United Kingdom
Various headmasters, teachers, and schools in Great Britain showed an early interest in the new educational methods; as a result Rudolf Steiner held a series of three lectures - in August, 1922 (Oxford), 1923 (Ilkley) and 1924 (Torquay) - introducing Waldorf principles. A number of groups then formed either seeking to transform their existing schools along Waldorf lines (e.g. The New School, Kings Langley in Hertfordshire) or to found new institutions.
- In 1922, a small boarding school housed at Friars Wood and located in the grounds of the former Royal Palace of the Plantagenet Kings of England at Kings Langley, in Hertfordshire, became the first school in the United Kingdom to seek to transform itself along Waldorf lines. However, while the transformation process began in 1922, it took a decade and a half to complete. During that time the school added extensive new buildings, opening fully in 1949 when it became known as 'The New School' Kings Langley (in an attempt not to be confused with nearby Kings Langley Grammar School - now Kings Langley Secondary School). Today, nearly sixty years on, 'The New School' has changed its name, and is simply known as Rudolf Steiner School Kings Langley.
- In 1925, a school was founded near London but relocated during World War II to Minehead and again after the war to Forest Row, Sussex, in the process changing its name to Michael Hall. The school is therefore recognized as the first Waldorf school in Britain.
- Wynstones school in Gloucester was founded by a small group of English teachers in 1935. Several prominent German Waldorf school teachers fleeing the Nazi regime supported the school's development in its early years, including Walter Johannes Stein, Ernst Lehrs, Eugen Kolisko and Bettina Mellinger.
- Edinburgh Steiner School in Edinburgh, Scotland was also founded around 1935.
These four, which grew to become comprehensive schools for ages 12 through 18, became the mainstay of the Waldorf movement in Britain for many years, and they remain the only British schools to provide education up until age 18.
In 1938, a small group of refugees from the Nazis, led by Karl Konig, founded the first school (in Britain) providing special education on Waldorf principles. These Steiner special schools, part of the Camphill movement of communities for the handicapped, spread widely throughout Britain and, later, in many other countries in the world.
Beginning in the late 1940s, further schools were founded, including
- Elmfield school in Stourbridge
A increase in new schools occurred in the 1970s, and another in the 1990s, continuing today. After repeated initiatives to open a school in London; there are now four such schools:
- St. Paul's school, in Islington
- St. Michael Steiner school
- Greenwich Steiner school, in Greenwich
- Waldorf School of South West London, in Streatham
In July 2008, the Hereford Waldorf School in Much Dewchurch, Herefordshire, U.K. secured funding to become a state-funded academy specializing in the natural environment, to be known as The Steiner Academy Hereford.
There are now about 40 Waldorf/Steiner schools in Great Britain and Ireland, which together make up the Steiner-Waldorf Schools Fellowship.
Read more about this topic: History Of Waldorf Schools, World-wide System of Schools
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