Dear GHSS Families,

A warm welcome to the 2021 school year and to our new and returning families! 

Since our final newsletter last year, we farewelled our Graduating Class 6's in a moving Graduation Ceremony on the last day of school which was followed up by an Indian-themed evening organised by the parents and enjoyd by the staff, graduating students and their families.  Thank you and well done to the parents for their organisation of such a memorable event.

The end of the year also saw the announcement of our successful application to plan extension of our year levels to include a middle school, beginning with Class 7 for 2022!  We have already begun working on this and are intending to hold an information session for parents early next term.

The Australia Day event run by the Denmark Shire saw a dedicated band of staff and parents sizzling sausages and selling kombucha on behalf of Denmark Shire to raise funds for our Kitchen Garden Classroom.  Many thanks to Theresa Stockdale, Lesley Wybenga, Rangi Schwartz, Bill Hollingworth, Neal Collins, Oona Mansour and Robyn Miller who joined me for the afternoon and assisted in raising $1250.  Many thanks also to the shire for this wonderful opportunity.

The school was also abuzz in mid-January with staff from Golden Hill, West Coast and Yallingup Steiner schools who spent a week engaging in professional learning around the curriculum content for their classes for 2021.  It was a fabulous and soul-nourishing week for all involved. 

The Saturday before school began was also a wonderful celebration of the sense of community that exists at Golden Hill Steiner School, when over 50 family members - parents, grandparents and children - from our school joined together at our Busy Bee to make our school shine for the first day of 2021!  Many thanks to organiser extraordinaire, Katja Lamb, for drawing that all together. 

The Rose Ceremony on the first day of school saw us welcome ten Class 1 students and their class teacher, Melanie Trenow, to begin their school journey through the primary years.  Melanie is new to the school, joining us from Spirit of Play and we welcome her to our school.  We also have two staff members from last year taking on new classroom roles this year.  Renee Schipp will be in Class 3 two days a week and Kate Woodward will  continuing with the Learning Support role and will also be in Class 4/5 for one day a week.

A new school year brings a new opportunity to play a part in your child's class by fulfilling the role of Class Carer.  Many thanks to those parents who have filled this role in the past.  Your assistance is always gratefully received by the staff.  For those wondering what the role of a Class Carer entails, a copy of the Class Carer Handbook can be found on our website.

We have two staff members in the school who had to travel to Perth over the weekend and as such are complying with the COVID-19 Phase 4a recommendations for the wearing of masks as a precautionary measure.  They complied with all measures whilst in Perth and had limited contact with others whilst there, so there is no reason to suspect that they pose any risk to the health and safety of the staff and students at Golden Hill Steiner School.  Both staff are able to teach in the class without a mask for the purposes of clear enunciation.  Should you have any concerns, please do not hesitate to be in contact with me.

Thank you to everyone for their efforts in ensuring a smooth start to the school year!

Warm regards,

Jacqui Hamblin

Principal