Golden Hill Steiner School eNewsletter

It has been a busy time over the last fortnight! The older children were treated to an Indonesian cultural performance recently and by all accounts was thoroughly enjoyed by all. Many thanks to our Indonesian teacher, Ashley, for coordinating the visit.

Swimming lessons was a full on week but a number of children managed to pass levels and I was very proud of their participation and behaviour over the course of the week.

Students in classes 4-6 had the opportunity on the last day of swimming to attend a rehearsal of the WA Symphony Orchestra. It was a fantastic opportunity to experience a behind the scenes look at the work that goes into a performance as well as to be treated to such beautiful music. Many thanks to our violin specialist, Mike Hyder for securing this opportunity for us.

We have had a number of students away this week due to illness. A reminder to please keep children at home for 24hrs from the last time they vomit before returning to school to help prevent the spread of illness. A gentle reminder too about our dress policy. Students need to wear clothes coloured in simple rainbow colours with logos no larger than that of thier fist, long hair (longer than shoulder length) needs to be tied back and jewellery minimal.

A very successful P&F meeting was held last week. Thanks to the efforts of Penny Goodwin and Teresa Stockdale for getting this off the ground. They have an event scheduled for November 30th - a “Hands in the Earth” Day. Visit their Facebook page for further details.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/2634612736596326

^{Jacqui Hamblin}

^Principal

Our Silver Birch garden continues to be a favourite place to be. This term we have had some rainy days which have filled our new frog pond. The rain water flows from Karri Kindergarten, under the fence and along the ‘creek’ bed to our little pond. Water plants, logs and river stones make a lovely frog habitat.

We were so excited when Neal and the Class 2 gardening group brought us a jar of Pobblebonk tadpoles! We watched as the tadpoles wriggled out into their new home and every day we are able to sit quietly by the pond and watch them at play. Some children like to make the Pobblebonk frog sounds to help them feel welcome. Many thanks Neal and Class 2.

Last week Silver Birch kindergarten enjoyed a visit from a student of Melbourne Rudolf Steiner College who had come all the way to Denmark to complete an observation practicum. Olive helped us make bread and enjoyed helping with craft activities and painting. The children quickly warmed to her presence and were confident to show her the way we do things in kindergarten!

Here is one of the verses from our morning circle that we are enjoying at the moment. Parents participated in the words and movements for this verse at our parent meeting last week. It is about going on a nature walk and reflects many of the things we find around us in the season of Kambarang.

I went for a walk on a sunny day, I saw a little wallaby quickly hop away

A shining river winding in and out, with lots of little fishes swimming all about

A bridge going over to the other side, and then I stopped to rest

I spied amongst the bushes a little birds nest

Bees amongst the flowers, flowers that the sunshine brings

And I said to myself… I had best go home, I have seen so many things

"Christmas comes but once a year

But when it does, it brings good cheer"

The festive season is almost upon us once again, and this year will arrive very shortly after end-of-year celebrations, when everyone is tired (and excited) after graduations, endings, anticipation of new beginnings etc etc. Whilst it's still too early to be talking about Christmas with the children (who have a totally different perception of time to adults of course), now is a good time for families to begin considering if/how they will celebrate in a way that is in keeping with their values and beliefs. At our Class Meeting this week, we will explore this subject. Once Advent starts (this year on Sunday 1st December) we will begin preparations with the children at kindergarten as we pave the way for Christmas

Here is an article I came across which may give you some food for thought in the meantime;

Rethinking “Gifts” and “Giving”

An Article for Families by Susan Perrow (2010)

Originally published in Kindling magazine.

In the yearly cycle of family life there can be many occasions for giving and receiving gifts – birthdays, cultural and religious festivals.

This article challenges the modern parent to rethink how to celebrate such occasions with simple and creative ideas for gifts – gift ideas that, like a healthy dish of food, can nourish our body and soul and not just link into a western materialistic culture and feed a greedy commercial world (that rarely has the well being of children as their priority).

Finding ways to simplify gifts

In my years as a single parent of three boys I was living on a tight budget and learning to make the dollar stretch to the end of the road and back. However, finding ways to simplify gifts and break away from the current consumer culture was not just a budgetary decision. It was a conscious step in rebelling from the expected materialistic norm.

Surprisingly it was not as difficult as I had first imagined. When my oldest son lost his first tooth, the current tradition as practised by families in our neighbourhood was to replace the tooth with a coin ($1 or $2 – a lot of money in the early eighties!). I thought about this and the materialistic basis to such a tradition (and the cost of many teeth lost by three boys over the next few years!) and decided to try something simpler. Instead of a gold coin left by the ‘tooth fairies’ a tiny little shell was left out instead. The comment made by my excited six-year old boy in the early hours of the morning still rings in my ears – “I knew the real tooth fairies wouldn’t leave money!”

