choices and a balanced daily rhythm that supports physical and emotional health.

Parents are guided to provide simple, nutritious meals that sustain energy and concentration throughout the day. Outdoor play, movement and time in nature are also valued as essential aspects of healthy development.

Michael Oak does not have a school uniform. We value simplicity, comfort and the opportunity for children to express their individuality through their clothing.

At the same time, families are asked to avoid clothing with logos, cartoon characters or commercial imagery. These images can distract children from seeing the person beneath the clothing and may influence play in limiting ways. For example, a child wearing a superhero image may feel compelled to act out that character, rather than engaging in imaginative, open ended play that arises from within.

Our approach to dress supports freedom of movement, creativity and a calm, focused learning environment, while honouring each child as an individual.

It is generally recognised that the first experiences of arithmetic are crucial, and here Steiner made some interesting recommendations. By starting with “two plus two equals four”, the child meets (i) a completely abstract proposition, (ii) a reductionist view of the universe in which wholes are made up of parts, and (iii) a problem with only one answer. Instead if he explores how to divide an apple or a cake and share it round the class, he starts from real life, from wholeness, and from a problem with several answers.

Arithmetic is taught to children not as a method for computing, but as a powerful process which is inscribed into the world around them. They can see oneness in the image of the sun, twoness in the contrasts of day and night, fiveness in flower petals and sixness in the legs of beetles. Always, there is a sense of the reality underpinning the world. Numbers are taught in movement, and through music before anything is committed to paper. They can be modelled in plasticine, clay or beeswax, together with the shapes in which they are found: the square, circle, pentagon and so on. Arithmetic tables are recited with much clapping and stamping, for unless the knowledge sinks deeper than the child’s conscious memory, very little has been achieved. As in so much else, in their early years the children need to learn by heart before they learn by head.

Every morning for the first two hours of the day, the children are at their most receptive and greater concentration can be expected. This ‘Main Lesson’ period is devoted to one subject at a time, over a period of 2 to 4 weeks. This allows the teacher time to address the subject in depth, integrating activities, intellectual and creative work.

Through this immersion in each core subject, we seek to draw the pupil in, to unlock wonder, enthusiasm and a desire to learn more. And, as he works more intensively, his powers of concentration are strengthened.

Language, mathematics, history, geography and the sciences are taught during these periods and are all presented in a way that stimulates in turn the emotions, the thinking and the physical activity of the child.

The rest of the school day is more conventional, with 45 minute periods devoted to other languages, core subject refreshers, skills, music, singing and eurythmy. Handwork, craft lessons, painting, modelling, gymnastics and games are scheduled at the end of the school day.

Memories of the involvement and enthusiasm gained during the morning and day are what should accompany the child into sleep, to be digested and dreamed and become long-term memories. Television and computer games effectively destroy this process.

We live in a highly scientific and technological age. The study of sciences plays a crucial role in preparing the young adult to understand and integrate into today’s world. An understanding of the discovery and workings of machinery, electronics and energy sources, and the implications these have for human life, is one of the most important aspects of life-long learning.

Rather than memorising pre-programmed, fixed laws from a text book, the pupil’s study of science begins primarily from their own observations. By working from observed phenomena, engaging, thinking, and arriving at their own insights and conclusions they learn the scientific method and its rewards. Physics and chemistry become real as ways of understanding and exploring our world and our universe.

Pupils also study the dramatic biographies of remarkable personalities whose discoveries changed and moulded our civilisation, providing context and real-life understanding of the scientific journey of discovery.