Joanna was begining to settle at the local primary school,
but this was almost jeopardized. Her younger brother was now out of school and we were being chased by the educational
authorities.
During the Christmas holidays we had been visited by
the home education people. This was as a result of the meeting where educational welfare had learned that Richard was now
excluded from the Waldorf School. I had pleaded with the school at the end of the autumn term to allow him back into Kindergarten
and had offered to help in Kindergarten myself so that I would be on hand to change him if necessary. The Kindergarten teacher
had seemed quite happy with this and it had seemed a mere matter of routine for the school council to OK it.
Because of this I had told educational welfare that Richard
would almost certainly be returning to the Waldorf School after Christmas. During the Christmas holidays, though, I received
a letter from the chairman of the council telling me in no uncertain terms that it was against school policy to allow a child
who was not toilet trained to remain at school. To quote part of the letter -
"It is no part of a Kindergarten teachers job to toilet
train."
A week or two later I received a letter from educational
welfare accusing me of having lied to them and ordering me to register Richard at a school.
We were in a big quandry. We had always been Waldorf
parents and we truly believed that early academic education was damaging to children, and we were being ordered to register
our child at a state school.
Then I took Richard to a different psychologist
who suggested a physical examination. It was found that he had a blockage in his bowel, caused initially by stress but now
developed into a physical problem. He was not soiling. His bowel was blocked and matter was leaking round the edge of the
blockage. After treatment he was fine.
During those two terms that Richard was excluded from Kindergarten
because of his 'soiling problem', we had been in a very difficult position. He was five years old and of compulsary school
age, but Waldorf education had taught us that it was very bad for children to begin their academic education at too earlier
an age. Nevertheless, according to law he had to receive education. Since we were intending to return him to the Waldorf School
as soon as his problems were sorted out it seemed the best solution would be to educate him at home according to Waldorf methods.
Our local education authority insisted that this would
not be legal. I was pretty sure they were wrong in this and I refused to bend to their demands to either teach him at home
according to the National Curriculum or register him at a state school. This all caused considerable stress on our family.
I remember going for two weeks having a migraine headache every day. This was during the time we were trying to settle
Joanna into the local primary school.
During this time we received no support or advice from
the Waldorf school whatsoever, even though they knew our position and we were fighting for the right to home educate
our child according to Waldorf methods. When the education authority rang them, they told them that Richard was no longer
registered there, even though we had been told he was only excluded until the soiling was sorted out.
Looking back, I am pretty sure that some of the teachers were
hoping we would remove Richard as well. I think they were hoping we would leave the school altogether. Then there would be
less chance in the future of us discovering the real truth about Joanna. I may be totally wrong here but I don't know how
else to explain the school's apparently not caring what was happening about Richard's education
