Wandju - Welcome to Term 1
Wandju - Welcome to Term 1
Kaya WCSS Community
Welcome back to all our families as we start the new school year. And to all our new families, welcome! We look forward to meeting you as you begin your journey with our school.
After a restful and restorative summer break, staff have returned and have been busily preparing their classrooms to receive the children. On Saturday, we welcomed many families at our Busy Bee to add finishing touches to our classrooms and grounds. It was a great way to reconnect with friends and families from the school community and kick off contributions towards parent participation hours!
Did you know that this year is West Coast Steiner School's 30th anniversary? Our official 30th birthday will be on August 4th. However, we would love to make it a year-long celebration of all that is amazing about our school and Steiner education. We welcome your feedback on how we can recognise this significant event.
We already have some dates for your calendar. We welcome families to join us on February 10 for a Welcome Morning Tea hosted by our parent association, WCSSCA. I look forward to touching base with new and long-term families alike. And then on February 19th we will be hosting our Curriculum Journey an evening event. This is a wonderful way to engage with your child’s school life. It will be a fabulous reminder of where they have been, what they will experience this year and give a glimpse of how things will unfold as they move through the school.
For families with students in Classes 5 and 6, save the date of Tuesday, March 18 at 6pm when we will be hosting an information session from Perth Waldorf School about Steiner High School options for your children in 2026/7.
I look forward to welcoming families back to school tomorrow.
With warmth
Jacqui Hollingworth
Principal/School Administrator
Dear Child of Light,
all that you've given I won't forget;
I'll work each day to build for you a special place
And in my heart prepare a sacred space.
My striving sometimes fails - and yet
I grow a little every day,
And journey further on my way.
In the Light of a Child – Michael Hedley Burton
Administration Matters
Student Registration Form
All schools are required to collect a Student Registration Form for every child each year. The form was due by January 31, 2025. Hard copies were sent with Semester 2 School Reports and we appreciate your immediate attention to the completion and submission of the form. The link is available below to complete it online.
Important Medical Reminder for 2025
Parents will:
- Inform the school at the beginning of each school year of their child's medical condition and initial diagnosis;
- provide an up-to-date Medical Plan, which may include:
- Student Asthma Care Action Plan
- Action Plan for Allergic Reactions
- Action Plan for Anaphylaxis
- Seizure Management Plan
* If you require a Medical Plan, please come to reception to obtain a template.
- immediately inform Reception Staff of any change to their child’s medical condition, and emergency contact details as soon as possible throughout the year;
- communicate all relevant information and concerns with staff as the need arises, e.g. if asthma symptoms were present during the night.
- provide an adequate supply of appropriate medication that is current and clearly labelled with the child's name and expiry dates;
- replace the medication and any other emergency supplies before the expiry date.
Reception Staff will:
- establish and maintain a register of children with their required treatment, which will be filed in the School Reception and a copy distributed to teachers;
- notify all teachers via memo, as a new child is added to the register;
- provide copies of the Student Medical Plan to the Class Teacher;
- display students’ Medical Plans in School Administration and the staffroom;
- update medical details from Student Particulars Form each year;
- remind parents to ensure student asthma records are up to date before camp.
Student absences
If your child will absent from school, please complete an absentee form via the school website here or through the school App.
SCHOOL SOFTWARE UPGRADE
Over the holidays Administration have been busy commencing the transition to a new school software platform called Zunia. The change-over will take some time and we appreciate your patience and understanding as we work through the process. School fee billing has been impacted by the change and may take a little longer than usual. We will keep you updated via the fortnightly school newsletter and let you know when you can download the Zunia app which will allow you to easily view your school fees balance, update medical details and much more.
STAY IN TOUCH WITH US!
SCHOOLZINE APP
The easiest way to stay in touch with all the happenings at WCSS is still to download the Schoolzine App. Receive newsletters, check the calendar and complete excursion permissions, absence notifications and RSVPs direct from your phone.
Click here to view the Installation Instructions
* use the WCSS code 1995 when prompted.
You can also stay up to date by visiting our Facebook, Instagram and the school website.
