School Newsletter Term 2 Week 8

Kaya WCSS Community

Here we are almost at the end of term with our beloved Winter Festivals to be held next week for Kindergarten and the Primary School. Reports have been written and will be sent home in a sealed envelope with your children before parent interviews next week. Any reports that cannot be sent with students due to absence will be mailed to the address we have on record for you. You can book parent interviews online and there is more information about how to do that in this newsletter. A reminder that school reports are written and prepared for parents and not to be shared with children.

Thank you for all your support of our staff, students, and lovely school over this term. We look forward to celebrating the Winter Festivals with you and hope that following these and the end of Term 2 you enjoy a long and happy holiday with your families. Term 3 will begin on Monday 17 July.

King Winter now is in this land,

he reigns with cold and freezing hand,

he makes Jack Frost touch nose and toe,

And brings us winds that wail and blow.

Each year as the Winter Solstice approaches, we hold our quiet and reverent Winter Festival with the lantern walk around the spiral. This tradition has been happening in Waldorf Schools all around the world for the past 100 years. The spiral is ancient and symbolizes the inward turning we tend to experience as the nights grow longer, the cold drives us indoors and life slows down. It mirrors what is happening in nature with the changing seasons. We are reminded of the cyclical nature of life and the importance of nurturing our inner light.
Originally inspired by folk tradition the beautiful and sacred spiral walk can be experienced in many ways—the meaning is unique for each person who walks its winding path. It is a time of introspection and contemplation and allows us to centre ourselves as it helps us to pause for a moment in the rush of our busy lives. The Winter Festival is a festival of reflection on the past year and preparation for the next. As we gather to walk the spiral, a symbol of the journey inward, we begin at the outer edge of the spiral and slowly make our way towards the centre. As we move inward, we shed the layers of the past year and release any energy that no longer serves us. Once we reach the centre of the spiral, we pause to reflect and rekindle our inner light, drawing strength and inspiration from the flames of the candles that surround us.

What to expect: Primary Winter Festival Wednesday 21 June.

5.45pm Arrival. Please enter quietly through the front gate (please note it will be quite dark; the way will be paved with tea lights) and make your way quietly to your child’s classroom. Class Teachers will light the lanterns the children have made in readiness for the festival.

5.55pm Teachers lead their students and parent group into the quadrangle ready for the opening of the festival.

6.00pm Festival begins.

* Acknowledgement

* Welcome Verse by Class 6

* Fire Blessing by Class 6

* Choir sings as one by one, each class makes its way quietly through the indoor spiral in the Performance Room and follows the lit path to the lantern walk around the back oval. Please walk quietly with your class group as we sing songs.

* Students and families return from the lantern walk and gather quietly on the veranda outside their classrooms.

* Class 6 perform the Fire Dance in the quadrangle area and light the bonfire.

* Whole school sings Winter Festival songs. Your child has already made a lantern in class and is learning the festival songs.

* 7:30pm Festival ends and everyone departs quietly for home.

Please leave quietly straight after the festival.  Going straight home and avoiding socialising with friends and family, will deepen the experience for your child and our community. 

Important housekeeping for safety and smooth running of the event:

Safety and Warmth: Please dress warmly in layers. Tie all long hair back for fire safety and please do not wear long scarves.  It is important that you please keep your child safe around the bonfire and the candles along the pathway and spiral. Please wear raincoats bring umbrellas if wet. Although staff will be present, please support us to keep everyone safe by supervising your children at all times.

Photography and Electronics: To create a reverent atmosphere, we ask that you do not use your phone or a camera to take pictures.  Please do not engage in phone conversations or any other phone use and put your phones on silent. We encourage quiet reverence in and around the Winter Festival from when you enter the school gate until you leave for home.

Weather: This is a Winter Festival so would normally run unless it was very stormy and there was heavy rain. We are watching the weather forecast and if very stormy weather prevents our planned celebration, we will advise you of the changes during the day via text and email. At present the forecast for Wednesday is cloudy with a slight chance of a shower.

We look forward to sharing this beautiful evening with you.

May your week be lived with warmth of heart.

Jenny Dougan

SA/Principal

Makuru Winter Festival

This video from Blue Mountains Steiner School gives an insight into the importance of this festival for our Class 6 students.

Please take the opportunity to learn some Winter Festival songs and help hold the reverence of the evening by singing with us.

From Administration

2023 Parent Teacher Interviews

These 15 minute interviews are offered in conjunction with Semester 1 School Reports. They are a wonderful opportunity for teachers, parents and carers to discuss your child’s experiences and learning this year.

