News and Events

Voyagers – Theatre Trips

The Voyagers have recently enjoyed trips to see two plays. In December they travelled to the Old Vic Theatre to see a production of The Four Seasons. 

With use of music from Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, interspersed with modern day seasonal pop songs such as Cliff Richard’s Summer Holiday, the small cast wove various stories set throughout the course of a natural year. The vivid image of an acorn growing and changing each season was central, amidst the high energy acting and astounding amount of props that allowed for a constant flow of transformation.

There was a lovely humorous atmosphere that invited audience participation (most of whom were children) in just the right amount, inspiring wonder of the natural world as well as engaging excitement. At the end of the performance, each child was given an activity sheet and wildflower seed paper, to continue the natural cycle of seed to full grown plant.  


The second theatre trip was to see a production of Oliver Twist at The Tobacco Factory. This adaptation of Charles Dickens’ beloved classic was reimagined from Victorian London and instead set in a somewhat modern day Bristol. All the cast and production crew are specifically from the South West and there were many local cultural and geographical Bristolian references interspersed throughout.

The audience were kept on their toes by the 7 player cast playing multiple character roles (and sometimes providing musical accompaniment). The Voyagers were certainly gripped by the storytelling, most of whom were experiencing this classic tale for the first time.

Apple Tree – End of Year Celebration

On the last day of term, the Apple Tree gathered together for the Celebration of Work, a sharing of each group’s learning to the community.

After a rousing rendition of People Look East from parents, teachers and children, the youngest group, the Oakens started off the presentations with songs and poems that they had been learning. Their gleeful exuberance charmed the whole audience and it was a joy to see their confidence, feeling undaunted and welcomed by the community.

The Voyagers, who had been recently focusing on the measurement of time in their Main Lesson maths block, recited a poem about the seasons. They then performed a quodlibet piece Don’t Put Your Trash In My Backyard with their Choroi flutes and sang The Twinkling Stars, a translation of the German lullaby Weißt du, wie viel Sternlein stehen.

The Discoveries’ Main Lesson has been focused on Ancient Rome. They recited the poem Romulus and Remus by Rudyard Kipling, which was dramatically enhanced by incorporating acrobalancing. They also performed the play Romulus and Remus by Pelham Moffat and sang a beautiful rendition of Dona Nobis Pacem as a round.

The Pippins performed a poem and sang the round Sure as the Wind as a whole group, and then a few students shared a report of some of the individual projects they had been working on. Two were focused on a particular artist they had chosen to study – Van Gogh and Hokusai respectively, talking about fascinating elements of their life and distinguishing features of their artwork. The students also showed a copy of a painting they had done from their chosen artist. Two other students talked about their chemistry projects and enthralled the whole gathering with their demonstration of mixing different elements together.

Singing together is a central part of Steiner-Waldorf education, as well as strengthening community bonds.

The Pippins, Discoveries and Voyagers sang a song If The People, and the Discoveries together with the Voyagers sang a pairing of the songs Shalom Chaverim and What a Goodly Thing, two Hebrew-based songs.

After the formal presentations, refreshments were served.

The Voyagers, who have been working on building a pizza oven since September as part of their homebuilding block, cooked dough balls and pizza to share with everyone. Other groups distributed the abundance of mince pies and mulled apple juice.

Parents had the chance to view bookwork and projects displayed from all the groups, admiring and appreciating the broad variety of subjects throughout the ages, as well as the effort put in by both students and teachers.

Oakens Work

Voyagers Work

Discoveries Work

Pippins Work

Celebration of Work is a massive highlight for the Apple Tree community, with mutual appreciation of each other’s work. It’s a chance for younger ones to watch older ones’ and aspire to be where they are in their learning journey – comments could be heard to the tune of “I can’t wait when we do that!”

What a brilliant way to finish the end of 2023!

