Curriculum, Classes and Lessons
Free play:
Central to our infant day is a space where our children can immerse into what is most innate to childhood: Play. A space that is big enough to move freely and that, through careful preparation, conveys a warm and joyful atmosphere.​
In an increasingly virtual world, the engagement with natural materials becomes more and more important. The textural qualities of wool and wood, the weight of a stone, the experience of stacking and balancing branch logs, tying a rope or wheeling a cart, can’t be learned from a book or an electronic device, yet they are the basics of science and important triggers of healthy brain development.
In free play, the children have the chance to meet and interact on a very direct level. They learn to communicate, share, compromise and solve problems. The teachers are careful not to interfere or disturb the play. When teachers do request to join the play they play along to observe the children to find their needs in a non- intrusive way.
Cooking and baking:
It is an especially valuable and purposeful experience for children to prepare their own food.
This is why we have included a cooking and a baking day into the weekly rhythm. One day per week, the children peel and chop vegetables to cook a soup and one day, they bake bread.
Wherever possible, we use raw materials, and process them with manual tools, e.g. a grain mill, mortars and pestles, etc. In this way, we allow the children to experience the whole process and give them a much better understanding of what food is.​
Measuring and mixing the required amounts is also a mathematical activity.
Sharing a healthy lunch in the class is an important social experience: The children learn to engage in table conversation and take responsibility for setting up the table and cleaning up afterwards.
Walks and Nature Trips:
Our school day always starts outdoors. Wrapped up in wet gear and wellies, our children experience the elements and the change of the seasons in the garden and on our trips to Barna Woods next to the school.​
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Walking through rough terrain and defying the weather, can be a challenging experience. These challenges help the children grow resilience and willpower which allows them to endure challenges and “keep on going” through difficulties in later life.
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Mastering extensive walks, climbing trees and rocks, playing in the most inspiring space, the child’s brain is developing all the connections and branches out. The complexity of nature helps to unlock individual abilities and skills, but the main purpose is to help guide emotional strength. Overcoming obstacles, discovering natures little secrets, gives the children a natural way of dealing with new ways of taking on challenges and the knowledge that they can do it.
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1st–6th Class


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We deliver the national curriculum using the Steiner methodology. For pupils from 1st to 6th classes, subjects are taught in “Main Lessons“. Main Lessons are taught in blocks of up to four weeks, allowing for depth, integration and focus. Artistic activities and movement are integrated into the day and form part of the teaching of each Curriculum Area of the Primary School Curriculum (English and Irish Language, Mathematics, Social Environmental and Scientific Education, etc). The use of drawing, painting, music, movement, poetry, modelling and drama is at the heart of the learning experience in all subjects. Skills such as drawing, painting and craftwork (e.g. knitting) are valued as highly as academic ones and are part of every subject. This gives every child an opportunity to shine and builds confidence and self-esteem.
Our aim is for all children to experience a personal connection to what they learn in school in order to nourish a love of learning that they will carry into their lives beyond primary school. We want to see the children develop into confident and enthusiastic readers, skilled and expressive writers, at ease when working with numbers and mathematical concepts. Our academic assessments show our methods are working. The Steiner education combines solid academic values with a sense of wonder for the world around
us that truly speaks to the child's emerging personality, and equips him or her with the imagination, flexibility and inner strength to face a fast-changing world.
The narrative themes of the curriculum meet each developing phase of childhood and are woven through each year in such a way as to create an integrated whole between all the subjects. In 1st class, letters are discovered through the illustrations of the stories they hear, deepening their pictorial imagination and laying the foundation for a vivid approach to learning. The four elementary mathematical processes are introduced and reinforced through concrete activity, including movements such as skipping, jumping and rhythmic clapping, thus supporting and strengthening different ways of learning. Song and music punctuate the morning and the first musical instrument of these years, the pentatonic flute, is begun. Heart, hands and head are all engaged, as the child finds their own increasingly expressive and creative voice.
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Art at our school is not just a subject; it forms part of the entire educational ethos. Rudolph Steiner believed that we as humans have three aspects – intellectual, manual and artistic/creative, and that all three parts have to be advanced equally. While most schools place an emphasis on reading, writing and maths, we take the view that it’s equally important for every child to paint, sculpt, draw, sing, knit, and dance.
We believe the ability to create something beautiful is not limited to a few “artistic” children but is something that everyone is capable of. Placing the “artist” on a pedestal beyond the reach of “average” students only serves to discourage all but the most talented children from tapping into their artistic sides. So many of today’s environmental and social problems require innovative and creative solutions, and what better way to produce creative and independent thinkers than by encouraging them to express themselves artistically in their own individual way?
While the Steiner approach encourages children to develop a keen sense of the aesthetic, it also ensures they understand that you shouldn’t separate art from life and that every child’s inherent artistic ability can permeate every subject taught.
When children recite a poem, for example, they don’t only learn to appreciate the beauty of language, they also, almost by default, learn to strengthen their memory. The manual
dexterity developed by learning crossstitch, may encourage more analytical and agile thinking when it comes to making sense of calculus.
It’s a proven fact that art engages many areas of the brain and can have far-reaching effects on children’s developing minds. The Burton Study looked at over 2 000 children and concluded that those who were engaged in their school’s arts curriculum were far superior in creative thinking, problem solving, risk taking, self-expression, self-concept and cooperation than those who weren’t.
Art is a vitally important part of children’s holistic development, which is why it’s such an important part of the curriculum at our school. Our aim is to thoroughly engage the developing child as their capacity for thinking, creating and feeling unfolds.
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Cuan na Gaillimhe CNS
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An Cimin Mor
Cappagh Road
Knocknacarra
Galway
H91KX30