Bookings are now open via the link:  https://wcss.schoolzineplus.com/2023ptinterviews

To secure your parent teacher interview follow these simple steps:

1. Sign in with your email
2. Set up your unique password (8 characters)
3. Enter your child’s details
4. Select your child’s teacher and class
5. Select your preferred timeslot

If you experience any difficulties please contact reception@wcss.wa.edu.au / 9440 1771.

Warm regards,

West Coast Steiner School Administration

SALSA JARS FOR WINTER FESTIVAL

If you have any salsa shaped jars that you can donate for the Winter Festival please leave them in the Staff Room by Tuesday. Thank you.

SCHOOL COUNCIL AGM JUNE 19, 3.30pm

The WCSS School Council Annual General Meeting will be held this Monday at 3.30pm in the Performnce Room. Please come along to hear reports from 2022 and meet our Council. All parents of enrolled children are warmly welcomed to attend.

Shining a Light On...

In order to ensure our policies and procedures are highly visible to parents/carers, we highlight a policy or important procedure in each newsletter. If you are interested in a specific policy check the Key Info Tab on the school website or email Reception to receive a copy. 

All WCSS policies are reviewed periodically and updated and/or amended guided by compliance and best practice and ratified by the School Council.

In this edition we highlight our Child Protection Policy. West Coast Steiner School (WCSS) is committed to providing a child-safe environment which safeguards all students in accordance with the National Principles for Child Safe Organisations. This commitment underpins all school practices which provide for the safety, wellbeing and welfare of our children and young people. West Coast Steiner School expects all school community members including staff, students, Council members, practicum students, volunteers, visitors and contractors to share this commitment, as expressed in our Child Safe Statement of Commitment (see Appendix A). 

Click the link below to read the full policy.

NCCD

Dear parents, guardians and carers

Re: Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability (NCCD)

Every year, all schools in Australia participate in the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability (NCCD). The NCCD process requires schools to identify information already available in the school about supports provided to students with disability. These relate to legislative requirements under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 and the Disability Standards for Education 2005, in line with the NCCD guidelines (2019).

Information provided about students to the Australian Government for the NCCD includes:

• year of schooling
• category of disability: physical, cognitive, sensory or social/emotional
• level of adjustment provided: support provided within quality differentiated teaching practice, supplementary, substantial or extensive.

This information assists schools to:

• formally recognise the supports and adjustments provided to students with disability in schools
• consider how they can strengthen the support of students with disability in schools
• develop shared practices so that they can review their learning programs in order to improve educational outcomes for students with disability.

The NCCD provides state and federal governments with the information they need to plan more broadly for the support of students with disability.

The NCCD will have no direct impact on your child and your child will not be involved in any testing process. The school will provide data to the Australian Government in such a way that no individual student will be able to be identified – the privacy and confidentiality of all students is ensured. All information is protected by privacy laws that regulate the collection, storage and disclosure of personal information. To find out more about these matters, please refer to the Australian Government’s Privacy Policy (https://www.education.gov.au/privacy-policy).

Further information about the NCCD can be found on the NCCD Portal (https://www.nccd.edu.au).

If you have any questions about the NCCD, please contact the school.

Family Commitment Hours Opportunities

This newsletter section includes special Family Commitment Hours projects but there are many other ways to help out and claim hours including joining the WCSSCA Committee, gardening, volunteering at Golden Threads or the Library, monitoring Kiss 'n' Drive, baking for various events and attending talks on Steiner education. Voluntering at school provides many benefits beyond FCH.

PAINTING PROJECT

We are looking for someone to paint the back exterior wall facing the oval in our school pallette. All materials are provided. This can be done in the school holidays if preferred. If this is the job for you please contact Audrey - 9440 1771 / financeofficer@wcss.wa.edu.au

Rose Kindy Gazebo Refurbishment

This gazebo was made as a gift by a previous Class 6 and is due for some extra attention. We are looking for a volunteer/s to sand, oil, paint and repair where necessary. Please email finance@wcss.wa.edu.au if you can help.

Sustainability

The Recycling Hub is all set up again so remember to bring your items to school to recycle. Unfortunately, we can no longer accept batteries but there are plenty of places where these can be dropped off. Click here for a battery recycling location finder. 

We have ingenious Paper Saver notebooks for sale at Reception or at our Market Day stall for just $25.00. Reduce waste and reuse paper - made with premium vegan leather, write your notes and ideas on upcycled used paper. The Paper Saver is the world's only reusable notebook that reduces waste, so you can be more organised and live more sustainably.

