Wandju - Welcome to Term 2
Wandju - Welcome to Term 2
Kaya WCSS Community
A warm welcome to Term 2 which commences for students on Tuesday 29 April. We are all very happy to welcome you back! A very special welcome to new families who are joining our community this term. We look forward to meeting you all and hope everyone has enjoyed some happy family times together over the break and that you are refreshed and ready for an exciting term.
A warm welcome also to our new Administration Assistant, Jaimie who will be on Reception every Friday and working has administration/enrolment support on Mondays and Wednesdays. We know you will make her feel very welcome as she settles in to our beautiful school.
We have our regular back to school Busy Bee happening this Saturday April 26, from 8.00am - 1.00pm. Please drop by and donate a few hours if you can. This is a great way to support the school, model positive behaviour for your children, build community and fulfil Family Commitment Hours.
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 the 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. Just a reminder that Kiss and Drive is a traffic flow zone for the safety and benefit of all. Please do not park and leave your car in this area.
There are many lovely things planned for this term which culminates in our beloved Winter Festivals. RSVP now for our Parent and Staff Sundowner on May 09 at the Oxford Hotel in Leederville. This evening is planned as a celebration of 30 years of our school and community. Nibbles will be provided and guests buy their own drinks. RSVP is essential for catering, and due to limited space.
Please keep an eye on the newsletter sent each fortnight to find out what is going on. May our new term together be lived with warmth of heart, kindness, and gratitude.
With warmth
WCSS Administration
In the Light of a Child – Michael Hedley Burton
My spark of light - it must become a flame.
Breathe on me, breath of God, it is my aim
To calmly tend this light within and make it burn up brightly.
The air that nourishes my tender glow -
It's Love! It quickens me. My light shall grow.
I'm given strength to love all people and to do things rightly.
Administration Matters
2025 Parent Teacher Interviews
Parent-teacher interviews serve the purpose of facilitating open communication between parents and teachers regarding a student's academic progress, social development, and overall wellbeing. These meetings provide an opportunity for parents to gain insights into their child's strengths, challenges, and areas for focussed improvement. Likewise, teachers can share observations, offer feedback, and discuss strategies for supporting the student learning and growth.
By fostering collaboration between parents and educators, parent-teacher interviews aim to promote student success and holistic development by ensuring that both home and school environments are aligned in supporting the student's educational journey.
Each interview will run for 15 minutes with a 5 minute break for interview transitions.
The online booking system will be open to parents from Tuesday, 29 April – Monday, 23 June 2025.
Parents can access the online booking system here. Please follow the prompts to book your preferred time.
ELECTRONIC DEVICES ON CAMPUS
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.
DENTAL SERVICE
Every year Dental Health Services (DHS) offers parents and carers the chance to register their kids for free dental care at the School Dental Service (SDS). The offer is open to every student from the year they turn 5 until their 17th birthday and includes check-ups, fillings, and simple extractions.
Your child will soon bring home an envelope with an enrolment form, FAQs, and reply-paid envelope. Just fill in the enrolment form, pop it in the reply-paid envelope, and put it in your nearest post box.
Once we receive your form our team will register your child and you will receive an appointment in the mail.
If you would like further information on DHS services and the SDS please visit our website: www.dental.wa.gov.au or scan the QR code.
MOTHER'S DAY
Mother's Day is on Sunday, May 11 and we have the perfect gift. It would make the breakfast in bed tray for mum look fantastic!
A WCSS Recipe Book has tried, tested and beloved school recipes, (including Playgroup Bread and Kindy Birthday Cake!) and includes beautiful verses and an insight into the role food plays in a Steiner school. It is available now at Reception so you can be ultra organised!
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.
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 the School Handbook. Our Handbook is available on the website or in hard copy at Reception and contains a wealth of information from our school structure to fees policy, attendance, behaviour development and parental involvement. Please take the time to familarise yourself with it.
Steiner Spotlight
Catch up on the latest Steiner Education Australia Podcast - "What's in it for Dads?" featuring parent, Malcolm Day. Malcolm is an architect, builder and long term Steiner dad. He and his wife between them have put five children through two Steiner schools in Sydney. As Malcolm reflects on his family’s journey in Steiner education, he tells his children’s very diverse stories, their individual learning and his learning as a parent. What might they have in common that was shaped by their school experiences? And he addresses the question, “What’s in it for Dads?” His advice is simple: get involved and your personal rewards will be great!
Parent Education
Welcome to our Steiner Parent Education Initiative Program for Term 2.
In order to support our parents and caregivers on their Steiner journey we continue to partner with ‘The Steiner Parent Education Initiative’. Our school and Steiner schools across Australia are paying for their communities to be able to join and learn from these leading practitioners in Steiner Education. And you can join from the comfort of your home, and at a time that suits you as our guest!
Although these windows into Steiner education are live on a certain date and time, this doesn’t always work out with the time difference for us here in WA so we have arranged, that if you book for the courses, you will receive the recording to listen to at time that suits you, BUT you must book before the day of the course.
See the rich offerings for Term 2 below. To book go to the link at the bottom of each poster and follow the prompts. When your booking is complete choose the calendar option of your choice at the top of your booking confirmation. Here you can change the time from AEST to AWST and set your reminder. You can then choose to watch live or receive the recording link.
We urge you to book your tickets, join a group of friends or just set aside time when it is quiet, make a cuppa, pop on your pyjamas, and come on a journey; a journey through the Steiner curriculum and much more. Family Commitment Hours are claimable for attendance at these talks.
