Ofsted outlines shortcomings of Steiner schools to Hinds

Ofsted's chief inspector Amanda Spielman has written a letter to education secretary Damian Hind to outline her concerns about Steiner schools following an inspection.

Of the 26 Steiner schools inspected, 13 were judged inadequate, seven were judged to require improvement and six were judged to be good. This means that 77% of Steiner schools have been judged to be less than good, compared with only 15% of state-funded schools. In addition, 15 of the 22 independent Steiner schools inspected failed to meet the Independent School Standards.

Spielman wrote that "these are very weak headline figures".

"The performance of Steiner schools overall remains poor, and there are areas of weakness that need to be addressed. Most worryingly, inspectors found that a significant minority of the schools had ineffective safeguarding practices, and I continue to be concerned about the provision for pupils with SEND, about quality of education more generally and about leadership."

Steiner schools teach on the educational philosophy of Rudolf Steiner and strives to develop pupils' intellectual, artistic, and practical skills in an integrated and holistic manner.

Spielman ended the letter with: "I will be taking a keen interest in the results of the monitoring inspections of these schools over the coming months and hope that the schools can rise to the challenge ahead of them."

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