There will be a Sustainability Stall at Market Day on June 20 so remember to come over, say "hi" and learn more about what we recycle at school.

ZeroCo are on a mission to stop 3 million plastic bottles worth of plastic going to landfill in 2023 and you can help! Say goodbye to single use plastic bottles, have less reasons to visit the shops and fundraise for school. 

Inside your first Zero Co box you'll find: 

1. A set of forever bottles made from 50% recycled and ocean plastic
2. A set of refill pouches made from up to 40% recycled materials
3. A postage-paid return mailer (envelope)

Your first Zero Co order will arrive at your door including a set of empty forever bottles along with colour-matching refill pouches and a postage-paid return envelope . Empty the contents of the refill pouches into the forever bottles and wave bye-bye to SUP (single-use-plastic) for the rest of your life. Pop the empty refill pouches into the postage-paid return envelope and send it back to us (for free). We'll then clean, refill and reuse the pouch putting an end to single-use plastic. For good.

Click the link below, select "Get Involved" and "West Coast Steiner School" from the drop down menu, then place your order. The school receives $40.00 for every family that signs up and the Starter Pack is currently on sale!

https://www.zeroco.com.au/pages/sustainable-schools

Blackboard Beauty

Early Childhood

Child Health Nurse Screenings

Child Health Nurse Screenings for Pre Kindergarten and Kindergarten children with DOB from  1/07/18 to 30/06/2019

The Community Health Nurse is scheduled to do child screenings at our school during Term 3, Week 2, Monday, 24 July and Tuesday,  25 July at 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM.

Alternatively, if you require her services earlier you can email the Nurse directly agnes.mutua@health.wa.gov.au.

We have limited places available for a Term 3 start. Apply today.

Primary News

Class 1 

As the current term draws to a close, it feels as though time has flown by. Amidst the pace of learning and routine, it can be difficult to take a moment to appreciate the present. Thankfully, the tranquil and steady nature of winter encourages us to slow down and be present. The students are more focused and serene, creating an atmosphere that fosters positive learning. We're taking time to enjoy the winter weather, from sunny days to rainy showers. During outdoor play, we are observing the trees and engage in discussions about which ones keep their leaves and which remain green all year long. Our crafting skills allow us to bring the beauty of winter indoors, illuminating our surroundings with the warm glow of winter lanterns which are coming along nicely.

Week 8 is going to be such an exciting time for Class 1! They'll be able to present all their hard work and talents to the entire school and their parents during the Thursday assembly. Throughout circle time, they have been practising their songs and games, and now they're eager to demonstrate their skills.

This week in our Mathematics Main Lesson, we are diving deeper into our storylines featuring unique characters. Happy Andy is constantly adding hot cross buns to feed his hungry customers, while Princess Mul de Plier uses her magic sticks to multiply seeds, fruits, and even sheep. Prince Divider is always fair in sharing fish, apples, and coins equally, and Minus Miner works hard to give away valuable gems and gold, keeping only what is necessary for survival. Our class is eagerly anticipating each day's new stories about these beloved characters, each with their own talents and temperaments. We are exploring various groups of numbers on the board and practising using these characters' skills to manage quantities. Our lessons also include fun poems that the children enjoy reciting and acting out.

Happy Andy loves to bake
Buns and pies and chocolate cakes
More and more he’ll add each day
Hot cross buns on every tray

Miner Minus, kind and true
Works with his chisel, his trusty tool
All his jewels he gives away
To the poor and hungry who come his way

When Mul de Plier clicks her sticks
Magic happens, oh so quick.
More and more, things multiply,
Double, triple, my oh my!

When Prince Divide draws his sword
Fights are settled, arguments solved
Strong and brave, kind and fair,
He helps his people to care and share!

Our News Telling items are expanding and recently we had some very interesting visitors such as hermit crabs, a guinea pig and even an unborn joey which was fully formed but sadly didn’t get a chance to grow. There is a lot more confidence in public speaking as the children proudly present and describe their experiences from home life sharing with the whole class what is important to them.

The children have been playing well together on the whole. A common class aspiration is "We all look after one another with kindness and a helping hand.” 

I want to sincerely thank all of the hardworking parents who have been generously giving their time to support our Class 1 lyre fundraising. Thanks to your efforts, the fundraiser has been a tremendous success so far. Your dedication is greatly appreciated!

With love and light

Kasia Rymarczyk

Class 1/Keyen Teacher

Class 3

In Class 3  we have been immersed in our study of Moses the Redeemer this term with our guest teacher, Elaine, whose family is descended from the Twelve Tribes of Israel. 

