Term 3
Monday 15th July – Thursday 19th September

Open Day: Sunday 8th September
Day Off In Lieu: Monday 9th September

Term 4
Tuesday 8th October to Friday 6th December (Half day)

Pupil Free Day: Friday 8th November

CHAIR’S REPORT AT THE 2024 AGM 

Ladies and gentlemen,  

It is my pleasure to present my first report as the Chair of the PWS Council. I am grateful to the preceding Chair, Kewan Bond for building and running a strong and diverse Council over several years of leadership. The Council role is to provide strategic direction and governance to the school. It ensures that the school continues to deliver high quality Steiner education by monitoring its performance, educational outcomes, ensuring compliance, and managing risks and finances. I would like to thank each and every one of the outgoing Council members for their hard work and dedication throughout the year. In particular, I would like to thank Wim Matthys, our outgoing Secretary, who is not renominating for Council tonight but remains a parent at the school. Thank you, Wim, for your work on and dedication to the council during this past year, including that on the Risk Subcommittee.  

Tonight, I will give you a brief overview of the main highlights of the past year from a council viewpoint.  

The overall picture of the school is one of strength, growth and overcoming the many challenges that have arisen and those that are currently being well managed.  

Our school is one of the largest Steiner schools in Australia. Over 180 staff provide holistic Steiner education via a high quality Curriculum to 595 students from K4 through to Year 12 across two campuses. The staff are well supported by their Faculty Heads, Coordinators and the College. The development of new staff includes Teacher Training in Anthroposophy and mentoring. Our NAPLAN results are consistently at or above the national average. We now have three streams of Steiner High School students across classes 7-9, and in another three years we will have three streams all the way to Class 12. Last year, 40 Year 12 students graduated and are now pursuing careers of their choice.  

Here I would like to acknowledge and thank the Administrator, our Coordinators, teaching, assistants, admin, finance, grounds and all other staff for their hard work and dedication that is resulting in a positive school experience for so many of our students. Our staff and parent surveys were very positive in most areas, reflecting the healthy culture and energy among the staff and students at our thriving school.  

The vision of offering High School Steiner education in WA has grown from one to two and now three streams. One of the main drivers of this vision was our Administrator, Bruce Lee who, together with a small, dedicated team of people, worked hard to make it a reality.  

Our Administrator, Bruce Lee is on the Board of Steiner Education Australia as well as becoming more active with the Association of Independent Schools WA as a long-time Head of School. He actively fosters a healthy cooperation between the WA Steiner schools, as well as providing support to those schools experiencing challenges. His active strategic leadership in these areas, which is well beyond his written job description, has been key to the continued growth of Steiner education in Western Australia. Thank you, Bruce, for your positive leadership, strategic vision and determination that contributes so much to the growth of Steiner education in this state.  

The enrolments at our school have grown across most classes, with marketing now targeting classes where students traditionally decide to pursue different education choices, such as Class 5 (for Class 7 choices) and Class 10 (for Class 11 and 12 choices or other education pathways). This will ensure that classes are as full as possible in order to continue the healthy financial situation of the school, as our enrolments determine our income from the Federal and State governments and the tuition fees from parents and carers.   

This segues to our finances. The key points include the final payments for Stage 1 of Parkerville Steiner College, that has resulted in six classrooms built at Parkerville. Another key financial milestone was the recent council approval of the Business Plan for Stage 2 of Parkerville Steiner College. Stage 2 comprises three Science/Chemistry/General Learning Classrooms of 85-95m², one 49m² General Learning Classroom, a pantry/storage and a teacher’s office. In total 370m² for buildings and 90m² for verandas.  

The school finances are healthy and able to service these large capital works. Here I wish to acknowledge the valuable work of Sunu Rozario, Dennis Garac and our Finance team that makes this vision and the financial wellbeing of our school a reality.  

I will end with this excerpt from our school mission statement:  

“We, parents, teachers, and staff recognise and value children as spiritual beings who come into the world with specific intentions. Through Anthroposophy our work is to strengthen and support them to fulfil their life task. Thus, we strive to develop in our students the capacities for creative and independent thinking and judgement, enabling them to act in a free, morally responsible way… The education strives to educate the whole child with a healthy balance in intellectual, practical, and social-emotional experiences.” 

