The Grove’s Ethos

Waldorf-Inspired Practice:

  1. echoing the phasal development of the human being as outlined in anthroposophy

  2. the focus on meeting head, heart and hands

  3. the care for the human, the deep relationships that form between mentor/teacher/tutor and child

  4. the ongoing inner work of the teacher

Relational: positive and rooted connection with ourselves, each other and the environment, including working through conflict

Purposeful: purposeful activities – development of skills; portfolio based qualifications; growing food for lunch which is then cooked for others; fleece from sheep is carded, spun into yarn, used for doll-making & sold at a fair

Facilitative: done for you, with you, by you; celebrating you doing, you lead others

Threshold-Oriented: we face challenges and accompany each other and the children and young people through uncomfortable moments of transition

Land Oriented: focusing on our relationship with the Earth, with biodynamic land practice including engagement in the different realms of nature– mineral/earth; plant; animal (we have a small flock of sheep and alpacas) and human

Place Situated: bringing place into our curriculum through situating this within our locale within the seasonal calendar

Active Spirituality: spiritual openness underpins all we do (team shares a daily candle meditation, we have a regular ‘fire practice’ of reflection, sharing and listening)

Colleagueship: we support each other on a deep level, we study, we check-in, we grow ourselves, we face challenge, we engage in training

Community: we are a Grove community, part of a wider local community, part of several networks – Waldorf-inspired initiatives, IE network & Waldorf in Stroud

What we are striving to gift children and young people with

We hope children and young people with us gain:

  • The inner qualities and appreciation for beauty, truth and goodness

  • Growing skills in artistic, practical, social, reflective and academic areas

  • Active inter-dependence and conflict resolution skills

  • Life affirming preparation for the future, feeding into the ‘deep truth’ of who they are