In The Footsteps of Giants – Conference on Early Years

March 14 2020

Kindergarten leaders Dawn Morrison and Aki Ippolito are holding a workshop at the upcoming Upstart conference in Edinburgh this Saturday that will explore the pedagogical principles of the three great early years pioneers who believed deeply in play-based Kindergarten and care for 3 – 7 year olds: Rudolf Steiner, Frederick Froebel, and Maria Montessori. The theme of the workshop is: “the art of storytelling and what it brings to the small child’.

Chaired by Upstart Scotland founder, Sue Palmer, three international experts will be the keynote speakers at the conference, including Janni Nicol from Steiner Waldorf Schools Fellowship (SWSF) – the representative body of Steiner Waldorf schools in the UK.

Held at the Scottish Storytelling Centre from 10am – 4.30pm, this sold-out event is presenting to both practitioners in the sector and parents. The link to the blog and review of the conference will be shared here after the conference.

Neuroscientists urge that children need time and space to play. At the Waldorf 100 celebrations in Silicon Valley, Nobel laureate in neuroscience, and Waldorf graduate, Thomas Sudhof, concluded his keynote speech by saying “More than ever nowadays, where things are changing, where the way we interact with the world has become so much more indirect because of new technologies, where we need to cope with a completely different sensory environment, this type of education is more important than ever.”

At Edinburgh Steiner School, our Early Years provision includes a Baby Group, six Parent & Child groups, a newly registered Playgroup welcoming children from age 2 that runs every day during term time (increasing its hours of provision similar to Kindergarten in April 2020), and three Kindergarten groups for children aged 3.5 years to 6.5 years.

In our Early Years provision the focus is on play and activities embedded in the cycle of seasons and festivals.