School Newsletter Term 3 Week 10

Coming Events

October

Saturday 11: Back to School Busy Bee 8am-1pm

Tuesday 14: First Day of Term 4

Tuesday 21: School Tour 9.15am

Friday 31: World Teachers Day

SAVE THE DATE: Kambarang Fair (compulsory school day) November 1; Class 6 Graduation Tuesday December 16.

Visit our website for the full school calendar

Kaya WCSS Community

Dear Community,

We have had a wonderful and busy term with camps, plays, incursions and excursions, award wins, chickens, and working with indigenous artists. Sounds like it's time for a holiday!!  I know our families have adventures planned and are looking forward to time for rest, relaxation, and reconnection. At our Steiner school, we celebrate the rhythm of life and the importance of presence—and what better time to embrace these values than during a screen-free holiday?

Your children already spend over 7 hours a day, five days a week, completely screen-free at school. In this nurturing environment, they engage with nature, hands-on learning, creative play, and meaningful social interactions. Extending this screen-free ethos into the holidays can be a powerful way to deepen family bonds and support your child’s development, as well as give you the time to be screen-free!

Screens are everywhere, and while they have their place, too much screen time can impact sleep, attention, creativity, and emotional regulation. A screen-free holiday offers:

• Improved Connection: Without digital distractions, families can enjoy deeper conversations, shared laughter, and quality time.
• Enhanced Creativity: Children naturally turn to imaginative play, storytelling, and crafting when screens are removed.
• Better Sleep & Mood: Less screen time—especially before bed—supports healthier sleep patterns and emotional balance.
• Stronger Senses: Engaging with the real world sharpens sensory awareness and fosters mindfulness.

Here are some simple, joyful ways to enjoy a screen-free break together:

• Nature Walks & Bush Adventures: Explore local trails, beaches, or parks. Let children collect treasures—leaves, shells, stones—and create nature mandalas or stories.
• Family Crafting: Try leaf rubbings, sketching, or seasonal crafts like daisy chains, spring crown and wand making, or baking.
• Storytelling Evenings: Share family stories, folk tales, or let children invent their own. Use puppets or props for extra fun.
• Garden Time: Plant herbs, build a fairy garden, or simply dig and discover. Gardening teaches patience and care.
• Board Games & Puzzles: Rediscover the joy of slow games and jigsaws that encourage cooperation and thinking.
• Campfire Nights: If safe and permitted, enjoy a backyard fire with songs, marshmallows, and stargazing.

The greatest gift we can give our children is our presence. By choosing a screen-free holiday, we offer them the space to grow, imagine, and connect—with us, with nature, and with themselves.

Let’s celebrate the simplicity and magic of unplugged time. After all, the most memorable moments are often the ones we create together—no screens required. 

With warmth,

Jacqui Hollingworth

School Administrator/Principal

Administration Matters

Steiner Spotlight - Steiner Voices XYZ

Pioneering Parents: “Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained!” Y: Parents

What do you do when your eldest daughter comes home at the end of Year 4 and says “I’m not going back!” Bill Wood was training teachers as a Lecturer in the Philosophy of Education when he faced this situation. Bill and wife Rosemary, took a risk, enrolling their daughter, Joanna  in one of the early classes at Mt Barker Waldorf School, a class that became the pioneering class of the high school. They took the view “Nothing ventured, nothing gained” and Joanna's was the first class to complete the high school. She went on to graduate in Medicine with Honours and is now an Emergency Physician, whose three children attend the school. To hear more click the link below.

Family Commitment Opportunities

School Council

Help Shape the Future of Our School – Join the School Council

At West Coast Steiner School, we have a vibrant, supportive community where parents, staff, and friends work together to create a nurturing environment for our children. One of the ways our community spirit shines is through the work of our School Council, made up of people who care deeply about the wellbeing and future of our school.

We are currently looking for new members to join the School Council, including a Treasurer. The Treasurer role is a key part of helping us keep our school strong and sustainable, so if you have a background in finance, accounting, or business management, your skills could make a wonderful difference.

At the same time, we also welcome people who may not have financial expertise but would like to serve as general School Council members. What matters most is your willingness to share your time, energy, and perspective in support of our school. You don’t need prior council experience – just a readiness to work collaboratively and a community-minded heart. Training and support are provided, and you’ll be warmly welcomed by a group of people who care about the same things you do: giving our children the best possible foundation for life.

Being on the School Council is also a lovely way to:

• Build deeper connections with other families and the school.
• Contribute your skills to something truly meaningful.
• Be part of shaping the future of West Coast Steiner School.

