Michael Hall (school)

Founded in 1925, Michael Hall is an independent Steiner Waldorf school in Kidbrooke Park on the edge of Ashdown Forest in East Sussex. The oldest Steiner school in Britain, it has an enrolment of over 500 students aged between three (Kindergarten) and eighteen (6th Form). Michael Hall is a Registered Charity - Number 307006

Predominantly a day school, boarding is arranged with families of children at the school. It offers a broad education to boys and girls from pre-school to university entrance, based on the educational philosophy of Rudolf Steiner. The curriculum embodies cultural studies, sciences, general arts and humanities, crafts, music and movement and foreign languages. EFL is available in term time. The school explains its educational ethos, curriculum and approach to prospective parents at open mornings. A range of sports, games and extra-curricular activities is offered. Entrance is non-selective and no streaming; for sixth-form entry an interview and GCSE grade C (preferably higher) in sixth-form subjects.^[1][2]

History

The school was founded by a group of five people on the initiative of Daphne Olivier after she had attended one of Rudolf Steiner’s educational conferences in Stuttgart in 1923.^[3] She approached Rudolf Steiner, asking for his support in founding the first Waldorf school in the English-speaking world. As she was speaking on behalf of three other women, Steiner asked if they could not include a suitable male teacher. This prompted Daphne to recommend her friend and future husband, Cecil Harwood, who met Rudolf Steiner in this manner for the first time and remained connected to the school for the rest of his life. It was founded in South London and named “The New School”, until moving to Kidbrooke Park in Forest Row after WWII, whereupon it took on the name Michael Hall.^[4][5]

In November 2014 a book titled "A Good School" was published by Blue Filter^[6] documenting the first ninety years of the school's history. With an original manuscript by Joy Mansfield and edited by Brien Masters and Stephen Sheen, the book provides an overview of the school from its beginnings in Streatham to its current home in the Sussex countryside.^[7][8]

Kidbrooke Park

Kidbrooke Park is an old estate built for the Earl of Abergavenny at the time when Eridge Castle was in ruins and occupied by the Nevills until 1825.^[9] Date of construction is 1735 and stands on 60 acres of parkland landscaped by the landscape architect Humphry Repton A number of its facilities are available for hire including the reception hall (The Great Hall), The Long Room, The Round Room, The Terrace Room and The Oak Panelled Room for weddings, conferences, parties, film shoots and memorials. There is a theatre seating 450 persons, an expansive and modern gym and additional lecture studio capable of seating 80 people.

Former students

There is an association of former students run by the school’s administration. Former students include: Martyn Boysens (mountaineer); Oliver Tobias (actor); Sean Yates (international cyclist); Bella Freud (Young Designer of the Year); Estella Freud (actress, writer); Prof John Pearce (author and professor in child/adolescent psychiatry);^[10] John Davy; Gavin Carr; Winslow Eliot; Jonael Schickler; Marguerite Lundgren; Oliver Chris.

References