Our story begins with the reunion of Joseph and his brothers in Egypt, and follows Jacob’s family tree to the birth of Yekutiel (“in God I hope”) whose mother Yocheved wove a basket and set him on the river Nile. Her heartfelt prayers saw him arrive safely at Pharoah’s palace where he was named Moses (“drawn up out of the waters”) and grew to be the brave redeemer of the Jewish nation from their slavery. 

Class 3 have been singing ancient Hebrew prayers each day, baking Matza, and weaving our own baskets from river reeds. In these, we will place our own baby Moses in the form of golden lights to light our path through the Winter Festival spiral. 

We overcame many challenges, including collecting the river reeds, building frames that would come apart at one too many taps of the hammer, and figuring out how to follow the weaving pattern, but we sang our way through the frustrations and helped our friends until each one of us had a beautiful woven basket lantern to show. We look forward to sharing our golden lights of freedom with you all at the Winter Festival. 

Elaine Meyer 

Dambart/Class 3 Guest Teacher

Class 4

Talk to Teach

As part of our Speaking and Listening activities, students in Class 4 are giving short “Talk to Teach” presentations, where they teach their peers something that they can do well. The students are really enjoying having the opportunity to stand in front of the class and give clear, precise instructions, while using a clear voice, answering questions and demonstrating their talents.

So far, Florence has showed us how to make pencils holders from a toilet roll, Isla demonstrated how to sign the alphabet in Auslan, Ollie has showed us how to make bird feeders out of pine cones, Zoe experimented with bicarb soda and vinegar to make a paper mâché volcano explode, Yuki taught us Japanese, Sofia made two minute cookies, Jackson made a photo frame out of pop sticks, Louis made a treasure map in a bottle and Jessica taught us some origami. It has really shown just how capable, responsible and clever the students are in Class 4!

Aimee Waller

Koodjal Koodjal/Class 4 Teacher

Class 5

Class 6  have experienced a deep dive into Roman history from the seven hills of Palatine, Capitoline, Quirinal, Viminal, Esquiline, Caelian and Aventine, to the formation of the Empire. Here is what the students had to say!

Indonesian

In Indonesian, Class 5 have been learning about different types of shopping experiences. Students have been exposed to various Indonesian food items as well as imported food items found in shops. Students created their own imaginative stall or shop signage using persuasive phrases, descriptions of the food products and prices.

Viola Sacher

Indonesian Teacher

Handwork

Very happy Class 2 students finishing projects; chickens, sheep and a bunny.

Class 3 are having adventures with colour; finishing treasure pouches and wristbands.

Lovely Class 5 Owl Puffs!

Woodwork

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WCSS Community Association

Dear Community,

Our first Soup Day was a wonderful success! A big warm thank you to all the amazing volunteers that brought it to life.

The children were happy to choose between three delicious soups served with wholesome sourdough bread.

 What better way to nurture and warm our little ones on these cold winter days.

Any leftover soup will be available for takeaway after school on Wednesdays outside the staff room. The soup is free with the option of leaving a donation should you wish, which contributes to WCSSCA's fundraising for the school. 

Medium sized, label free glass jars are needed for the takeaway soups. Please give your unwanted jars a new life by dropping them in the staff room, in the box labelled "Jars." And please return any jars that you take so we can reuse them!

Volunteers are still needed for food preparation and serving on Soup Days. Please consider volunteering so this beautiful service can con continue to be provided to our school community. There is a sign-up roster on the noticeboard outside the staff room or you can email WCSSCA wcssca@wcss.edu.au. 

It is now compulsory to complete the free online food safety course if you are helping with food preparation - I'm Alert Food Safety Course. Anyone completing the course and submitting their certificate can claim one hour of Family Commitment Hours.

All volunteering for Soup Day goes towards family commitment hours.

WCSSCA is excited to announce that we have approved the purchase of a beautiful new all-weather noticeboard for the school which will be located inside the front gates, and will serve as a space for shared information such as community events and updates, as well as a sacred blessing bowl!

WCSSCA will also be purchasing a split system air conditioner for the hub. A cosy addition to the yummy hot chocolates, coffee and teas served with love by the wonderful Ayla and hub volunteers.