Voyagers & Discoveries – Eurythmy

The Voyagers and the Discoveries have been enjoying Eurythmy lessons this term from a specialist Eurythmy teacher. Unique to Steiner-Waldorf education, it is a form of expressive movement art, originated by Rudolf Steiner in conjunction with Marie von Sivers in the early 20th century.

Alongside an accompanying musician, the children are guided through specific movements that correspond to particular musical notes or spoken sounds. In addition, storytelling and poems are also used, enhancing the class’ Main Lesson content, helping to bring alive the stories and experience them in a different way. For example, with the Voyagers learning about Norse mythology, music pieces include Scandinavian folk songs as well as part of the Kalevala, epic poetry from Finland.

Benefits include improving coordination, spacial awareness and sense of rhythm, and together with the emphasis on group movement, can help stimulate a child’s social and emotional development. Steiner described eurythmy as an “art of the soul” and the children experience movement, music, poetry and stories in an age-appropriate joyful way.

This is how one of the Apple Tree teachers feels about Eurythmy:
“I like that in a time when there is so much noise, Eurythmy teaches the children to listen deeply. As we know, plants will grow in the direction of beautiful music – I hope that Eurythmy helps the child’s growth forces, guiding them into the space around them and encouraging positive growth.”

Discoveries – Performance

The Discoveries invited their families and the Voyagers along to a performance of ‘What a Pity’. A theatrical performance of dance and movement of their own creation about a murder mystery! Advertised as a work in progress I can’t wait to see the second part.

The children end each week with Leeza, a talented artist, singer and medicine dance practitioner who holds an inclusive dance session with the group.

Apple Tree – Advent Spiral

Inspired by an age-old Bavarian custom, where farmers adorned tables with moss and twigs, creating illuminated gardens with candles nestled in apples, the tradition of the Advent spiral traces back to the 1920s. Over time, this heartfelt festival found its way into Waldorf Schools across the globe.

In the serene ambiance of a darkened room, evergreen boughs, symbolizing life everlasting, are arranged in a spiral on the floor, centered around a large candle. The Advent spiral unfolds with each child, one by one, walking into the spiral holding a lantern with an unlit candle. Guided by teachers or parents, based on individual needs, they navigate the spiral’s path to reach the illuminated center. There, they light their own candles from the central flame, carefully placing their lanterns along the spiral’s course before returning to their seats.

The Advent spiral mirrors the human journey during this season—a transition into darkness, shorter days, and longer nights, all while carrying hope forward to welcome the sun’s light after the winter solstice.

For our own Apple Tree celebration each group gathered in the hall at All Saints in small numbers for a beautiful and magical spiral. We are lucky to have some talented musicians in our parent group who led the music and provided a serene soundscape to the evening.

Apple Tree – Into Film Festival

Into Film Festival is a free, annual, UK-wide celebration of film and education for 5-19 year olds. Supporting a vision of putting film at the heart of children and young people’s education, the Into Film Festival is the largest youth-focused film festival in the world. You can read more about it here.

This year between the 7th and 24th November there was the opportunity to sign up to go to a local cinema to see a wide range of films including ‘Strange World’, ‘Trolls 3’ and ‘A Crack in the Mountain’. Each film comes with age appropriate educational resources looking at different themes to discuss with the children.

The screening of Lyle Lyle Crocodile attracted Children from the Oakens, Voyagers, Discoveries and Pippins. It was certainly very enjoyable for the grown ups too!

Into Film is a great education package with films available o stream, all supported with activities and resources online. What a great excuse to heat up some popcorn and get cosy over the darker months ahead.

Keen to find out what they could watch next!

Voyagers – Lantern Festival

As the days darken quicker, there is a yearning to gather in together to share warmth and light. The Voyagers celebrated this through making lanterns and lighting them to journey through the darkness, singing as they go to spread joy and cheer. After a walk in nature, the Voyagers ventured back round the fire for more singing and to listen to the tale of Saint Martin as well as the story of Rama and Sita, told in the celebration of Diwali. Cups were then distributed full of hot chocolate (and continually refilled) to accompany roasted marshmallows, an activity enjoyed by both young and old!

