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Dear <<First Name>>
Every single day our school is alive with a vibrant melody. I’m not telling you anything new; you surely have heard it, even though your presence on campus has been limited this year. Our school’s melody is like an earworm you don’t mind sticking around; it just never ceases to surprise and amaze you! Sometimes it quiets down to a hum, sometimes it's sung from the top of the lungs, and sometimes it simply keeps you on the tip of your toes with its continuous alterations in tempo, rhythm, and harmony.
As members of the College of Teachers, our task is to listen closely to that melody and to all the instruments involved. Do some instruments need to be tuned or oiled? Are others long overdue for a solo? Should a newer version be considered, or are some simply characteristically antique and valuable in all their croakiness?
The Waldorf pedagogy is both our instrument and our melody, and we carry it close to our hearts.
In our weekly meetings, we put our own opinions (or musical tastes, to stick with the analogy) aside and focus on what makes our school sing. We continuously aim to evaluate, support and improve the various programs running in our school, so teachers have the opportunity to create the space for students to learn and grow.
We, of course, don’t do this task alone. It has been inspiring to see, from behind the curtains of the stage, how the teachers have approached this year as a continuous opportunity for reinvention. Every festival, every trip, every recess, every birthday celebration, and every single lesson has been held with care, joy, and a sense of exciting renewal. As the school year reaches its finale, we know applause is well deserved and will clap our hands until they’re as red as the cheeks of a happy child.
We ourselves will stay behind the curtains, if you don’t mind.
We deeply love the music our school makes every day. And we love how the students take their own variations on it home and into the world. Who knows what harmonies that will create? Isn’t that the most exciting of all?
With warmth,
Marlies De Ceuster
For the College of Teachers
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