School festivals are an important and integral part of education.
To prove this statement, it is important to explain the meaning we put into the phrase "festivals of the year". Everyone might agree that during the year we experience each season with a special state of mind, with special feelings. Although it causes us certain moods, it is nevertheless connected with the objective forces of Nature. Living and experiencing ourselves in connection with the forces of Nature is a cognitive process for the human soul and even more for the soul of a child. So let's fix the fact that for us the year festivals are primarily spiritual experiences that are the key to knowing the world around us. For an adult, these reference points of the year can become an occasion for deep philosophical reflections and personal development.
September 1st. First-grader's Festival.
The teachers and students of the whole school organize a special Festival just for the first-graders, welcoming their first steps to real social life. Having already gained their first experience of family relationships, and having tried life in a relatively small kindergarten group, they become part of a large school community. It is not surprising that the first steps into conscious life coincide precisely with the transition from a warm, carefree summer to the season that brings us ripe fruits.
We celebrate St. Michael Time
In the first half of October. Rudolf Steiner who gave the initial impetus to Waldorf Education, called St. Michael Time the Festival of the Future. Humanity has yet to feel the meaning of this holiday. Its image is vividly revealed to children through the legend of George's victory over the Dragon and stories about the struggle between light and evil forces. For children of different ages, we are looking for various means to test themselves. For the younger ones, it can be a hiking trip with many obstacles in their way, for the older ones it could be the task of being polite, honest, and fair. Upper school students are looking for challenges outside of school. This can be a project that is useful for the district and the city e.g. cleaning up a park, a forest strip, near a river, helping people in need.
Interestingly enough, it is time when the fruit ripens in the gardens which carries a special "element of courage" namely iron, a kind of indicator of how strong a person is, how much he is able to gather strength and concentrate. Later, in grades 8 or 9, students will discuss this topic in anatomy lessons.
The Lantern Festival and the Candle Festival
Form the mood of November. This is the time of the year when we have already gathered our strength before the cold winter, but the main test for everyone - the fading of the Sun's power - is still ahead. The Nature around us becomes dim and dark and a person needs to learn to look for spiritual light in the absence of external light. Younger schoolchildren experience this in a beautiful procession with handmade lanterns in the darkness of the autumn forest and at the same time older ones prepare a poetry evening and read poems, perform musical compositions, and sing songs by candlelight.