With kindness and community,

Rachael

(Class 1 Parent)

Alumni Focus

Hi, my name is Aj Kaur and for my Year 12 project I am exploring the concept of evil in humanity and how filmmakers have incorporated this concept into their films. The question I will be exploring throughout the year is:HOW IS OUR PERCEPTION OF HUMAN EVIL BEING DISTORTED BY THE MEDIA, AND WHAT ARE ITS EFFECTS ON VIEWERS?I've known for a few years that I wanted to look at something relating to crime for my Year 12 project, but when the time came for me to decide, I felt so stuck. Initially, I wanted to look into why we are so fascinated by what we don't understand, which led me to look into evil. Evil is a phenomenon that is barely understood, yet it captivates people, nonetheless. Since I was looking at fascination, I took two things I am fascinated by and merged them together to create my topic. That being film and true crime. As a visual thinker, film has always been a massive influence on how my perspective is shaped. I watch a lot of true crime and never really realised the negative effects this genre of film can have on an individual until my recent Project related exploration. I started out my research by just looking into evil and the many varying perspectives people have on it. I tried to look at how our understanding of evil developed from being completely theological to a more modern perspective. It became a bit of a struggle to find a conclusive definition due to there being contrasting opinions. I ended up focusing on a form of evil called malignant evil. Malignant evil acts are actions done from evil motives; actions that cause colossal suffering done with the intent to do something unimaginably wrong to another human's life. This concept of evil felt the most relevant to the types of people I wanted to look at, as well as representing my belief in evil. I believe that all actions are done with some form of intention and thought, even though they can't always be explained. As you would expect, researching evil became quite confronting as I had to read detailed examples of malignant evil. Initially, researching evil in film started making me second-guess my choice of topic. I couldn't find any evidence which supported my theory. I started to think that maybe it was just me who thought these true crime films were glamorizing evil characters. I discovered more questions than there were answers. At this time, I was also beginning to feel like a hypocrite for picking this topic when I loved to watch true crime. I felt that it wasn't fair to be talking about how we're being desensitized to violence and how viewers are losing empathy for victims when I most likely have fallen into that trap. But as my research has furthered, my understanding has grown. I have become more aware of my detachment from reality due to the media, and I have learned people have been trying to fight the glamorization of evil for a long time.When I began my research, I wanted to look into how directors of popular Hollywood films could take some of the most evil humans and turn them into loved and misunderstood characters. Despite already being aware of the details of different evil-deemed crime cases, it was interesting viewing these films and noticing how I and others reacted to these evil high-profile murderers, rapists, and manipulators on-screen. The film industry has taken the world's fascination with malignant evil and turned the concept into visual entertainment. My focus developed into looking into how the media can lessen empathy towards victims and how that desensitizes us to the evils surrounding us. Through my research, I came across a theory called cognitive film theory. It refers to the relationship between human psychology and film by referring to the similarities between our experiences of cinematic images and narrative and our experiences of comprehending events in real life. I learned that by eliciting empathy towards evil, it influences the alteration of our real-world beliefs. There are cinematic techniques that can be used to evoke emotions, such as sympathy. A film can heighten the narrative, creating an emotional attraction to the perpetrator on-screen. For the viewer to form this emotional attachment, they need to consider the morals of what is being shown to them. This means that to provoke sympathy towards the character on screen, that character must be morally approved. This is a form of desensitisation, which I then learned can cause a lack of empathy because repeated exposure to violent or aggressive behaviour can lead to a blunting of emotional responses. This can make it harder for people to feel or understand the emotions of others. Often, we forget when viewing a true crime film that these are people's real stories and real traumas being turned into entertainment. For the practical component, I want to give the viewer an experience of this reality. I am thinking of creating a short film/ trailer using scenes from other films to create a montage of evil that provokes sympathy from the viewer. I will also write a short article on the events of the film for people to read, so that they may gain a sense of how film can distort evil. My research on the distortion of human evil by the media and its effects on viewers has heightened my empathy for victims and emphasised the need for awareness regarding the real traumas behind the entertainment of true crime films.

Ajuni Kaur

WCSS Class of 2017

Community News

Coming Events

JUNE

Monday 19: WCSS Council AGM 3.30pm; Gumnut Kindy Winter Festival 5.00pm

Tuesday 20: Gungurra, Rose and Sunflower Kindys Winter Festival 5.00pm

Wednesday 21: School finishes at 12.30pm, Primary Makuru Winter Festival 5.45pm

Thursday 22: Choir Assembly 8.45am, all welcome

Friday 23: Pupil Free/Parent Teacher Interviews

For further Term Dates check the school website calendar.

WEEKLY

Market Day: Tuesdays 3.05pm

Hot Lunch Fridays: Every Friday in Term 2

Craft Group: Thursdays 12.30pm at The Hub

Parent Study Group: Fridays 9.00am at The Hub or Library

Yarning Circle: Tuesdays 08.45am at The Hub

WA Anthroposophical Study Group: Mondays 7.30pm in the Staff Room

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