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An educational visionary who founded a special school has died from coronavirus in hospital after being admitted following a fall.
Ulrike Brockman, who was 89, established the Perry Court Rudolf Steiner School near Canterbury with her husband Alan Brockman in 1976.
She died on April 8 after being confirmed Covid-19 positive at the Faversham Cottage Hospital, where she had been recovering from the accident.
Parent, friend and student Helen Applegarth, who wrote an obituary for the school’s Facebook page, said: “We considered her a passionate educational visionary who enhanced the lives of those who followed her passion for anthroposophy.”
Born in Stuttgart, Mrs Brockman inherited her educational inspiration from her parents, who were friends of Rudolf Steiner and followers of his philosophy, known as anthroposophy or spiritual science.
She achieved a diploma in speech, drama, singing, poetry and eurythmy at The Goetheanum, Steiner’s Centre of Anthroposophical Art in Switzerland.
She came to England to study at Hawkwood College in Stroud in 1950, where she met her future husband, Alan Brockman of Broad Oak, near Canterbury, just as he too was discovering anthroposophy.
It was 10 years before they eventually married and Mrs Brockman moved to Perry Court Farm, Garlinge Green, which her husband had bought in 1953, developing it into Kent’s first organic farm.
Their two sons, Patrick and Leo, were born in 1967 and 1969 and attended the nearest Steiner School at Michael Hall in East Sussex, 70 miles away.
It soon became the couple’s wish to open a Steiner School closer to home.
When the original farmhouse of Perry Court Farm became available in 1976, the couple found a way to buy it with the vision of forming a community.
They sold off some of the farm’s assets and Mrs Brockman raised funds from their families and friends in England, Germany and Switzerland, and from the Kräherwald School, Stuttgart, where she had taught from 1956.
Perry Court School opened in 1976 with 14 pupils in three classes.
Since then many hundreds of children and their teachers are said to have benefited from the couple’s vision.
Pupils at Perry Court School flourished with the close proximity of the farm, enjoying trailer rides among the hay bales and helping with the harvest.
Later the Brockmans started Kent’s first Community Supported Agriculture vegetable box scheme, growing, harvesting and boxing up the vegetables so all the school’s families could benefit from the nutrition of biodynamic food.
Drawing on her studies and practice in the performing arts, Mrs Brockman also directed the plays at Perry Court School for many years.
Many of the teachers took speech lessons with her. On Saturdays, the house was filled with Mr Brockman’s study groups and his wife’s students, who came from all over the UK for her speech formation lessons.
Mrs Brockman’s lifelong faith in anthroposophy is said to have sustained her through the seven years since her husband’s death in 2013.
The Perry Court Rudolf Steiner School went on to become the Canterbury Steiner School and now has been reborn in Chartham as the New School, Canterbury.
Mrs Brockman leaves her two sons, six grandchildren, and her family in Germany.
The Kent Community Health Trust, which runs the hospital, offered its condolences to Mrs Brockman’s family.
Chief nurse Dr Mercia Spare added: “Community hospitals and inpatient units across the country are caring for patients who have been diagnosed as Covid-19 positive and this includes our community hospital in Faversham.
“In these unprecedented times, we continue to follow all national guidance and that includes use of personal protective equipment, isolating or cohorting Covid-19 patients in our inpatient units and sadly needing to close our hospitals to visitors (except for certain reasons), for example.
“Our infection prevention and control measures strictly adhere to guidance from Public Health England.
“We are supporting the health and social care system within our community hospitals - including Faversham Cottage Hospital - people’s homes and in other community settings, such as care homes.
"During the Covid-19 outbreak, we continue to concentrate on providing essential services for our patients and outstanding care by our staff. We understand what an incredibly challenging time it is for everyone.’’