If you’re interested, or would simply like to find out more about what’s involved, please reach out to our Chairperson at chair@wcss.wa.edu.au.

Council Chair 

West Coast Steiner School Inc.

Early Childhood News

On Wednesday we welcomed family members to our Kindergarten Djilba Spring Festival. It was an absolute joy to see the children and their loved ones creating such beautiful flower crowns, singing, dancing and enjoying a picnic in the sunshine. Thank you to all those who attended - it was such a special morning. 

WALDORF DOLL PROJECT

Almost 100 years have passed since the creation of the first Waldorf Kindergarten, back in 1926. To celebrate these 100 years , we are taking part in a big project with all Steiner schools in WA to make 100 dolls to give away to 100 kindergartens across the world.

Would you like to be part of it? Next term we will organise the materials and start to make them together in our Parent Craft Group, which happens on Thursdays from 12.50pm to 2.15pm. If you would like to participate but the time does not work for you, feel free to  email me and we will find a way to make sure you can be part of it. It will be lovely to have our community involved in such a special project!

Love,

Thais and Sarah

Primary News

This week, Class 1 Keyen has been exploring addition in an exciting way! Students are counting colourful gems on a beautiful symmetrical butterfly. Working in pairs, they challenge each other to turn their counting into sums. This hands-on activity not only makes learning fun but also helps reinforce their understanding of addition. 

Mel Lenzi
Class 1 Keyen Teacher

Class 2 Koodjal have been working with artist Karen Hethey as part of our school-wide project, Kaart, Koort, Maara. We have been collaborating on a group project creating a beautiful orange bird together. We have also created our own creatures including ladybirds, lizards, butterflies and more! 

Joanne Mills

Class 2 Koodjal Teacher

Class 3 Dambart  are thrilled to be national winners of the Stephanie Alexander National Kitchen Garden Awards 2025 in the First Nations Food category, presented by Indigiearth! A big thank you  to Bel Cox who led the incursion to initially establish our bushtucker garden which the children have tended and nurtured to the benefit of all in our community.

Kasia Rymarczyk

Class 3 Dambart Teacher

Class 4 Koodjal Koodjal were deeply grateful for the community’s support last week as we presented our Noongar play. Tremendous thanks to our Cultural Studies Teacher, Patricia Crook, for co-authoring such a magical play, as well as to our Kaart, Koort Maara artists for many hours of workshops to help us produce our magnificent dances, puppets, gorgeous set, and powerful bird costumes. Congratulations to our students for learning such a vast amount of Noongar over the past 6 months. After all our hard work, we concluded our Spirituality of the Dreamtime main lesson with a very special excursion to the Canning River Eco-Centre, where we were honoured to learn of the traditional land-care and spiritual practices of the Noongar of the area from Bel Cox, who has been working with students across the school.

 Here is a summary of what we experienced in the words of the students:

 Otis: In 2025, 23 brave explorers set our to Canning River Eco Centre to watch birds and learn about how Noongar mobs survived in the wilderness. There, they met a Noongar expert. She taught them how to survive using Noongar bush knowledge skills. Her name is Bel Cox and we are grateful to her for sharing her ancient knowledge.

 Kiana: The sun was blazing and, as were called to line up for the bus, bright light was glinting off my glasses. My bus partner and I were frantically trying to catch up to the class. In the bus, there were so many noises it gave me a headache. But that soon disappeared as we stepped out of the bus and were greeted by a rainbow of kangaroo paws that glowed in the morning light. Bel greeted us in the shade of a tree not far from the river. We learned a lot about the food Noongar people ate. There was even a Noongar chocolate plant that tasted like a cross between a date and chocolate. There were honeysuckles and sap from the bottlebrush which could be turned into cordial. Delicious!

 Antonia: We had a great time in the Canning Eco-Centre. I was amazed by the high trees and the clean river. It was wonderful. And under a tall tree, there was Bel Cox! She taught us a lot about tree sap, flowers, animal and river health and Aboriginal ways of caring for the land. We went birdwatching and even built a fish trap. It was amazing.

 Zayn: It was a scorching morning, and 23 fellow students were ready for a forested adventure. As we arrived, a mysterious woman, Bel Cox, told us we were at the one and only Canning River. She explained to us how to set up camp, how to make a bush toilet, the laws of marriage and skin groups, Noongar ways of fishing, medicine, and safe v. unsafe food. Then all 23 of us got binoculars and spotted all kinds of birds from silvereyes to magpies to Australian ravens. We made our own fishing rods by weaving grasses. What an interesting day! 

