A SCHOOL with a different approach to learning has marked 40 years since it was first established in Ringwood.

A tree planting ceremony marked the 40th anniversary of the Ringwood Waldorf School, which was started 40 years ago this month by teacher Christine Polyblank.

Mrs Polyblank formed the Steiner school in a row of disused labourers’ cottages at Folly Farm, near the town, and it was described at the time by a local newspaper as a ‘school paradise.’ The first intake, on September 16, was just six children aged five to seven.

Now the school has a purpose built building – the only Steiner school in the UK to have this – and more than 250 children aged four to 18.

School administrator Nigel Revill said: “From little acorns a truly magnificent school community has grown so it felt very apt to mark this significant anniversary with a tree planting ceremony.

“We were delighted to welcome back our founder Christine Polyblank, without whom our wonderful school would not be here today.”

Ringwood Waldorf School was born in 1974 when a letter was sent from the Sheiling Curative Schools, (a school for children with special needs based near Ringwood), describing the need for a ‘little school’ to cater for the growing number of staff children that could also open to children in the wider community. This letter was sent by Alex Baum, then principal of the Sheiling, to Christine Polyblank, a teacher at a Camphill Community school in Yorkshire – inviting her to start a similar school near Ringwood. Mrs Polyblank had grown up in an idealistic and pioneering Camphill Community in Scotland and the school she founded at Folly Farm was set on the principles of Austrian philosopher Rudolf Steiner.

The school soon outgrew Folly Farm cottage and temporary classrooms were erected while the school began its search for a new home. Then in 1988 the Sheiling Trust offered unused land to build on.

The school provides an education that is not exam driven and instead provides a qualification tailored to the individual – the Steiner School Certificate.

Plays, pageants and music play a big part in school life and parents are actively involved in the running of the school community. The school is planning to add even more classroom space – a planning decision is expected soon.

Mrs Polyblank said: “I’m incredibly proud to see how far the school has come in the last four decades and be such a successful, happy community.

“We had a vision 40 years ago to provide a unique, nurturing and happy environment for our children and that has most certainly been achieved.”