With this seal of approval by an innocent child, a simple family tradition commenced – for each tooth lost a natural treasure was left in its place (a shell, crystal, feather, etc). With the seventh tooth (arbitrarily chosen - a stopping point was needed eventually!) a special treasure box was left out with a note suggesting its use as a home for the accumulated treasures. Many years later and these little boxes, with their simple contents, are still kept by the boys as a treasured memory.

Creative and unusual gift ideas

When the boys and I shared the first Christmas together in our newly purchased home (after living in more than ten rental properties in as many years), their main present was a box full of new trees for the garden (one box each). Although this was an unusual choice of gift, the summer holidays that followed had a special quality to them as each boy planted and cared for his collection of trees. They still remember this with great affection.

Several years later, the main Christmas present from myself to my two older boys involved a simple re-arrangement of the bedrooms in the house. They had out-grown their small room and I decided to give up my attachment to enjoying the larger main bedroom! On Christmas Day they found a long tubular present under the tree – it was the plans of the house showing the new bedroom arrangements! What a grand surprise this was for them, and as I should have predicted, our special day was spent moving furniture from one room to another! Not one comment was made about this not being a ‘good enough’ present – the boys were ecstatic with the idea. The new gift of ‘space’ then allowed many creative possibilities through the holidays as they experimented with and arranged (and rearranged) their beds, desks and special things.

I am now remarried and together my husband and I have six grown up children. To simplify the task of buying gifts for each one at Christmas (plus spouses and boyfriends/girlfriends) we have decided to choose ideas that help us all have fun together. One year everyone received water pistols and a cricket set (these toys encouraged an active but very cool Christmas day). The next year we all went on a morning snorkelling trip to an island off the Australian east coast, the next year a kayaking trip. We still have options of horse riding, or playing golf, or ten pin bowling??? – the possibilities are endless.

Involvement and Activity

Whether you create your own ideas for gifts or go shopping for gifts (fortunately there are some quality products on the market shelves), I suggest two over-riding principles of good gifts for children:

1. That they allow “involvement” by the child (i.e. that they are not just passive entertainment).

2. That they encourage “activity” (physical, imaginative and/or intellectual) – age appropriate of course.

The Joy of Giving

In The Good Gift Guide (Simon and Schuster, 1995, p.x), Alison Pearl lists the first criteria for ‘good gifts’ as needing to:

1. Be chosen ‘from the heart’ and,

2. Bring joy to both giver and receiver.

This brings me to the less emphasised joy of gifts – the joy of giving! My fondest experience of this was when I was questioned by my boys in their mid primary school years as to the truth behind the existence of ‘Santa’. Without feeling I was being dishonest, I told them that Santa was like a ‘giving spirit’ who helped bring gifts to children when they were little. I explained that as they grew older it was their turn to become the ‘giving spirits’ and the image of Santa was no longer needed. My boys took this in quite deeply and as Christmas approached that year they threw themselves into the joy of making and wrapping little gifts for every family member they could think of (including distant cousins). This year was one of my favourite of all our family events – the emphasis had switched from ‘what am I getting’ to ‘what can I give and who can I give to’. I believe if we can strive for a balance between giving and receiving then this creates a healthy medium for families.

This shift of emphasis (from ‘givee’ to giver) also became a main theme at the preschool that I ran for twelve years in Byron Bay. For our Christmas festival the children would be so involved in making little gifts for their families (candles, packs of greeting cards, felt toys, tie-dyed treasure bags, etc) that they rarely thought about what they might be getting themselves. At Easter time, bulbs planted in little pots became our traditional autumn Easter gifts to take home. These helped to take the competition and focus away from how many chocolate eggs each child was expecting to receive from family and friends, or had already received two weeks before Easter!

If you are trying to come up with gift ideas for pre-school age children to give to others, thinking laterally and simply produces many possibilities. Cleaning all the wedding shoes for the wedding party (from grandma to baby brother) was the proud wedding gift from a five-year old boy to his about-to-be-married mother and father. With the teacher’s supervision and help from his friends, he cleaned the shoes at the pre-school the day before the wedding. The important side benefit of this was that it helped to ‘focus’ his excitement, and helped him share with the pre-school community his special news – at the end of the day the 9 pairs of shoes were lined up on the shelf in the foyer for all to see!

