TEACHING AT THE STEINER SCHOOL

 

Steiner School class 1986

In 1962 when I was 21, I read a four-line article in the Leicester Mercury about Eileen Caddy. I wished that I too could experience this conviction. Eileen’s name and that of Findhorn slept quietly in me for 21 years after which, at 41, I graduated in London as a Waldorf teacher. My tutor Brien Masters told the graduates that the Findhorn Foundation needed a trained teacher for their new school. I knew nothing of the community but the name Findhorn resounded in my ears, associated with Eileen and God’s voice. My husband Francis and I were looking to leave London but he wasn’t attracted to moving so far away. Then a series of ‘coincidences’ came into play. One of the parents at the school was an old friend of Francis. He and his wife invited us to stay at nearby Minton House. During this stay Francis was persuaded to take part in the Experience Week with me that very next week, and as a result, decided to give up his wonderful job in London and come with me to live in Findhorn.

This was when another miracle happened. I had had an interview with the guardians and parents of the new school in the spring of that year, 1986, and also the kindergarten and class of 10 seven year-olds. These I felt to be ‘my children’, but they already had their teacher. The children who did need a teacher, lovely as all children are, were only four and five years old; too young I felt, for a Class 1. I was convinced that I belonged with the school, and yet was drawn to the children who already had their teacher — Rudolf Steiner had indicated that children and teacher draw each other to themselves in a karmic connection. I was convinced I’d made a mistake and should have been here at least a year before to become the teacher of the children I was so drawn to. I even wept about it on the way back to London.

Alex Walker planting a tree with young Barnaby

At my next meeting with the school’s administrators, I learned that the teacher concerned had decided to leave! I had liked that teacher a lot but felt so happy. It seemed that we were really meant to be. So started my journey with my wonderful pupils. Those years from 1986 to 1992 will always stay with me.

That four-line article led to a full and fulfilling time with both the Moray Steiner School and now, the Foundation. Thank you Eileen, Peter and Dorothy for bringing this place to birth, and all the people who played key roles in founding our special school. I also thank those who gave me lessons, some painful ones and others less so, and to those beautiful souls who were ‘my children’. Bless you all.

Jude da Silva