De rode draad van het schooljaar

The Michaelmas festival falls at the start of autumn. Nature grows and slowly fades in splendour, it grows still and dies back. It turns chilly. The trees go bare. The dry leaves drift down. It is also a festival of courage, of inner alertness. Only then can you truly recognise, and overcome, the creeping power of the dragon.

We celebrate this festival with games of courage, old crafts, and building a mighty dragon.

"Do you hear, in the distance, the clatter of horses' hooves? It is a day in November. Heavy grey clouds cover the sky and an icy wind blows the last dry leaves from the trees, sending them tumbling endlessly over the cold earth. Through a dense forest, along winding paths, a group of young men rides on stately horses. They are young soldiers of the Roman army. Among them is also Martin."

So begins the story told every year to children at Waldorf schools.

We hollow out pumpkins, tell stories on the theme of 'sharing', and in the evening enjoy a performance and share pumpkin soup together.

Our hearts beat with anticipation for the arrival of the good Saint and his helpers! A wonderful festival built around giving, receiving, and daring to look at yourself in the mirror. A festival full of joy, wonder and mystery.

We celebrate this festival with a visit from Sinterklaas and gifts from and for the children.

Growing quiet, so that you can behold the wonder of Christmas. This is also what advent, the time of anticipation, expresses. Everything is made ready for the Christmas festival. That happens inwardly too; we can pause at the sense of wonder and grow still within ourselves.

We celebrate this by lighting the advent candles in the classroom every day for the four weeks before Christmas, with attention to song, stories and candle dipping.

The great festival of light in the darkest time of the year. Christmas is a festival for believers and non-believers alike; a festival of togetherness, peace and the coming of new light.

We celebrate this festival with candles, the Christmas story, a shared meal and the teachers' Christmas play.

The festival in which we take leave of the dark time of year, and bring the candlelight back to the earth. This festival is mainly celebrated in the kindergarten classes.

We celebrate it by looking back on all the autumn and winter festivals. We bring the light back outside in the form of small candles. With this light we awaken nature for spring.

Carnival is a Christianised pagan folk festival, like so many festivals through the year. Originally the timing of carnival was not yet linked to the church's Easter festival. It is a festival to protect the sprouting of nature. Dressing up gives room to be someone else for a while and to discover a new side of yourself.

We celebrate this festival with a prince and princess couple from class 6, coming to school in costume, performing sketches and having a lot of fun.

Easter is the festival of new life. For centuries people have celebrated nature's awakening from its winter sleep. Buds burst open, flowers bloom, birds build their nests and lambs frolic in the field; spring has begun.

We celebrate the festival by telling stories, hunting for eggs and sharing an Easter meal together.

At the end of May, beginning of June, the sun and the earth are hard at work stirring nature to life for the summer season. Sun and earth come together. To celebrate this we choose a sun child and an earth child each year, who celebrate the union with a 'wedding'. We celebrate this festival with chosen Whitsun couples in the kindergarten classes and class 1, by dancing around the maypole dressed in white, telling stories and eating cake.

Saint John's marks the midsummer solstice. The sun is at its highest point and from now on will wane again. Christmas stands opposite it in the year. Nature is at its peak in this season; the earth seems almost to burst with all the growth and blossom.

We celebrate this festival by eating outside, making flower wreaths, dancing and jumping over the fire. Jumping over the fire symbolises letting go of the old, so we can begin the new school year purified.