The light that burns within me - hidden, silent, deep,
It streams with power like the sun from realms of sleep.
It fills my heart with joy. It gives me strength and gladness
And lets me shine to others too, to heal their sadness.

When fire burns and I am master of this fire,
Then, pouring light upon me, Heaven's Sons inspire
My work, and I can do God's deeds as they require.

by Michael Hedley Burton / verse no. 31

The River Cruise is traditionally an annual event for Class 8 - 12 PWS and PSC students. The event takes place on a Thursday at 5:30pm for 6:00pm departure, returning at 9:00pm.

A buffet package, including food and drinks is included in the ticket price. Please email PSC to book a ticket for your child. 

Diane (Di) Harnett, joined our team at the beginning of 2024 as the Visual Arts and ceramics teacher, with a passion for nurturing creativity in young minds. Having found a deep alignment with Steiner education, Di is excited to weave the arts into the fabric of our school community. She resonates with the holistic education and recognises the importance of nurturing the mind, body, and soul of each student with a gentle approach that sees and honours the spirit of each student.

Outside the classroom, Di leads a dynamic life as an artist and entrepreneur. Running her own art business, she regularly works on commissioned artworks and murals, including an expressive piece adorning a heritage building's exterior wall at Swan River Ballet. Her love for art extends to teaching workshops and after-school classes, where she blends technical skills with playful creativity for both kids and adults. She has a love for learning as much as she can about other cultures, art, artistic techniques and skills and is excited to share this with everyone.

In addition to her artistic pursuits, Di finds joy and grounding in practicing vinyasa yoga, something she also use to teach some years ago. Di's travels have granted her valuable insights and perspectives, from befriending locals in Cambodia to exploring remote floating villages. These days her adventures are in motherhood with her daughter Noa, and their sweet silly dog Loki.  Through all her experiences, she emphasises the importance of gaining broader perspectives, compassion, and cultivating gratitude for life's richness.

In Class 7, the children enter the artistic flourishing of the Renaissance and the rebellion of the Reformation in both the curriculum and their own development. They discover their incredibly diverse aesthetic capabilities as well as their own awakening powers of thinking and protesting. In their artwork they often become extremely creative and make elaborate designs, and they certainly are competent at working with colour.

This year they are ready to do projects that would not have been expected of them in the years before. This is a year when they are expected to hand sew very well and make a garment to wear. The whole idea of transferring an artistic hand drawn design onto a piece of cloth for something to wear is a new experience. First, they create a design and then carry out that design in all its details. They learn to use embroidery in many different ways. They study how embroidery designs can enhance clothing, if one is conscious of how and where they are placed, designs that go around the neck, the waist and the hem should not be the same but should metamorphose and change, so that the neck design points to what is below, the hem to what is above and the waist to both directions. One often sees good examples of this in Norwegian sweaters made by those artistic knitters from the past.

Patricia Livingston, ‘Will-Developed Intelligence’

The Class 7 students at PSC have students commenced the hand sewing of the basic design for their pyjama pants last term, with their personally selected fabrics. The project incorporates a number of elements including pattern reading and design, learning new stitches, problem solving, perseverance of will, and much, much more.

Once the practical, simple design of their pyjama shorts are completed, they are encouraged to add aesthetic beauty to their pyjamas such as embroidery, crochet, buttons or a pocket to individualise their creation, which can be an interesting challenge for some.

Alison Anthoni
Craft Teacher

Class 8 Physics of Air and Water Main Lesson

Amedeo Avogadro was born into a noble family of lawyers in 1776.  As Avogadro grew up, he developed a passion not for the law but for science.  He was fascinated by the invisible forces that governed the behaviour of gases.  He found that all gases, if kept at the same volume, temperature and pressure are made up of the same number of particles.  This was a radical idea at the time and contradicted the common scientific beliefs. But Avogadro was undeterred; he had a conviction that there was a simple elegance to nature’s laws that had yet to be uncovered and spent his whole life advocating for the truth as he saw it.

In the first three weeks of Term Two, the “budding advocates for truth as they see it”, Year 8 students explored some of the ideas governing air and water.  We looked at how gases or more particularly air behaves, exploring the relationships between a gas’ volume, pressure and temperature.  We looked at how air and water are made up of small particles that are always moving as shown by the random movement of some material in air and water (Brownian Motion).  We delved into buoyancy and the forces of flight to understand how heavy boats stay afloat and how heavy planes stay flying.  Finally, we explored and played with the application of fluid physics and made pneumatic and hydraulic machines such as the hydraulic hand (great work Zara and Mia) and the hydraulic gate (well done Tariq, James and others).

