There is an echo throughout Waldorf schools worldwide, where every school day begins with a lively hour and a half ‘Main Lesson’ with the class teacher in Primary school and a subject teacher in High school.

This focussed time concentrates on one subject for a period of three to four weeks. The uninterrupted deepening of a theme enables the children to immerse themselves in the subject and allows the class teacher the freedom to structure the lessons creatively, incorporating a variety of activities such as music to enhance the teaching of geography, and the use of drama, storytelling to expand the work in history. The child’s feeling of wonder for form is stimulated through free-hand drawings, painting and other artistic activities.

Often main lessons end with a presentation from each student in response to a project which has been set for that main lesson. In this way, the learning of the whole class is amplified through their personal research and the fact that the whole class learns more from each other.