Wandju - Welcome to Term 1

Wandju - Welcome to Term 1

Kaya WCSS Community

A Happy New Year to all and a warm welcome back to Term 1 2023 which commences tomorrow on Wednesday 1 February at 8.30am for students. We are all very happy to welcome you back!  It is a pleasure to be sharing this new year with you. Families of Kindergarten students will have already received information about their specific start times.

A very special welcome to new families who are joining our very inclusive community this year. I look forward to meeting you all. I hope everyone has enjoyed some happy family times together over the long break and that you are refreshed and ready for an exciting year.

Communication with parents is very important to us. Our newsletter is sent to you every fortnight and always contains a wealth of information. Please read it to keep in touch with everything. We also post frequently on Facebook and Instagram and there are several noticeboards around the school which are regularly updated. Vanessa, our Deputy Principal, and I offer an informal Yarning Circle at the Hub each week so please pop in for a chat, to offer suggestions or to ask questions. In addition my door is almost always open to you so if there is anything at all you would like to chat to me about, or you just wish to meet, please feel welcome.

Last week all the staff returned to school to prepare for the children’s arrival. We have been very busy updating our knowledge and learning more in areas such as First Aid, Child Protection, Reconciliation and Trauma-Informed Practice. We also had much fun learning some salsa dancing, singing, engaging with storytelling, and catching up on everyone’s news.

School Beautification

Over the holidays we were fortunate to undertake several beautification projects. Golden Threads, our Community Hub, has a fresh coat of paint and the interior of Rose Kindy now displays some beautiful rosy lazure paintwork and new curtains. Gardens have been refreshed and much maintenance has occurred to ensure all is well maintained and safe.

Staffing News

We are fortunate to have a very stable staff at our school. All our Kindergarten and Class Teachers are dedicated and caring and focus on building and nurturing relationships with their students. All are Steiner trained and experienced and over the holidays they spent many hours in study and training to refresh and extend their knowledge of the unique Steiner Curriculum and the developmental needs of the students they teach. Please come along to their Class Meetings which are scheduled early this term to find out more about what we do and why. Questions are always very welcome.

Our Chair of the College of Teachers is Kathy Gass. The College of Teachers is comprised of senior members of the Primary and Early Childhood Faculty and is responsible for aspects of policy, staffing and curriculum. College upholds the spiritual side of our school.

We welcome new staff members Kasia Rymarczyk from Orana Steiner School in Canberra teaching Class 1, Mel Lenzi teaching Class 2 on Wednesdays with Jayne, Jane Fisher and Anna Oman-Salisbury working as EAs in Rose Kindergarten, and Claudia Princi working as a Primary school EA.

School Arrival and Dismissal Times

Although school commences at 8.30am, we ask that students do not arrive before 8.15am when there is a teacher on duty in the playground. Any students who do arrive before this time, will need to sit quietly on a bench outside the office and read or chat, so that someone can keep an eye on them until the Duty Teacher commences at 8.15am. They cannot be in the playground unsupervised. Any children in the playgrounds before 8.15am need to be directly supervised by their parents.

School finishes at 3.05pm (2.15pm on Thursdays). Parents should pick their children up promptly from outside the classroom or at Kiss and Drive on Mayfair St. Children should go straight to meet their parents or carers after school rather than being unsupervised in the playgrounds after school. There is a teacher on duty in Kiss and Drive until 3.25pm.

New Initiatives

There are several new initiatives for 2023 which we are excited to share with you. For some years College has been considering the language program of the school and exploring language options other than German which are less Eurocentric, align well with our geographical position in the world and enable more cultural exchange and opportunities for children to use their developing language skills. The decision has been made, in consultation with Perth Waldorf School and other WA Steiner schools, to begin teaching Indonesian from Classes 1-6. Viola Sacher, our current language teacher, is a fluent Indonesian speaker with many years’ experience teaching Indonesian and extensive networks with other Indonesian teachers, organisations, and schools in Indonesia. She spent part of her holidays visiting the Waldorf school in Bali and we are also developing a sister school relationship through the Adopt a School program with another Balinese school. Once this is established, our children will be able to communicate and send letters and drawings and families will be welcome to visit the school if holidaying in Indonesia. This will be a very real context for the children to use their language skills and we see it as a very positive move.