ELECTRONIC DEVICES ON CAMPUS
As we start a new school year please remember that as a Steiner school we strive to cherish childhood. One way we do this is by bringing to the children only natural, healthy and real experiences, and by being present to the moment and modelling behaviours. Please refrain from using mobile phones, laptops or other devices when on campus. If you need to use a device whilst on campus do so discreetly. Please also share this information with friends and relatives coming onto campus.
HOLISTIC COUNSELLOR AT WCSS
Ruth Powell works at WCSS under the National Student Wellbeing Programme with the supervision of Dr Patricia Sherwood. She is a holistic counsellor who uses creative mediums such as sand therapy, clay work and stories to help children express themselves. Holistic counselling looks at the whole child including developmental stage, relevant external influences and presenting behaviours, both in the classroom and home environment, to help inform and understand the experience of the child. Teachers refer students to Ruth for support with classroom behaviours/issues. She then provides support and strategies to parents and staff where appropriate.
CONTAINERS FOR CHANGE
WCSS is a collection point for the Containers for Change initiative. Families are encouraged to bring containers to school, or if you take your containers to another collection point and would like to donate the funds to WCSS just use the membership number C10580178.
PARENT BUSINESS DIRECTORY
As a community we love supporting WCSS family 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, contact details, a website link and a logo or image) to marketing@wcss.wa.edu.au.
SCHOOL HANDBOOK
We have one school handbook for Kindergarten 4-Class 6. If you have a question the answer is probably in the Handbook! Click here to view.
Family Commitment Opportunities
GARDENING
We are looking for someone to tend our street frontage at 34 Nollamara Avenue and also the space between Sunflower Kindergarten and the school gate. This would involve keeping an eye on each space to ensure it is tidy and loved. Each area would probably require some light tidying and weeding every six to eight weeks. These jobs can be done at a time that suits you - you can take on just one area or both! Contact Reception if you are interested.
KISS AND DRIVE
Volunteers are always needed to ensure Kiss 'n' Drive runs smoothly and safely. Slots are available Monday-Friday 8.15am-8.45am and 2.55-3.25pm (Thursdays 2.05pm-2.35pm due to early finish). See Reception for more information.
PARENT EDUCATION
In Term 1 we are holding a special parent event, The Curriculum Journey. Save the date for the evening of Wednesday February 19, learn more about the Australian Steiner Curriculum Framework and how it is delivered in the primary years. Family Commitment Hours are claimable for attendance at this event.
Steiner Spotlight
Steiner Voices Launch
Next week SEA launches a podcast series Steiner Voices XYZ.
This will include:
Steiner X: Alumni or ex-Steiner students
Steiner Y: for parents addressing the question; Why Steiner?
Steiner Z: showcasing the satisfying vocation of Steiner teaching, especially for Gen Z.
A podcast will be released fortnightly that will introduce you to the voices of some of the fascinating people who make up our Steiner education community, both nationally and internationally. Stay tuned to SEA social media channels of Facebook and Instagram, and our website, for links to this new initiative.
Steiner X: Geordie Williamson
by Andrew Hill (CEO, Steiner Education Australia)
Last December I had a coffee with Geordie Williamson, Laureate Professor of Mathematics at the University of Sydney. Geordie is the youngest living person elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society in the UK, which is one of the most prestigious scientific bodies in the world.
He also went to a Steiner school. It was only for two years in Class 5 and 6 at Eukarima, later the former Bowral Steiner School, but the impression that experience made on him has lasted. In fact he is eager to credit those two years as the happiest of his entire schooling (see below).
It was a highly stimulating 90 minute chat in which we talked Maths, AI, human creativity, art and aesthetics, and of course Steiner education. We delved into a reflection he wrote on his time there, and the extracts speak for themselves:
Happiness
For the first twenty-five years of my life, I counted my two years at Eukarima as my happiest. (Now there are thankfully a few more periods which I recall equally fondly.)