For the older groups, a Storytelling Evening was planned. The Pippins and Discoveries were regaled with many legends, myths and accounts by professional storyteller Corinne Harragin. There was much amusement and entertainment through the game of “The Many Headed Wise Person” and soup provided sustenance shared by all.

Oakens – Lantern Walk

The Oakens celebrated Martinmas together with their families . This festival, although Christian in name, is a celebration of our human light which we draw on as the light of nature fades into winter and can be seen reflected in the celebration of Diwali which is celebrated at the same time of year.

This was the Oakens second Lantern Walk together, last year being the first festival they celebrated together as a group within the Apple Tree so it was also a moment to stop and reflect on how they have grown and bonded over the last 12 months.

Alon, one of the tutors started the gathering with the storytelling of the Mousehole Cat. The children then walked a candlelit path through the woods singing songs and gathered at one of their well know play areas to sing together again before heading back for hot chocolate and ginger biscuits in the woods.

Apple Tree – Michaelmas

Autumn comes alive with the beat of a drum. Emerging from the shadows is a fearsome dragon, slowly moving towards the gathered community. But what happens next is that a fearsome warrior, robbed in white, draws their sword. Seeing the sword, the dragon halts, then is subdued into kneeling down as the crowd cheer.

The dragon procession is a highlight of the Michaelmas autumn festival, with the Voyagers this year playing the dragon and a Pippins student as Michael. The Apple Tree community assembled to celebrate together, with each group contributing to a shared lunch – Discoveries baked dragon shaped bread, Oakens brought the butter and freshly pressed apple juice, Voyagers cooked soup, Pippins provided crumble and the Hawthorns contributed custard to accompany the dessert.

After a hearty meal, the dishes were cleared and everyone gathered to watch performances. The Pippins recited a poem by Robert Frost and some also showcased their Capoeira skills. The Discoveries sang a song called “Earth in Common.” The Voyagers performed a play and led the song “Maggon the Dragon.” Oakens sang “Yellow the Bracken” and our newest affiliate group Hawthorns shared the first verse of “Tom Bombadil.”

To round off the day all raised their voices to sing the St Michael Harvest song. It was stirring to hear everyone singing together and a good time was had by all.

Voyagers – Adventures in Local Geography

There’s a famous quote by Alfred Wainwright: “There’s no such thing as bad weather, only unsuitable clothing.” After enjoying unseasonably warm weather for the first couple of weeks of the term, the Voyagers set off for their first offsite trip on a day when the heavens poured. Yet, armed with waterproof clothing, a playful attitude and a thirst for learning, the Voyagers had a grand adventure.

The day started off at the Blaise Castle estate, and after enjoying some time at the play park, they discussed the best places to shelter. The Voyagers then made their way up to the folly, seeing the advantages as to why a hill might be a useful place to settle.

From the hill, the Voyagers took in the wondrous scenery of Goram’s chair while being regaled with the local folktale of the two giants: Goram and Vincent who each dug out gorges at Clifton and Henbury as a way of competing to win the hand of Lady Avona (after which the river Avon is named). Smoke could be seen in the distance, adding a mystical atmosphere to the myth.

From there the Voyagers followed the trail of the river, noting significant changes in the landscape and consulting a map at Coombe Dingle. There was also impromptu dam building, a quick “how to throw a javelin” lesson with the walking sticks they had found in the woods, gleeful gathering of conkers alongside the weaving of history, geography, maths, social awareness in moving as a group and more in their surroundings.

The day rounded off by travelling on a train from Sea Mills to Easton and then a bus back to Fishponds. Although feeling tired by the end of the day, there was a lot of perseverance as well as joy in their journey and the Voyagers had thoroughly enjoyed it all.