At York Steiner School, being connected to community is central to our ethos. This means working together as a community, connecting into our local community, and being aware of the challenges facing communities across the world.
On Friday 24th April classes 1 to 10 (not including Class 8 who will do their walk at another time) took part in a Big Walk, with routes ranging from 5km to 16 km, all within the local area of the school. The Big Walk was to raise funds for WaterAid.
With more extreme weather there are many communities around the world that have been affected by severe flooding or by severe droughts. Some communities don’t have access to water, let alone clean water, nor do some communities have any toilet facilities in their village and certainly not in their homes. 1 in 10 people around the world don’t have clean water close to home. 1 in 5 people don’t have their own toilet. Without this basic human right, whole communities are held back: children miss out on an education, people struggle to earn a decent living, and families are often ill because of poor hygiene. When a community gets clean water for the first time, it’s the start of something truly life-changing.WaterAid is an international not-for-profit organisation, determined to make clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene normal for everyone, everywhere within a generation.Whilst out on their walk the children took part in the York City Nature Challenge! Started in 2016 as a competition between Los Angeles and San Francisco in the United States, the City Nature Challenge (CNC) has grown into an international event. Last year, there were over 650 cities in 51 countries on all seven continents participating!The challenge asks people to observe the biodiversity of their local area. So whilst out for their walk, children across the school did exactly that! From wildflowers to wildlife, the range and abundance of biodiversity in and around the local area brought wonder and awe to all. On the spotted list were spawning pikes, bluebells, swans, deer and the very special tansy beetle!Events like these bring our whole school together in community to undertake a shared endeavour. As the children learn places and people close to home and further away, they are connected to the world around them in a meaningful and purposeful way. The children, be they 6 or 16, returned to school in high spirits and full of stories from their adventures.And it just so happened to be a glorious Spring day![Best_Wordpress_Gallery id="18" gal_title="The Big Walk 2026"]