West Coast Steiner School eNewsletter

Kaya WCSS Community

What a wonderful week we have had! Class 6 have enjoyed glorious weather and have had a fabulous time at their Wadjemup camp, and our Class 3 children are remarkably bright-eyed and bushy-tailed after their camp at school last night and early morning breakfast today. Thank you to our staff and parents who gave so willingly of their time so that the children could have these special experiences.

Next week we have more good things to look forward to. Please come along to our Choir Assembly in the Performance Room on Thursday 27 October at 8.45am to enjoy some beautiful singing from our older students in Classes 4-6. The well-known and much-loved children’s author, Morris Gleitzman, will be visiting school on Wednesday morning to talk to Classes 4-6, sharing stories with the children. He is happy to sign his books if the children have copies at home they would like to bring along. On Friday we celebrate World Teachers' Day. Maybe your child would like to make a card or picture for their teacher, write a thank you note or bring in a flower from the garden to show their love and appreciation.

Preparations are well underway for our Kambarang Fair next Saturday, 29 October. Please sign up to help if you have not done so already. This is a whole school community event, and every offer of help is welcome and needed to make the day joyful and successful.

In this edition of the newsletter there is a beautiful article on JOMO, the Joy of Missing Out, written by our very dear Kindy Teacher and College member Vanessa Fountain. It is full of wisdom and lovely ideas, so I urge you to read it.

To our families celebrating Diwali over the next few days, I wish you happiness, friendship, and good fortune. May this Diwali light up new ideas, fresh hopes, different perspectives and make everything bright. May the light of diyas spread joy into all our lives. Happy Diwali!

Warmest wishes

Jenny Dougan

SA/Principal

In Spring's sunlit hour

My heart like a flower

Unfolds with great power.

And out into the joyful world

My feeling-forces are unfurled.

All things I love - fire, water, air,

The stones, the stars, the mighty sun,

Plants, creatures, people everywhere

For God is in them, everyone.

In the Light of the Child, Michael Hedley Burton

PARENT & STAFF SUNDOWNER

Due to popular demand we are holding a Parent and Staff Sundowner at the Oxford Hotel on Friday November 4, 7.00pm. We can all reward ourselves after the work of the Kambarang Fair and enjoy a casual get together.

RSVP is essential for planning purposes: reception@wcss.wa.edu.au

Shining a light on....

In each newsletter we will shine light on a particular school policy as an easy refresher for parents. Do let us know if you have an area you would like featured.

Keeping Safe: Child Protection Curriculum

The KS:CPC is a child safety and respectful relationships curriculum providing age and developmentally appropriate activities for children and young people from age 3 to year 12 (age 17+).

WCSS teaches the KP:CPC from Kindergarten to Class 6 in line with the Australian Steiner Curriculum centred on age appropriate content. The School’s approach is intended to be proactive, preventative, responsive and in harmony with our understanding of the developing child. WCSS regards child safety as being of utmost importance and provides a safe environment for all students.

Please feel free to speak with your teacher about how the curriculum is delivered in your class.

Keeping_Safe_Child_Protection_Curriculum.pdf

Blackboard Beauty

Class 3 Main Lesson Blackboard.

From Administration

WITHDRAWAL OF A STUDENT

A reminder that we require one terms' notice in writing for the withdrawal of a student so that you are not charged fees. We are currently organising our 2023 Offers and Intake and appreciate families keeping us informed if not returning to WCSS next year. This allows us time to plan accordingly in terms of staffing and materials, and offer the place to another family where applicable.

COVID UPDATE

COVID-19 mandatory isolation requirements have now been removed effective from Friday, 14 October 2022. AISWA has sent the following information to independent schools to share with their communities.

Anyone who is unwell is encouraged to take a RAT and stay home until symptoms resolve. Please contact your school if your child is absent due to illness.

People who test COVID-19 positive, are encouraged to stay home until symptoms resolve and register their positive RAT with the Health Department. Anyone who is a close contact is encouraged to test daily for 5 days and only attend school following a negative RAT result. Mask wearing is also strongly encouraged during this time.

Students and staff can wear a mask at school if they choose.

COVID-19 positive cases and close contacts cannot visit public hospitals for 7 days.

You can visit healthywa.wa.gov.au for up-to-date COVID-19 information.

Please contact Reception if you have any queries or would like to collect additional RATs.

Early Childhood

FEATURE ARTICLE - "JOMO" - The Joy of Missing Out

by Vanessa Fountain

The problem with writing summer holiday/Christmas articles is that if you want to change something it is generally too late in the year when you read the article. So, if it’s good enough for the supermarkets to be selling Christmas paraphernalia and food in the first weeks of October, then it’s ok for us to talk about it too!

