The Steiner Waldorf Advisory Service (SWAS)
The Fellowship's advisory service is a collegiate of part-time advisers co-ordinated by Kevin Avison for the Executive of the SWSF. The SWAS office is at 11 Church Street, Stourbridge, DY8 1LT. Advisers are experienced colleagues with a wide background of work in Steiner education, covering the full range of pedagogy from early childhood to upper school. SWAS organises & co-ordinates in-service courses (see the Professional Development page) & takes part in meetings with initial Teacher educators.
The role of the advisory service continues to evolve & we are developing partnerships with other individuals & groups to increase its range & expertise. For example, we have three Associate Advisers offering consultancy in school administration, goverance & Associative Leadership & inspections & safegaurding children & young people. Go to http://swasviews.blogspot.com/ for more information.
Click on the following links for other items of interest:
Two entries at http://swasviews.blogspot.com may be of interest: a review essay based on Reinventing Schools, Reforming Education (Bangs, MacBeath, Galton) & a summary of findings on the arts & education by an influential US Presidential committee.
SWAS objectives are:-
To provide members with access to external mentors who can assist colleagues & schools in improving the quality of their work. In principle, advisers work to assist in-house mentors, supplementing peer support & appraisal & providing an outsider's view of the work.
To identify & share good practice between individual colleagues & member organisations & beyond, as appropriate.
To provide objective appraisal of the working environment, relationships & structure of a school & to make recommendations relevant to the particular area of the school for which advice has been sought.
To undertake & encourage research into the development of Waldorf method, organisation & curriculum in particular.
To research the needs for & to facilitate or provide of in-service courses & other professional development opportunities.
To support & assist quality development measures in schools, including areas such as policies & procedures in evaluation, planning & record keeping, compliance with regulations for school inspection.
To advise the Fellowship Council as to the situation of member schools, especially with regard to accreditation.
The SWAS offices in Stourbridge work alongside the financial administration, helping to provide administrative & organisational support for members. We liaise with government inspection providers & offer assistance to groups wishing to start schools & maintain a bank of policies & procedures used by SWSF schools.
See below for files on preparing for Ofsted inspection, SWSF accreditation & booking advisers:-
Booking Forms: adviserbookingform2011-12.pdf
Overview: SWASdetailedOVERVIEW.pdf
Information: INFORMATIONFROMSTEINERWALDORFADVISORYSERVICE.pdf
Ofsted Inspection Preparation:-
OfstedPreparation.doc - Help with preparing for an Ofsted Inspection.
SWSF Accreditation Files:-
membershipcriteriaJune2011.pdf - How to become accredited with the SWSF.
Principles/Code of Guidance for advisers:-
SWASPrinciples.doc - Principles for advisors.
See our review of the Vimala Alphabet at: http://swasviews.blogspot.com/
DVD 'What is a Steiner School?' DVD
'The Gift of Learning' DVD
A selection of books, magazines and leaflets relevant to Steiner education
Current media articles relevant to our movement
New and archived newsletters about our Schools