I can’t underestimate how important it is for a child to be happy. I don’t just mean happy and smiling, but deeply happy in their soul. I felt completely out of place at St Pauls (prior to Eukarima) and moderately out of joint at Chev (post Eukarima). The time at Eukarima is the only period of my childhood that I can remember feeling completely and deeply happy. (I probably also was before going to school and can’t remember them. Even at preschool I have memories of being an outsider.)
Even to know that that happiness is possible has been a lasting consolation through darker periods. It is akin to knowing that beauty exists.
Creativity:
There is a lot of lip service paid to creativity in our culture, but I have learnt that most people are actually very intimidated by genuine creativity. In my own way I am quite creative, and I have felt resistance to it throughout my life.
I felt that creativity in most of its forms was genuinely nurtured at Eukarima….
(it) was the only point during my childhood that I could give free reign to my creativity. For those two years of freedom I’m forever grateful.
Spirituality
…. I have a vague memory of a slow ceremony to light a candle. Another of dying fabric and watching it dry. Another of carefully planting seedlings with Terrance near the creek. The prevalence of wood. The colours. Things were done carefully, slowly, with a lot of love. Since spending many years of my life in Germany, I recognise it as very similar to a German aesthetic. Nowadays I associate this with a spiritual practice, but at that point I realised it was something very different to what I was used to.
Something about this aesthetic touched me very deeply.
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.
During our Professional Development this week staff revisited the Staff Code of Conduct. In this edition we bring your awareness to the Parent and Student Codes of Conduct.
Early Childhood
Baby Group (0-18 months) and Playgroup (18 months - 4 years) sessions commence from Wednesday February 5 onwards. We have a few places in Baby Group and some Playgroup sessions for a Term 1 start so spread the word!
KINDERGARTEN
All enrolled Kindergarten families should have received a Welcome Letter via email with important details on the integrated start for Kindy4, 5 and 6. If you have any questions regarding the commencement of school (days, times etc) please contact your teacher or Reception.
Primary
Class 1 Singing In Ceremony
“Earth and Stars, Moon and Sun, Guide Our Journey to Class 1”
The Class 1 "Singing In" is a ritual that marks the transition from one stage of life to another. At WCSS we begin the first day of the school year by symbolically marking the beginning of the primary school journey for the new Class 1 students, their teacher and their families.
Class 1, 2025 students will walk along the veranda from the Performance Room to Class 1 whilst Primary school students and staff sing. We invite those who can to join us in welcoming our newest students as they embark on their primary cycle. This short and simple ritual starts at 8.40am and lasts just 5 minutes or so. WCSS holds dear these moments of ritual and celebration and encourage you to share them with us.
We are delighted to announce that we have secured a Sporting School Grant and will be running soccer workshops for Class 4, 5 and 6 for 4 weeks commencing in Week 4.
Class 3 Dambart
Dear Families,
Welcome to the start of a new and exciting school year. I hope the summer brought you moments of rest, joy, and time to connect with loved ones. It is with great enthusiasm that I look forward to the year ahead with your children, as we embark on a journey of discovery, growth, and wonder together.
Last week, I attended a series of teacher intensives, which left me feeling deeply inspired and rejuvenated. Surrounded by like-minded colleagues, I was reminded of the unique privilege it is to guide children through these pivotal years. The rich conversations, workshops, and reflections have given me fresh insights and ideas, which I am eager to weave into our daily lessons and experiences.
This year’s theme for Class 3 centres around the rich tapestry of Old Testament stories. These stories will serve as a guiding thread, helping the children explore themes of origin, identity, and resilience. As we move through the curriculum, we will deepen their connection to the practical world and the people within it, fostering a sense of responsibility and reverence for the world they are growing into.
Our Main Lessons this year will include:
- Farming and Gardening: The children will immerse themselves in the cycles of nature, caring for the earth by planting, harvesting, and discovering the journey from seed to table. This hands-on experience will ground their growing sense of independence and connection.
- Building and Trades: Through exploring the construction of shelters and working on collaborative projects, the children will experience the ingenuity and community effort behind creating homes.
- Mathematics and Measurement: We will bring maths to life through practical applications, including learning about ancient systems of measurement and their evolution to the standard forms we use today.
