During the 2024 Summer Conference, 70 teachers attended from schools across the UK and abroad. There were sessions on the curriculum in lower and high school, lectures on different aspects of pedagogy, artistic and movement workshops – bothmer gym, eurythmy, copperwork, leatherwork, painting, drawing and photography. In the evenings there was dancing and a performance of Shakespeare’s Macbeth by High School Waldorf students. This was all possible because the facilitators donated their time and expertise and the conference was supported financially by the London Waldorf Trust: a heartfelt thank you to all.
The 2025 Summer Conference will run 23 – 26 July.
It is open to practicing Waldorf teachers and teachers-in-training (other enquiries welcome)
To register your interest, email conference@stmichaelsteiner.com
A Collaborative Conference
Class preparation conferences take place in different ways in various countries, and wherever they are held, their aim is to enliven our work; to be thought-provoking and inspiring; to continually renew our practice out of its source, so that teachers go back to their schools full of enthusiasm for the coming year. This is the aim of our conference.
In particular, past participants have appreciated the experience of having worked with their own colleagues from across the school, alongside those from other schools. A shared experience means that conversations can continue when we get home, and collectively, we can carry a fresh impulse that will strengthen our schools.
Workshops will be hosted and facilitated by experienced colleagues from across the movement. Workshop leaders will present some aspect of their work to initiate the conversation, but this is a collaborative conference – one in which we give and receive, so sessions are equally spaces for everyone to share ideas and practice; to ask and answer questions. The idea is that you review what you have done this year, for the benefit of those who are about to teach that age group, and in the following session, others review their year for your benefit. This is difficult to explain, but works very well in practice, as teachers get a chance to ‘debrief’ at the end of the year, and to prepare for the year to come, in alternating sessions. When you look at the timetable, it should make sense. Those who teach across the classes have dedicated, subject-specific sessions, and there are art and craft workshops running throughout the conference. New teachers and students can devise their own programme from the sessions offered.
