The Rudolf Steiner School, Mbagathi
Our school is situated 20 km south of Nairobi on the Maasai plains, close to Nairobi National Park. We have four Kindergarten groups and primary classes. Our school offers the Steiner/Waldorf curriculum up to class eight with an added exam year where the children sit for the Kenyan Primary Certificate Exam (KCPE) exam. This allows our children to join secondary school. Our school is unique not just because it offers Steiner education but because its purpose is to help the financially challenged families through our sponsorship programme.
The School was started in 1989, through the idea of our trustee Nani Croze from Kitengela Glass, who saw the need for a wholesome education. It is the first Rudolf Steiner School in East Africa. The school started in September 1989 with a small kindergarten, in a rented house on Magadi road. In 1990 the present 20 acre plot was bought. There are presently approximately 325 children in the school; this includes a large boarding with approximately 120 children. The school has grown slowly over the years and has now reached full capacity.
The Waldorf/Steiner schools worldwide follow the Steiner school curriculum which is also referred to as “A Head, Heart and Hand Education”. The academic learning is embedded in artistic and craft activities; this enhances the learning and aids in building the morality of the child. The curriculum provides for the child’s developmental needs and kindles the child’s natural inquisitiveness for the world around. Thus, in a Steiner school children love to learn. Steiner schools provide a supportive base for children of every faith, race and culture. We strive to create a secure, homely and loving environment for children to grow and flourish. We wish our children to grow up into strong and creative human beings with initiative for their life in order that each child can reach his/her full potential.
The school has developed and is developing a beautiful compound for the children. It has a school farm with cows and a vegetable garden. All children receive a breakfast of millet porridge and a hot meal with fresh vegetables provided daily from the school garden. The school farm is presently converting from an organic to a bio-dynamic farm, it also has fruit trees.
Children come from all areas in Kenya and settle in Ongata Rongai, a suburb of Nairobi. The school runs a daily bus service around Ongata Rongai area.
The Rudolf Steiner School is a non-profit making organization. Its status is one of a charitable trust. It has received Full Registration from the Ministry of Education of Kenya.
The School has two classroom blocks with a total of 9 classrooms, a mini-hall, woodwork/clay modeling workshop, kitchen, dining hall and verandah, computer room, an administration block, teachers’ room and children’s library. The administration block has a large common room, reception area and office space. There is a block with four kindergarten classrooms and a small kitchen. The boarding consists of two main boarding houses one for the girls and one for the boys as well as boarding kitchen. The girls’ boarding house consists of: a living area, eight bedrooms, showers and toilets and two boarding parent’s room. The boys’ boarding consists of: a living area, five bedrooms, showers, toilet and two boarding parent’s room and guest’s huts.
