York Steiner School is a long-established independent co-educational day school with 191 pupils aged between three years six months to 14. There are 18 children receiving nursery funding. The quality of this provision was also inspected and is reported separately at the end of this report. Admission is non-selective. There are three Kindergarten classes for three to six years olds and the Main school for pupils in classes 1 to 8. In line with normal Steiner practice there is no headteacher; the College of Teachers is responsible for the educational provision. A Management Council made up of parents and friends manage the school. The administrator is in charge of day-to-day running of the school. The school’s curriculum and teaching are inspired by the philosophy of Rudolf Steiner as expressed through the Steiner Waldorf curriculum. The school‘s main aim is ‘to recognise the inner development of the child and seek to nourish it with appropriate experiences at each stage, through a wide ranging curriculum.’ Evaluation of the school Parents are very keen on York Steiner School. One referred to it as ‘a complete treasure.’ Another noted: ‘I cannot praise the school enough…my children are confident, well motivated, independent children who are knowledgeable about learning and value it’. It is indeed a good school, with a distinctive character and it provides a good quality of education and care. As a result of good learning and teaching using the good Steiner curriculum, and high quality relationships which value pupils as individuals, they make good progress. According to one older pupil this is ‘a certain kind of school’ and pupils report that they enjoy their school life. Parents are committed and fully involved in the whole life of the school. This is the first inspection of the school under s162A of the Education Act 2005 and there are a number of regulations they do not meet.