So, our budding scientists have begun the journey to understand how liquid and gas particles behave, how they move and how they flow, just like a well-adjusted Class 8 Steiner high school student!

Bill Bennett
Math and Science Teacher

Class 9 play, ‘The Beaux Stratagem’

‘The Beaux Stratagem’ by George Farquhar, adapted by Thornton Wilder and Ken Ludwig. Directed by Jane Diamond.

Over the past four weeks, Class 9 students have been fully immersed in Drama Main Lesson play, ‘The Beaux Stratagem’ by George Farquhar, adapted by Thornton Wilder and Ken Ludwig. The play was written in the late Restoration period of 1707 by George Farquhar, an era renowned for witty and satirical comedies that made fun of the aristocratic and wealthy classes. This adaption is a reworking of the original by 20^th century playwright, Thornton Wilder and contemporary American playwright, screen writer and author, Ken Ludwig, who is still writing to this day. The play has been adapted to appeal to a contemporary audience without losing the essence of the original writing by Farquhar.

In the late Restoration period, England had undergone significant political change from 1660 onwards when Charles II became king after his exile in Europe, he had spent much of his time exposed to the theatricality of the French courts. The years prior, 1649-1660 were repressive years known as the Protectorate and were set against the background of the British Civil Wars, this period was under the governance of protestant, Sir Oliver Cromwell and later his son, Richard Cromwell. During this time all theatres were closed, and life was restrictive and puritan. However, the exiled Charles II reinstated all theatres in 1660, including momentously allowing women to appear on stage for the first time, life in England had become a free and more open society. Theatre thrived; there was an uptick in playwrights writing comedies about the aristocracy and country folk with wonderful acerbic wit and satire.

The story of the play sees two well to do friends Jack Archer and Thomas Aimwell, who have spent their money in London and are down to their last 200 pounds, are travelling through the countryside with the plan that they will find and marry a wealthy woman and equally divide the dowry. They devise a scheme or stratagem of alternating the role of master and servant between them as they travel from town to town, in the hope of meeting a young, single, wealthy woman whom they can marry. They arrive at the Lichfield Inn, Staffordshire, operated by Will Boniface who is also running a robbery business on the local highways and byways with the stolen goods moving through his hands at the inn. His daughter Cherry is in on the duplicitous nature of her father’s actions and business dealings. At the inn, Archer and Aimwell meet various colourful characters who lead them to meet the wealthy Kate Sullen and Dorinda Bountiful whom they plan to rob, however unexpectedly fall in love with the women and their original plans of theft are put awry.  The play ends happily with everyone finding their true love and the underlying theme of being true to oneself is the way to happiness.

Class 9 students not only performed their character roles, but they also played the music, managed props and quick set changes, and for some students, sword fight choreography. It was an incredible effort and the students demonstrated great maturity in their unwavering commitment, persistence and a genuine enthusiasm for the play and the creative process.

‘The Beaux Stratagem’ was performed at the Kalamunda Performing Arts Centre, on Wednesday May 8, 2024, for a very well received and successful matinee and evening performance. The students' hard work truly paid off in these two outstanding performances were both audiences were delighted, laughing out loud at the many humorous moments throughout the play.

Jane Diamond
Drama Teacher

Running Club

Well done to everyone who has participated over the last 3 weeks, as a group we have run/walked a massive 21km, that’s equivalent to walking to Midland Gate shopping center from the school, amazing!

We also have our first student to reach the 5km Club! Well Done to Cody in Class 8.

A reminder, Running Club is all about having a go and moving our bodies, enjoying the company of friends and being proud of your own efforts. We welcome students, staff, siblings, and parents to walk, run or jog with us. Meet us on the oval and be sure to bring your drink bottle.

Running Club is on a Friday morning between 8am – 8:25am.

If you would like more information or would like to register your interest, please email Siobhan on sjones@pws.wa.edu.au.

Interschool Sport

A reminder that the boys Netball Carnival for Class 8 and 9 is on the 23^rd of May, there will be an after-school training session on Monday the 20^th of May from 3:30-4:30 for any students who would like to attend. Fixtures will come out at the end of next week and then I will email some more information to parents.

We had our first of the two Netball Carnivals in week 3, which involved taking 3 teams down to Fremantle Netball Association. The students got the full Netball Carnival experience with games, forfeits, rain, wind and even the Lightning Rule being called which led to one round of games being cancelled. The students had some tough games but always represented the school and themselves well, with their behavior on and off the court being excellent and the student's skill level increased throughout the day.