Thank you. 

Peter Finlay 
Council Chair

Running Club

A reminder, Running Club is all about having ago 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. We will be continuing our Run Club into Term 3, so if you haven’t given it a try yet please consider joining in next term.

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

Term 2 Sports

Class 7

This term in Class 7 the students completed a 5-week unit at Mundaring Arena on Volleyball. They started the unit very new to the sport and we modified our game play to suit this, starting with a modified volleyball game which involved throwing and catching.

Over the weeks we learnt how to Serve, Dig and Set and once we moved onto a more formal game of Volleyball the students learnt the rules of the game and the rotation’s involved in the sport. The students’ growth over the course of the unit was very impressive and I often spent the end of the lesson singing the students’ praises. Well done Class 7 on a wonderful sports unit this Term.

Community Sport Opportunities

Please see community notices at the bottom of the newsletter for some great opportunities to get involved in and try some fantastic community sports and activities.

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

At the heart of Steiner Science lies the quest to comprehend our own being and the environment surrounding us. A big part of that understanding is the study into how the rhythmic bag of bones we call a body lives, sleeps, talks, breathes, moves and meanders through life.  In the final three weeks of the second term, Year 9 students immersed themselves in the "Rhythmic Systems" Main Lesson examining the cycles of time, the alternation of day and night, how the adolescent responds to the circadian rhythm, and the patterns of sleep, breathing, and heartbeats. We pondered life's cadences and what constitutes music and noise.  We explored rhythmic sounds and how they enhance our lives, our communication, fostering a sense of connection with others and with our inner selves. This underscores the importance we place on nurturing the imagination. Students were challenged to answer the question "What happens at night" through storyboards. They conjured up tales of creatures of the night stealing socks from drawers, social media-fixated fiends haunting the elderly, cats and bats capturing their nightly prey, the restlessness of Christmas Eve, a youth facing a zombie nightmare, extraterrestrial encounters, and the silent approach of spiders in the dark.

Our exploration of the breathing and heartbeats allowed us to examine a heart, culminating in a careful look, touch and dissecting a “pluck," a combined specimen of lung, heart, and liver ethically provided by our supplier.

We spent time on the process and benefits of sleep that can best be captured by the master of sleep: Shakepeare.

“Innocent sleep. Sleep that soothes away all our worries. Sleep that puts each day to rest. Sleep that relieves the weary laborer and heals hurt minds.”

William Shakespeare, Macbeth

Hopefully the students have gained some insight into the importance of rhythms, of sleep that heals hurt minds. Now for the next Main Lesson.

Dr Bill Bennett

Maths/Science Teacher

Both class 8 and class 9 Woodwork students have been very productive in Semester one despite the extreme temperatures delaying our practical work outdoors.  We began the year with interpreting engineering drawings and developing drawing communication skills to produce a plan for our projects. 

Class 8 

For the first project, students produced a 6 x 4 Photo Frame out of beautifully featured Tasmanian Oak. Students used a more traditional range of tools and production techniques to rebate and mitre their pieces, rather than relying on power tools to do the hard work for them. 

For their second project students were tasked with designing and producing a clock. With the clock mechanism as the only constraint, students were free to design any clock shape they wanted, choosing from a wide range of timbers. The creativity and work ethic of the class was most impressive, which was evident in the beautiful clocks produced this term. 

Class 9 

For the first project students produced a Pencil Box from their choice of timber. Again, the focus was to produce their boxes using as many hand tools as possible but increasing their exposure to some new power tools.  

For their second project students produced a CO2 powered car. The aim of this project is multifaceted, designing within strict engineering constraints, consideration of aerodynamics, aesthetics, timber selection, carving and shaping, and applying an enamel finish. All of this culminated in a small car that accommodates a CO2 gas cannister which propels the car down a 20m track at great speed, usually between 2 and 3 seconds! The race will take place next term when the other class 9 group has completed their cars, which is something we all look forward to. 