Time seems to be speeding up and there is no better time to observe this than in the lead up to the summer/Christmas holidays. 4^th term just seems to race by and the year often ends with us feeling frazzled, overwhelmed, stretched and anxious. The fear of missing out, for us and for our children, underwrites the collective, palpable stress that consumerism creates and feeds on.

It can be empowering to pause, consider and consciously choose how we will engage with this term. How we will engage with this summer/Christmas holiday period, gift giving and New Year festivities? Rather than the unconscious FOMO, let’s choose JOMO - the Joy of Missing Out, missing out on the stress, on the consumption, on the invitation that you really want to say no to because it doesn’t align with your highest values. Let’s say no to the joy of missing out on the mountain of plastic toys, wrappings, ribbons etc (or the mountain of Steiner toys – it’s still consumption), the joy of missing out on the credit card debt and the post-Christmas/New Year blues. How can we reimagine this time of the year, rebirth it as a meaningful holiday that nourishes, rejuvenates, brings connection, peace, love, and joy?

For the full article see below.

Christmas_in_October_The_Joy_of_Missing_Out.pdf

Primary News

Class 1

As we move joyfully into Kambarang, the Class 1s welcome in our Dreamtime Main Lesson. We have been working with and feeling the Noongar story ‘Koolbardi wer Wardong’, making puppets and drawing our backdrop from nature. We have also been experiencing and speaking to the Tuart Trees that we are nestled amongst on our beautiful school site. The Dreaming stories, along with the experiences of nature and observation, evoke a sense of beauty and wonder in the children and connect them meaningfully, to the wisdom of this ancient culture, their homeland and natural world.

Jayne Wylie

Keyen (Class 1) Teacher

Class 3 entered the Royal Show Scarecrow Competition over the school holidays. Last Term we designed, planned, collected material and created a lovely 9 year old scarecrow for our class garden, complete with crocheted beanie and knitted scarf (by our talented class 3 children), depicting Djilba season! Many of us were able to visit the Royal Show with our complimentary show tickets that were given to us for all our hard work. The scarecrow now lives at the back of our Class 3 garden near our vertical strawberry patch, sporting a sun hat ready for the glorious weather during Kambarang! Please come and check out the scarecrow and our class garden if you are visiting! We are currently working on our Bush Tucker Garden beds as we are learning about our native edibles, and our Herb garden for all the summer salads we will be making come harvest time! Special thanks to Landcare Australia and Woolworths for the grants that helped make our garden possible.

Aimee Waller

Dambart (Class 3) Teacher

Library News

We are asking for donations of mailing tubes no less than 600mm in length to store our maps and posters. If you are able to donate please drop them to the Library (or Reception if the Libray isn't open!)

We also have a small sewing job that can be exchanged for Family Commitment Hours. We require four cloth banners to be shortened and hemmed. Please let the Library know if you can help out with this or email library@wcss.wa.edu.au

Music News

Handwork

Class 1 completing recorder bags and the first bunny!

A Class 2 student's first knitting project - a lovely chicken.

Class 3 crochet projects: granny square, beanie, pencil case and treasure pouch.

Class 4 are completing cross stitch fountain pen holders

Woodwork

WCSS Community Association

Dear WCSS Parents, Friends & Guardians

  The biggest all-school celebration, our Kambarang Fair & Open Day, is less than 2 weeks away  on Saturday, October 29 and we need all hands-on deck to make it a success.

 The Kambarang Fair and Open Day is a celebration of our school and community and a  compulsory day of attendance for all students.  Primary students will be performing during the day as well as enjoying the many activities, stalls and food on hand.  

 Posters have arrived and are ready for you to collect from Reception to put up at your local cafe, shops, library, office, car window.... anywhere (legal) you can think of!  
Please share the poster and event on social media and invite your friends, family, colleagues and neighbours (see link below).

Thank you to all the wonderful volunteers who have signed up on the rosters already. Please check if there are any spaces on your class roster or other rosters which might need extra hands, including helping with food prep and set up on Friday.  There are also "Additional Roles and Tasks" before and during the event including food pick up and prep, blackboard decorating, and on the day in Golden Threads.  Sign up online at  https://signup.zone/Tb2SBte7QDoGu9iFx  or on the paper rosters near the library.   

Please also note that every family is asked to bring some baked goods for the cake stall, be it a cake, slice, batch of biscuits or muffins. We ask that they are nut and sesame free with minimal dairy following our allergy aware guidelines (see below). Please ensure you include a list of ingredients (hard copy labels are available at Reception).

 If you are baking or are on a food stall please take some time to complete the “I'm Alert” food safety program required for food handlers by the City of Stirling https://www.imalert.com.au/foodsafety/