It is surprising how simple a gift can be, and how readily children will accept such simplicity. At our autumn festival the children used to be so excited to sit and polish the apples – with each child feeling very satisfied and happy to take a shiny red apple home for a gift to his/her family.

Conclusion

Nowhere in the definition of a gift and in the tradition of gift-giving is a gift confined to being purchased from a shop. This article encourages you to think ‘beyond shops’ to new possibilities for gifts. It suggests a break away from the current ‘consumer culture’ that is so prevalent in all aspects of our lives today. It encourages an exploration of new choices for children (and adults), based on what you believe is ‘good’ for wholistic child development, and not led by what the commercial world thinks is ‘good’ for children.

Most of all it encourages you to explore the richness of SIMPLICITY.

Happy giving!

Read Less

We had an enthusiastic start to our P&F on Friday 1st November with lots of laughs and rich conversation. We have much to share. Meeting was 30 mins and workshop an hour. The meeting minutes have been distributed on email via class carers. The next meeting will be Friday 6th December at 9am. Come when you can, stay as long as you can and there will be many ways to catch up alongside meetings if you can’t make the next date. If you would like anymore information about P&F contact Penny on 0437663002 or goodiesfarm@outlook.com.

Last weekend we held our second ever Bush Kindy Camp for Karri Kindergarten children and their families at Nowanup with Noongar Elder Eugene Eades.

On Friday evening, after everyone had set up camp and had a delicious pasta dinner, we all participated in a smoking ceremony, sang songs in Noongar language and listened to a traditional Noongar story around the campfire.

On Saturday morning we made tapping and digging sticks out of Sheoak and Mungart (Jamtree) wood that had been cut by Eugene, did some painting activities with Noongar artist Gwenda, and were visited by two friendly kardas (racehorse goannas). In the afternoon Eugene took us to visit some key sites around Nowanup, including an old disused Gnow (mallee-fowl) nest, a Waalitj (wedge-tailed eagle) nest and six large revegetation circles which represent the six Noongar seasons and the old stories coming back. Some of us managed to walk to the clifftop at the Nowanup entrance just in time for a spectacular sunset. After another traditional story and some more songs, things quickly went quiet as our very tired koolangkas (children) and their very tired parents settled in for an early night.

On Sunday after breakfast, we all packed down our tents and did a big cleanup before gathering at the Meeting Place for a final song and Yarning Circle with Eugene. We ended the camp with a visit to Nightwell, a site of great significance to Noongar people since time immemorial.

Nowanup is an important place of healing and learning, and it is difficult to put into words the enjoyment, rejuvenation and bonding experienced by parents and children over the course of the weekend, however hopefully some of the accompanying images may give a little taste.

Bruce

Fourth term seems to be racing by. We spent the last few weeks of Term 3 working on Maths and the Class 2's amazed me with their skill at vertical addition and subtraction. They are very quick learners and love maths, and really work well together to problem solve. The Class 1's are making progress on their multiplication skills and are beginning to transition to the more abstract art of written calculations.

We performed our play, “Saint Jerome and the Lion” at the end of last term and it was a great success. I was so impressed with the way all of the children conducted themselves during the two public performances. Thanks go to Evie, Ashley and Jewels for all their help.

This term we've been doing a literacy Main Lesson, learning about other lands and their legends. I'm really impressed with both the children's written work and their work ethic. It's such a pleasure to be able to sit at my desk (albeit for very short periods!) in the quiet of the classroom and simply watch them at their work. We now start our day with a fitness activity followed by mental maths and the children are showing a significant improvement in their calculation skills. It's an enjoyable way to get minds into gear and they are always keen to get started.

In recent weeks I've noticed that the children are mixing and playing with a far greater range of their classmates. They are making friendships across the age groups and there is a real sense of the classroom being a “home” for us all. Having Evie with us for so much of the time has made a real difference to the feel of the class and she is making a wonderful contribution with her artistic and musical skills.

On Tuesday afternoons the children rush to Kristi's area and dive headlong into whatever activities she has prepared for them. They absolutely love it and she is teaching them such valuable life lessons in her fun, gentle and very peaceful way.

The children really enjoyed swimming lessons last week in spite of the very long sessions spent in the water. It was wonderful to see the improvement in their swimming in such a short period of time. I hope that many of them will also go to vacation classes where they can build on what they have learned.

Just a reminder that brimmed hats are now compulsory for outdoor play. I'm looking forward to seeing as many parents as possible at our Class Meeting on Tuesday.

Jan

In class three, I feel like the term is rushing us by…week four is now complete.

