Geography

In the Lower School (classes 1-4) Geography is not taught as a separate subject, however it is an important part of this time. They will be looking at nature, the elements, the seasons and stars through stories, nature walks and the many festivals through the year. Children will experience the bond between humans and the kingdoms of nature through fables and the stories of Saints such as St Francis of Assisi. At 9 years they will focus on the bond between man & earth with traditional farming, house building and occupations such as being a shepherd, stone mason and miner. Finally at 10 years they will observe their local geography, first from the sun and stars, then descending like a bird towards earth and drawing simple maps, a bird’s eye view of their home or school and their route to school. They will bring in a study of their local history and how this has affected their locality with aspects including industry and transport infrastructure.

At this point we enter Middle School (classes 5-8) and here the course may be considered in 2 periods – class 5-6 and class 7-8. In the first period children will experience the interdependence of humans and nature through deeper observation of their locality. They will go on journeys of discovery along rivers, to the sea and up to the hills – we will contrast these regions looking at the relationship between landscape, natural resources and industry. Then we will extend out to the whole of the British Isles and how this interacts with the neighbouring continents, concluding with a brief overview of all the continents and the physical geography of the world. This will lay the foundation for classes 7 and 8 when we will look more closely at the continents of the world, considering their climate, topography, people and industry. We will contrast the various continents and consider some past & present political issues.

Finally we return our focus to our locality with a study of weather. Observing and painting cloud formations and taking meteorological readings such as rainfall, humidity, air pressure and wind speed.

Gardening

Nature is a key source of inspiration, and from Kindergarten children spend time every day, rain or shine, outside playing, on nature walks, exploring and discovering. As they grow older the children continually use nature as a source for ideas and scientific investigation.

Gardening becomes a subject on the Curriculum from class 6, and is particularly beneficial for children approaching puberty as amongst the psychological and physical changes taking place for each child it provides a stabilising, confidence inspiring, harmonising experience. They learn how to care for the soil, directly contribute to the production of the crops and gain an appreciation for nature.

Where term timetabling permits plants are grown in accordance with the biodynamic calendar. Biodynamics is a system of agriculture developed by Steiner to increase the quality of the soil and plants by working with and for nature – it is even used by supermarkets to select their wine as they recognise its beneficial effects!