- Language and Literacy: With storytelling at the heart of our work, the children will refine their writing, reading, and grammar skills, engaging with the beauty and rhythm of language.
This curriculum is lovingly crafted to meet the developmental needs of the nine-year-old child, who is beginning to awaken to their individuality while seeking reassurance in the interconnectedness of the world around them.
To begin the year, I warmly invite you to attend our first Parent Evening, which will take place on Wednesday, February 5, 6:00pm to 7:00pm. This will be a wonderful opportunity to gather as a community, discuss the year’s programme, and explore ways we can work together to support your children during this time of growth and change.
Thank you all for entrusting me with this sacred task. I look forward to the discoveries, challenges, and celebrations that await us all.
Warm regards,
Kasia Rymarczyk
Class 3 Dambart Teacher
Class 6 Maar Keyen
I have had the great privilege to journey with this class since they were little 6-year olds embarking on their primary school journey, and I simply cannot believe how fast time has flown as we now begin our final year of primary school.
I remember when they were all walking down the corridor from the Performance Hall to Class 1, as the rest of the school sang “Sun and Moon”. They were unsure, nervous, excited, and ready to learn their letters and numbers. How far these beautiful children have come! They can now write beautifully creative prose, solve complex equations and have grown in confidence and self-expression and are truly outstanding individuals. Through trials, struggles, adventures, and exploration these students have transformed beyond my imagination into beautiful, talented and amazing individuals, and it has been an honour to witness this.
At the beginning of the year the Class 6s will welcome the new Class 1 students with Mel as we prepare for our final year and think back to all that we have accomplished and learnt and how much we have grown and changed.
Steiner education is founded with the study of child developmental phases underlying it, using this information to support the development of the moral fabric of every individual. At times the students may feel uncomfortable with challenging experiences. They may not like everything they experience (e.g., certain subjects), but each challenge helped them slowly rise to a higher level of character and confidence and ultimately produced a transformation of consciousness. They are learning to truly know thyself, developing inner will and to take initiative and create wonderful things in the world.
We are missing the experience of true rites of passage in our culture and live in a world that allows us to opt out if things are ‘not to our liking’ or ‘get too hard’. Children grow up in front of a screen, when things get rough, they quit, following an event everyone gets and prize, and they are left with the burden of making infinite choices about a life they have not yet lived. Steiner schools are unique where we do not only deliver a well curated curriculum that focuses on their developmental needs but provide them with support and scaffolding to take on appropriate challenges in order to grow and move beyond what they thought they knew was possible. All emotions are meant to be felt and experienced in this lifetime and it is possible to feel trepidation and do it any way, expanding our ideas of what we thought was possible and shedding our limitations.
We have said farewell to friends along the way but this class, the Class of 2025, are made of families who truly understand the value of a Steiner education as we are ready to complete the primary school journey which will provide challenges to further transform both student and teacher.
This year we prepare to be the leaders and take on the role of Senators just like the Romans in ancient times. We will be fair and just! We will encourage and inspire the younger students and we will grow every day, overcoming challenges, and learn to stand in our truth, our integrity and our honour.
"Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Begin it now."
W.H. Murray - Inspired by J.W. von Goethe (and a translation of Goethe by John Anster).
Inspiration for post Michael Seifert waldorfteacherresources.com
Aimee Waller
Class 6 Maar Keyen Teacher
Class 5 and 6 families caught up at Matilda Bay foreshore for an afternoon of fun before the new school year. We shared food and had some fun water play, jumping off the jetty, fishing, kayaking and playing in the sand! It was a great way to start the year together.
Coming Events
FEBRUARY
Wednesday 05: Term 1 commences, Class 3 Parent Meeting 6pm
Monday 10: WCSSCA Welcome Morning Tea 8.45am, Class 6 Parent Meeting 6.30pm
Tuesday 11: School Tour 9.15am, Class 4 Parent Meeting 3.15pm
SAVE THE DATE: Curriculum Journey Evening Wednesday February 19
For further school dates check the school website calendar.
WEEKLY
Yarning Circle
Wednesdays 8.40am
Market Days
Tuesdays 3.05pm
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