Elaine Meyer

Class 4 Koodjal Koodjal Teacher

Class 5 Maar

The Class 5 Steiner curriculum challenges students to develop new capacities in themselves they never knew they had. In this "Golden Year", on the cusp of adolescence, our students train for their very own Greek Olympics, where several Steiner schools come together to participate. They had spent weeks in preparation: jogging, running sprints, jumping, throwing the javelin and the discus, and testing their skill in Greek wrestling by the time they travelled to Perth Waldorf School for the big day. They may have entered the interschool Olympics with some trepidation but left transformed, having gone through a rite of passage. This greater sense of self and confidence will grow as they prepare to be school leaders next year!

Donna Shaw

Class 5 Maar Teacher

Last week, Class 6 Maar Keyen embarked on an exciting city adventure, hopping aboard a Transperth bus and heading straight into the heart of Perth to visit the WA Museum Boola Bardip! Our first stop? The jaw-dropping Terracotta Warriors exhibition. We were in total awe — mouths open, eyes wide — as we stood face to face with ancient warriors who’ve been standing guard for over 2,000 years. (We think a few students tried to challenge them to a staring contest... the warriors won.) We then wandered through the museum like curious explorers, soaking in the sights, sounds, and science. The Geology and Astronomy exhibits were definite highlights — rocks and stars have never been so cool. It was amazing to see how much of what we've been learning in our Main Lessons came to life in the displays. From dinosaur bones to meteorites, and from ancient China to outer space, it was a day full of wonder, learning, and just a little bit of walking-induced foot soreness. But totally worth it!

Aimee Waller

Class 6 Maar Keyen Teacher

Music

It has been a busy week for our music students at WCSS. Classes 4, 5 and 6 performed at a strings assembly in week 3 and a choir assembly in week 7 both to an appreciative audience of younger students and their parents.

Class 3 started their lessons on the violin, viola and cello. As a class they can perform four pieces while plucking their instruments and have started to learn how to play together with their bows.

On the 14^th October the students in Class 4, 5 and 6 gave up their time on a Sunday to attend the Western Australian Schools’ Junior Orchestra Festival. The students arrived at Churchlands Senior High School nervous but excited and lined up to be tuned in our holding room. 10 minutes before our performance time we were collected and brought backstage at the Taryn Fiebig Concert Hall. The Concert Hall is a wonderful venue with a proper stage, tiered seating for the audience and fantastic acoustic properties. When it was our turn to go on stage our orchestra was so large that the organisers had to bring out extra chairs! We performed two pieces, Scales Around and Icicles. The orchestra received warm applause after each piece and it was lovely to have such a supportive audience. After the second piece one of the adjudicators came down for a short workshop with the orchestra. Jeanette then pointed out to the audience how difficult it is for such a large ensemble to play together. She worked with the orchestra on their sense of beat and reminded them to watch the conductor to make sure their personal beat was the same as those of the other students in the orchestra. After the workshop the orchestra sat in the audience and watched another orchestra perform. We got to listen to the Shenton College Junior String Orchestra who were performing impressively difficult pieces. It is inspiring to see where our students can end up with their playing if they apply themselves and continue to work hard.

The West Coast Steiner School String Orchestra received excellent comments from the adjudicators, particularly with regards to their tone quality and atmosphere they create for their pieces. I am very proud of my students for showing such wonderful commitment to their music making.

You can hear the choir and orchestra perform at the opening of the Kambarang Fair on Saturday 1st November.

Cristina Filgueira

Strings Specialist

Alumni Focus

Community Service Volunteers

A heartfelt thank you to Year 11 Perth Waldorf students (and WCSS graduates!) who have spent the past two weeks on campus. It is always delightful to welcome back past students and listen to feedback and tales of new adventures! 

The students helped out in so many ways - attending Yarning Circle, engaging with prospective families at our School Tour and in various classroom capacities, as well as assisting with running Michaelmas Festival activities today. 

We send warmest wishes for your holiday break and final term of Year 11!

Parent Business Directory

Welcome to the section where we share information on WCSS family owned businesses. If you are an enrolled WCSS family, run a business and would like to promote this to our school community please send your details (a few sentences describing your business and contact details) to marketing@wcss.wa.edu.au

Message Justyna your details if you want to be added - justyna.gingell@gmail.com

Community News

STORYTELLERS GATHERING Hello everyone, we are getting excited now. Sally and I have just finished another planning meeting and are making preparations to ensure everyone gets the most out of our upcoming event.
If you have been on the fence for a while, it's not too late to join us on October 24-26 (just around the corner!). If you have friends who may be story curious or who may want to learn more about the art and craft of storytelling, or want to be a part of this growing community, the tickets are available below.

https://events.humanitix.com/storytellers-gathering 

Cheers, Ally and Sally