Thank you to the parents for managing to get the students up and ready for the early 7:30am start and for supporting the students in attending the Netball Clinic in preparation. Also, a big thank you to Donna who coached our Class 8 Team and one of our wonderful Class 7 mums Megan who coached our Class 7 team.

The 2024 Winter season at Mundaring Arena is already up and running but they do run a Spring competition on Monday Nights in Term 4 with both mixed and ladies teams, so if your child has found a love for the sport this would be a great opportunity for them to get involved. I will put some more information about this closer to the time.

Lastly let’s end this wrap up with the chant the Class 7 students came up with on the day of the carnival…

2, 4 ,6 ,8 Parkerville, Slay!

Community Sport Opportunities

See below for some great opportunities to get involved in and try some fantastic community sports and activities.

Running

https://www.parkrun.com.au/register/

Parkrun is a free, community event where you can walk, jog, run, volunteer, or spectate. Parkrun is 5km and takes place every Saturday morning. Parkrun is positive, welcoming, and inclusive, there is no time limit, and no one finishes last. Everyone is welcome to come along.

Our local Parkrun:

• Mount Helena
• 8am Saturday Mornings

If you would like any further information on any of the activities listed above, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Siobhan Jones
Physical Education Coordinator

Class 11 & 12 Chemistry Elective

In recent weeks, Class 11 and 12 Chemistry students have been learning about the exciting world of acids and bases. One highlight of their journey has been the titration experiment, where they put their theoretical knowledge into practice to determine the unknown concentration of household acetic acid.

This experiment not only sharpened their understanding of chemical principles but also honed their practical skills. Precision became paramount as they navigated through measurements and utilised unknown equipment. The significance of titration as a crucial analytical technique resonated with them, emphasising its relevance in their academic pursuits and future endeavours. 

Olivia Burgio
High School Chemistry Teacher

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Class 12 Projects

Monet Larson

For my year 12 project I am looking at human evolution, my question is:

“Have humans finished evolving or will we continue to evolve in new ways and what is influencing these ways?“

Last year my sister and I were talking about project ideas and the topic of evolution came up.  I started thinking about how much humans have evolved, and it got me interested in learning more, especially in relation to how we will continue to evolve in the future.

Once I started researching future evolution, I began to realise how many ideas and theories were out there and so began my encounter with a lot of information that wasn’t really based on quality research. For example, one of my first encounters with future evolutionary patterns was with a website that made a very bold claim about humans becoming evolved to survive car crashes.

An image I saw online of a car crash evolved human called Graham and his physical characteristics are quite a few differences from current humans. For example, he has ribs that now grow around his neck, his brain is insulated with extra fluids and cord and he has a flat face so that his nose, and eyes are not damaged by impact of a car crash. He doesn’t actually look human at all!

Let’s just say after reading and seeing Graham online, I will not be looking at different versions of how humans may evolve to survive car crashes. What interests me instead is looking at the past patterns of human evolution from apes through to post-human societies and how technology and environments will impact the evolution of Homo-sapiens.

During my research I have found many interesting concepts.  One of these is the adaptation humans have made to be able to digest lactose. This adaptation consists of a specific digestive enzyme that in the past stopped being produced when humans matured, but a random mutation caused this enzyme to keep being produced and it made drinking milk possible. This enzyme is an adaptation that was successful as it gave the adapted hydration, vitamin D, and/or calcium. So over time and due to evolution, this was inherited down the line and now around 40% of the world's population can digest milk.  I found this interesting as this has resulted in genetic differences between humans that are diet related. Those of us that can digest lactose and those of us that can't. I started to look at other points of difference between us and learnt through conversations with others that a lot of people were interested, especially when it comes to how we may continue to change into the future.

One of the things I really like about my project is that I am constantly finding something to ponder; for example, the evolution of all the different blood types we have today, immunity to diseases and the multitude of variations in the physical features in humans.  I’ve started to realise as I'm looking more into human evolution, there are so many things that science does not know yet.

With that in mind, an issue I have come across is finding a mentor to help me navigate this vast topic. I’d love to connect with anyone who has experience or a passion for human evolution and how possible influences like technology and medicine may impact future humans.  Thoughts, theories and any interesting insight would be appreciated as I start to think of how to bring the practical component of my project to life. If this sounds like something you could help me with, please get in touch at monetlarson473@gmail.com.