The children began their final term in class three with their Money main lesson. They created their very own Denmark Dollar $ and an array of stalls to fit into our Old Testament stories of semester one. As a class we decided upon what the average person needed, so we had a grain stall, eggs and nuts, fruit and vegetables and dairy items. We were a tad advanced and had almond milk on the nut stall…thanks Milly!

We took turns to sell and purchase, work out expenditure and profit, all wonderful opportunities for mathematical thinking. Next we looked at ‘bartering and trading’ and the value of items. Each child brought in cakes, slices, potted plants, handmade envelopes with prizes inside, crafted wooden clubs, well read books and an array of trash and treasure items. Each child then maneuvered their way around our little market to barter and trade their wares in order to obtain their treasure.

We then looked at real money from many different countries. Children bought in an array of examples of currency from all over the world.

To bring this all to life we have made and are making lemonade. Each group is responsible for measuring ingredients, multiplying quantities, becoming reacquainted with litres and grams and serving delicious lemonade for a hands on approach in receiving and giving change.

Next week will be our third and final lemonade stall, the price will move to a $1.20 to again allow for different math equations. To keep the customers interested we will make lemonade with a twist… frozen raspberries will be added to create ‘Pink lemonade’. Thank you parents for supporting the class in their lemonade endeavors.

Writing has now become our focus as we immerse ourselves into our latest Talk for Writing story, ‘Kassim and the Greedy Dragon.’ We look forward to talking the story to you and reading aloud our final pieces at upcoming assemblies.

Our music notation knowledge has continued to grow as we practice each day and are becoming competent in reading and playing from sheet music. Christmas carols has become an emphasis as we work towards our performance at the Christmas Concert later on in the term and an excursion and performance as part of the junior choir with class 1-2 for the lovely residents at the Blue Wren Lodge.

The theme of Christmas and spring have crept into our crayon drawings, and as we finish our crochet projects Christmas craft will once again begin with treasures to adorn our family trees and add to the collection of ornaments from class 1 and 2.

In the last four weeks we have also been on an excursion to the local library and had the place to ourselves, borrowing our own books and venturing into the book vault before the public were allowed in. Very cool!!! The children along with all primary classes went swimming in Albany and I was most proud of the children for attending every day and swimming to the best of their ability. They were very responsible with their belongings and even managed a game of UNO or two to keep them amused on the bus ride.

Robyn x

Welcome all back to the final term of 2019! We finished term 3 with a class sleep over where the children participated in a navigation course around the school, prepared all their own meals (including making dough for pizza and bread) and had the one of the wildest dance parties I’ve ever seen. It was so much fun and an excellent warm up for our upcoming camp in week 5.

This term began with the Art, History and Science of Writing main lesson. The class travelled back in time to discover the origins of writing, also learning about the evolution of paper and the pen. We all made paper for the first time as well as a clay ink-pot. The children have finally been given their fountain pen and it has been wonderful to see such care put in to imitating intricate calligraphy and to watch the children begin to develop their own, unique style of writing.

We have just begun the last fraction main lesson for the year – multiplying and dividing fractions. The class are following the story of “Ewen Hemlock”, the Lumberjack of Fraction Land, as he helps the people of Fraction Land, as well as the animals of the forest he lumbers from.

“Demeter will not stop mourning until Hades, the King of the Dead, returns her daughter Persephone. It is up to the Gods and Goddesses to convince Hades to give Persephone back, so the earth shall not perish and the animals and humans shall live in peace once again.” Lila-Rose Robson

It is with great pride that we write about Class 5/6. They arose to the challenge of putting on the Class Play of Demeter and Persephone. Their enthusiasm from the start was infectious. They undertook, not just acting roles, but backdrop painting, programme art, costume co-ordinating, learning songs, dances and instrumental music, scene changing, prop making, organising backstage rooms, blurb writing and the list goes on. We are so very proud of them. It was a thrill for the class to perform in front of the school and then to a packed house for the night-time performance.

We’d like to thank the class, all parent and caregivers’ participation, especially Sara, Kylie, John and Sylvia. Thank you to Tegan for printing off programmes, invitations and for being there. Our appreciation goes to Evie McMullen for beautifying the hall, post-production and for giving our classroom her magical touch for the Open Day, which was enjoyed by so many of us.

With swimming behind us, we look forward to launching into the new Main Lessons of Physics and Australian History.

Before we know it, graduation will be upon us and we would really appreciate any photos of our wonderful Class 6’s journey at Golden Hill. Please send photos to the office for Tegan. Thanks Tegan.

Kate Woodward and Ashley Schipp