This term both Ancient Egypt, and at a separate session Ancient Greece are offered, both very potent periods in the evolution of the Myths and Mysteries as a stream of wisdom and insight nourishing the development of human consciousness and therefore providing a meaningful context for life. Main Lessons play their key role as a form of deep dive learning delivery of our unique Steiner curriculum, as well as offering opportunities for the children to live into the cultures that may have been theirs in past incarnations.
Sophia Montefiore is presenting the Transformation of the 12 Senses to support free thinking. The 12 senses are unique to Steiner’s picturing of the human being, and Sophia will be showing how in her words, “the Steiner Curriculum brings a health-giving consciousness to support the human journey through birth to adulthood.
Finally Sandra Frain offers healthy seasonal outdoor opportunities to create and maintain with your children, your home garden, a local community garden, even your grandparents garden, whatever works in your family. Fostering this wilfully active family time develops life skills, interest in the plant life cycle, nutrition with edible plants, and the beauty of the natural world to touch on a few benefits. Being in touch with the earth in real ways and developing a relationship to the seasonal cycles through gardening, is a wholesome invigorating rhythm through various shared activities.
We trust you will find value in these presentations and welcome your feedback. Family Commitment Hours are claimable for completing these sessions.
PLEASE NOTE TIMES ARE USUALLY ADVERTISED IN AEDT
WCSS Parent Engagement team
Early Childhood
Primary News
We were unable to send out our Term 1 Week 10 newsletter but had lots of wonderful happenings across the school that we still wanted to share with you. A little catch up is provided below!
Easter Festival Fun!
Class 1 Keyen
Class 1 welcomed Class 6 to make some Easter crafts together. This was, what will be the first visit of many, as we form a growing friendship between the classes.
Mel Lenzi
Class 3 Dambart
A happy group of Class 3 crafters!
Class 4 Koodjal Koodjal
Class 4 were delighted to spend a day in a clay modelling workshop with artist Chris McClelland.
We have been immersed in a deep study of Noongar birds as part of our Man and Animal Main Lesson. Each student created a poster sharing important details about their chosen bird, alongside a watercolour painting of their bird. In the workshop we visualised our individual bird in 3-dimensions and then created life-size sculptures of them. We found this tricky and needed a few attempts to master the technique.
This term, we will glaze our birds, paying attention to each bird’s unique colours and patterns. Then, we will weave nests for our birds under the guidance of Noongar artist Sharyn Egan, as part of the Kaart Koort Maara project.
For most students, this was their first time working with both watercolours and clay and everyone found this most exciting and challenging!
Many thanks to Chris McClelland for his experience and expertise.
Elaine Meyer
Class 5 Maar
Class 5 delved into the ancient practice of creating sand mandalas, integrating sacred geometry, maths, nature and art with the teachings of impermanence from Ancient Indian philosophy.
The children carefully crafted their sand mandalas with patience, focus, and a keen eye for detail. Once completed, they held them up to the wind. The colours began to swirl and a wave of excitement swept over the class as their creations were carried away.
Donna Shaw
Class 6 Maar Keyen
During our art lessons in Term 1, Class 6 learnt techniques related to colour tones (light and dark). We began with the study of spheres and evolved into bowls and ribbons. Once we were more confident with black and white we began a puzzlingly fun exploration of colours and shifting tones using complementary colours (red and green, blue and orange, yellow and purple).
Following our camp to Wadjemup the students created beautiful water colour paintings of their favourite beaches including Pinky's Bay and the Basin. The wonderful world of watercolours paintings is filled with colour and expression and the students tackled this tricky medium with sophistication, creating some stunning pieces.
In Class 6 we also tried our hand at simple mosaics, making coasters for Easter. As we delved further into the history of Ancient Rome, we learnt that the Romans adopted and expanded upon the Greek traditions in art and they used mosaics to decorate floors and walls in both private and public buildings, showcasing wealth and status.
David Hammond and Aimee Waller
WCSS Community Association
WCSSCA is a wonderful way for parents and caregivers to contribute to our school, their child's educational experience and demonstrate the value of volunteering. Not to mention the warm fuzzies you feel from helping out and working alongside others!
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.
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.
Walkathon
The Walkathon is at a new day of Thursday 8 May, Week 2 of this term. Primary children were given their Walkathon forms to share with family and friends over the Easter break. We thank you in advance and look forward to sharing this fun-fundraiser with the children soon.
We look forward to seeing you in the Hub.
WSCCA Committee
wcssca@wcss.wa.edu.au
Community News
If you are keen to host beehives or would like to know more contact Jeff via B2U2024@outlook.com or 0422 760 905.
Coming Events
APRIL
Saturday 26: School Busy Bee 8am - 1pm
Monday 28 - Thurs 1/5: Class 4 Camp
Tuesday 29: First Day of Term 2
MAY
Tuesday 06: School Tour 9.15am / Class 4 Parent Meeting 3.15pm
Wednesday 08: Primary Walkathon
Friday 09: WCSS Birthday Sundowner 7.00pm
For further Term Dates check the school website calendar
WEEKLY
Market Day: Tuesdays 3.05pm
Craft Group: Thursdays 12.45pm at The Hub
Yarning Circle: Wednesdays 8.40am 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 2.30pm-3.30pm
Thursday 1.30pm - 3.00pm
For further school dates check the school website calendar.
