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On Sat, 12 Nov 2011, Philip Hudson wrote:
As a Steiner parent, I endorse every word. It's a constant worry, the absence of rigor, the prevalence of dualism, the serious exposition of utterly bankrupt ideas like the alchemical humors or temperaments (phlegmatic, sanguine, etc). However, I reassure myself that the proof is in the pudding. The ethos is undeniably excellent. It is possible to have concerns heard (and listened to, as long as they don't overtly challenge dualism). And when you've seen a truly shambolic Steiner school, like our old one in Bruton, Somerset, this one, which is undeniably well-run, is a revelation and a relief. Recently a sign appeared at the kindergarten saying "Mobile free zone". I have no problem with that, even as an Android addict, in terms of the kindergarten's ethos; but in tiny letters at the bottom, it says "Health and Safety", for which I am pretty sure there is no justification. This bothers me enormously. It seems so trivial to object, but it also seems wrong to allow it to persist. What would you all do?
Knowing the local Steiner School - the one Phil's involved with, I do worry that it's just a little bit too "TQ9"... As I understand it, Steiners philosophy was to embrace the "now" technology and all, however I suspect each school is highly influenced by the majority of the parents and it's location. (TQ9 ish - too much Totnesterone) The almost anti-technology teaching approach of the one down the road does annoy me somewhat - howver I can't fault the admin side of it - they are running Linux/Ubuntu/Terminal server things for the admin office although they do have a couple of Win PCs for the finance office to run Sage, etc.
They used to have a DECT (wireless) phone in the admin office, but it broke and wasn't replaced. They're critical of mobile phones, but go into the offices and you'll see mobile phones lined up along the windows - it's a poor signal area. Suggest Wi-Fi to them and watch them reel back in horror...
So I think they've sort of lost perspective on some things...A mobile phone can output up to 4 watts ERP - which it will when it's in a poor signal area - such as the Dart valley down from Buckfastleigh to Dartington... Where this School is. (battery life is much reduced) Mixed frequency bands - 900MHz, 1.8GHz and 2.3GHz.
Wi-Fi - max. 0.1 watts ERP, spread spectrum in the 2.4GHz band.DECT - 1.9GHz, ERP 0.01 watts to 0.250 watts max - modern handsets are very good at lower power operations and standby times of 5 days are not uncommon. (Much better coverage than Wi-Fi due to the frequency not being absorbed by water and a much narrower carrier band - channels of 32Kb/sec rather than Mb/sec)
I suggested DECT to them a while back to get a bridge from one building to another, however that was a no-no, so had to use some buried cat-3 cabling and analogue adapters...
Ah well. I do like them though and it's nice to see kids falling out of trees rather than being ferried to and from school in a blacked-out cocoon of a tank.
Gordon -- The Mailing List for the Devon & Cornwall LUG http://mailman.dclug.org.uk/listinfo/list FAQ: http://www.dcglug.org.uk/listfaq