Simon Griffiths

Design & Technology Teacher

Towards the end of last term, our Class 8 and 9 students were invited, together with PWS students, for a night of fun and dancing. The evening began with some wild weather, which soon passed once we were on the water. While some students were glued to the dance floor, others spent the night enjoying the comany or watching off some impressive and energetic dance moves! It was a fantastic night, with fun had by all.

We celebrated the Winter Solstice with a beautiful and reverent Winter Festival to end Term Two. We were blessed with a crisp star-studded night and a mesmorising winter moon which lit up the evening.

Students, staff and parents walked the spiral, which went from one single flame in the centre to a sea of flickering lights sprinkled throughout the green foliage. Surrounded by the glow of candles, the warmth of the fire, the melodious singing, and the captivating fire-twirlers, the atmosphere was full of warmth and companionship.

The festival culminated with the school community coming together to share warm soup and bread. 

Class 10 Chemistry Main Lesson

Olivia Burgio

High School Maths & Chemistry Teacher

 

Class 10 Photography Class

Students were asked to bring in a favourite miniature toy and to capture it with a small depth of field, achieved by controlling the f-stop/aperture. They considered the background and were encouraged to experiment with composition and lighting. These are just a few of the excellent images they created!

Mel Macaulay
Photography Teacher

Class 12 Projects

Ignacio Espinosa 

Personally, I value money and financial
success highly in my life and it is a goal I strive towards. I have a strong belief that our financial state is among one of the most important parts of our life as it buys us freedom. The importance of money is only outweighed by your health as you can't do anything while dying, and family as true love and human connection are things that cannot be bought. Since I started thinking about my project, I knew my topic would be more than an exploration of
a topic I found interesting.
It also had to be a deep dive into a concept which can provide value to myself, along with those around me.

This led me to the question I am asking this year:

What are the fundamentals for achieving financial freedom, why are they often absent in the majority of people, and what strategies can young people implement to pave a path to a financially successful future?  

I decided to delve into the topic of financial freedom for a few reasons, first as I stated before I believe money holds an important role within our life and it is crucial to understand it. I also understood that research into this topic is incredibly useful and applicable into my life as it is a topic that will be relevant forever.  Lastly, the topic aligned with my personal goals and interests, making it the perfect fit in all aspects.

Money is an important topic in anyone's life from budgeting, money management, and debt to overall financial wellbeing and success. Despite this importance, I found that there is an overwhelming lack of financial literacy among young people, and this causes many noticeable problems. This led me to research exploring the biggest influences into what is called ‘low financial literacy’. I found out that parents shape their children's financial literacy from a young age through experiences and lessons that create their financial habits. These early experiences with money significantly drive financial behaviours and attitudes later in adulthood. Parents can exclude their children from money conversations in an attempt to shield them, but this can lead them to growing up with a real lack of awareness in making financial decisions and managing money. Understandably, this can cause many struggles simply due to this lack of understanding.

It is not only parents that set up behaviours in relation to finance for young people. I’ve also learnt that education is not doing enough in terms of teaching financial literacy to students from an early age.  The ASIC (Australian Securities & Investments Commission) states we have around 82% of all Generation Z (Aussies aged around 18-26 years old) who are financially stressed. This could be interpreted as meaning that they haven’t learnt how to manage money from either their parents or through their education.

I see the counter to many of these problems as solid knowledge, good attitudes, and hard work, as the combination of these things can help rapidly propel you into achieving your financial goals. Throughout my essay, I explored the many issues along with influences that cause the pursuit of financial freedom to elude so many of us. I also researched ‘self-made’ successful people who not only worked hard but had a real understanding of how to make their finances work for them.

I am grateful for the knowledge and understanding that I have gained while working on the year 12 project and I am ready for a further dive into the topic with my practical. My practical is in the planning process, as I haven't finalised my plan and am open to new ideas, I look forward to creating something that can hopefully provide value to others and myself. I am interested in talking with people who live with similar ideas around financial freedom to help me shape the practical component of my project. If this sounds like something you live by and understand, please get in touch with me at (espinosaignacio@outlook.com.au)