As part of our Reconciliation Action Plan, Noongar artist, Justin Martin of Djurandi Dreaming will be creating a mural celebrating the Noongar history of our school site. Justin will be here this term to work with the children and conduct some workshops. More information will be provided so that you have the opportunity to meet him and find out more about his work.

We are in the process of applying for a cultural grant to bring an Indonesian Gamelan orchestra and shadow puppet group to the school in Term 3 for a term’s residency to work with our staff, students and community on several creative activities and performances. We hope to share more on this exciting project soon.

What a lot of lovely things to anticipate! May our new year together be lived with warmth of heart, kindness, and gratitude.

With warmth

Jenny Dougan

Principal/School Administrator

Administration Matters

Student Registration Forms

All families from K4 to Class 6 are required to return a completed 2023 Student Registration Form for each child at WCSS. This information is required to ensure our records are up-to-date and for the school to receive government funding. We appreciate your support in completing them by Friday February 4. Hard copies were sent home with school reports, are available at Reception or fill in the online form here.

Schoolzine

Always missing the latest school newsletter? Our Schoolzine app allows parents and staff to stay connected with our school. Access school newsletters, absentee submission, calendars and receive live notifications directlty from your phone. Visit:https://www.schoolzine.com/szapp-installation to download the app and use the code 1995 when prompted.

Djurandi Dreaming Workshops and Murals

The wall area around our stage is primed and ready for our mural! Djurandi Dreaming will work with upper school students this year to create a mural which reflects and connects with the boodja our school is located on.

Busy Bee 

Thank you to all our families we came along to the first Busy Bee for 2023. We completed many of the jobs on our list and the grounds look beautiful for the beginning of Term 1. 

WCSS Community Association

Now is the perfect time to join our Community Association, WCSSCA. 

WCSSCA is an incorporated body comprised of parents and friends of West Coast Steiner School.  The aim of the Community Association is to promote and support the development of West Coast Steiner School and its community.

Key objectives are:

To promote and support the development of West Coast Steiner School by:

• Actively pursuing fundraising activities to provide for equipment and services beyond the means otherwise available to the school, aspiring to maintain the values and principles of Rudolph Steiner philosophies; and
• Initiating and coordinating events and activities to foster a spirit of community within the school, aspiring to maintain the values and principles of Rudolf Steiner philosophies.

Our activities include Craft Group which meet weekly; managing the school shop Golden Threads; catering including Soup Day on Wednesday’s during the winter terms, Market Day on the verandah Tuesday’s after school, as well as helping the school to coordinate our School Fair. 

Membership

Membership of the Community Association is open to all parents and guardians of children attending the school as well as other interested members of the community.  To become a member please complete and return the membership form to Reception.  There is no membership fee. 

Coming Events

FEBRUARY

Wednesday 01: Term 1 commences / Rose, Sunflower and Gungarra Kindy Welcome Mornings 8.35-10.30am

Thursday 02: Gumnut Kindy Welcome Picnic 9.00am

Friday 03: Student Registration Forms Due

Monday 06: Class 5 Parent Meeting 6.00pm

Tuesday 07: School Tour 9.15am

Wednesday 08: WCSSCA Committee Meeting, the Hub, 9.00am / Class 1 Parent Meeting 3.15pm

Thursday 09: Class 6 Student Leaders' Assembly 8.40am

Friday 10: Class 2 Parent Meeting 3.15pm

* Save the Date:
Celtic Dance -  March 24, 5.30pm

For further school dates check the school website calendar.

WEEKLY

Yarning Circle

Tuesdays 8.45am

Market Days

Tuesdays 3.05pm

Craft Group
Thursdays 12.30pm at The Hub

Golden Threads

Monday-Friday 8.00am-10.30am
Mon, Weds, Fri 2.00pm-3.30pm
Thursday 1.30pm - 3.00pm

WA Anthroposophical Study Group
Mondays 7.30pm in the Staff Room