Term 1 2025

Wednesday 5th February - Friday 11th April 

Term 2 2025

Tuesday 29th April - Friday 27th June

Public Holiday : Monday 2nd June WA Day

The full 2025 calendar is available via this link: Calendar - Parkerville Steiner College

The Class 8 students will present William Shakespeare’s wonderful comedy, ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ on Thursday 10 April outdoors amongst the trees in the beautiful Parkerville campus at 11.30am and 6.30pm. 

The play is one of Shakespeare’s most hilarious comedies exploring the ups and downs of love through the interface of the fairy and human world, as seen in the relationships of nobility and the more common crafts people. Audiences will be  delighted with the regal and noble characters, Theseus and Hippolyta, the magic of Titania Queen of the Fairies and Oberon King of the Fairies and Oberon’s key assistant Puck also known as Robin Goodfellow, the youthfulness of the lovers Hermia and Lysander, Helena and Demetrius, and of course the great hilarity of the well-meaning but ever bumbling mechanicals who perform ‘the most lamentable comedy’ of Pyramus and Thisbe!  

The students have worked diligently on the memorization of lines, extending themselves through character connection and embracing the challenges of speaking confidently in Elizabethan verse! The process of building a play with believable characters and developing skills in storytelling through dramatic action encourages students to step outside their comfort zones and activate their imaginations. The inner transformation and shifts that take place when we engage and foster our imaginations are significant qualities of Steiner education, and it is wonderful to see this evident in the Class 8 students. 

During the Main Lesson we focused on and applied a range of theatre and performance skills and understandings such as the learning of lines, speaking in verse, managing the rhythms of Elizabethan language, understanding the significance of expressive gesture, moving with intention and interacting meaningfully with other characters, playing music, learning about costume, make up and staging to create an immersive theatre production and experience for a live audience. The Main Lesson process is a deep dive which will culminate in a wonderfully magical and beautiful performance from Class 8. We congratulate and acknowledge the students on their focus and engagement and the support of many creative and hardworking staff such as Katina Bay for Music, Janice Still for Costumes, Simon Griffiths for set construction, Ivett Larrea as Teacher Assistant, Katie Turner, Hayley Spracklen and Ethna Brave. In addition to staff, I extend my gratitude to the wonderful and caring support of Class 8 parents. 

Jane Diamond 

Drama Teacher  

During Week 8 to 10 of Term 1, Class 9 embarked on a dynamic and hands-on journey into the world of Conic Sections, in their Main Lesson block. Rather than beginning with abstract equations, students were invited to first engage with the physical and spatial reality of the topic—through direct, playful, and artistic experiences that brought mathematical concepts vividly to life. 

The Main Lesson opened with a series of explorations designed to build an experiential foundation. Students began by constructing cones from paper and straws. A highlight was cutting through party hats and play dough cones—an engaging and tactile way to experience how these familiar forms arise naturally from simple spatial transformations. By slicing through them at different angles they revealed the four distinct conic sections: the circle, ellipse, parabola, and hyperbola.  

From this experiential base, the class moved into more formal construction methods. Using compass and ruler, students constructed conic sections from intersecting circles and later through the elegant technique of envelope constructions. These artistic processes revealed the deep geometric harmony that underpins these shapes and showed clearly how each form is a metamorphosis of the circle—transformed through movement and perspective. 

This exploration wasn’t limited to the visual or tactile. Students also learned to describe conic sections algebraically using Cartesian equations, and then through the lens of locus definitions - bridging the gap between concrete experience and abstract reasoning. They observed how the shifting of foci transforms one conic section into another, deepening their understanding of form as dynamic and fluid. 

This Main lesson not only sharpened students’ spatial visualisation skills but also offered profound insights into the forces and forms shaping both the natural and built environment. From the orbit of planets to the design of bridges, the students discovered how conic sections appear all around us. 

Importantly, this topic laid essential groundwork for future study in Projective Geometry, where the idea of infinity and the interplay of space and form are explored further. Students gained an inner sense of the polar forces - radial and peripheral - that shape space, and learned to see geometry not just as a fixed system, but as a living, evolving language of form. 

Through the conic sections block, students experienced a truly integrative approach to mathematics—blending movement, drawing, construction, and algebra to build a rich and lasting understanding. It was a joy to witness the energy and creativity they brought to this topic, and the clarity they gained in return. 

Tamsin Formaggio

Maths & Science Teacher

Over the past three weeks, our Class 10 students have been on a fascinating journey through the history of modern art, exploring how world events, new technologies and changing global consciousness have impacted art making over time.  

We began this journey in the Italian Baroque period (1650–1750), a time when art became much more dramatic, dynamic and full of energy. Unlike the calm and balanced scenes of the Renaissance, Baroque artists used strong contrasts of light and dark, realistic detail, and movement to bring their works to life. Students explored how changing views of religion influenced art during this time, and compared the works of Caravaggio, known for his intense realism and use of shadow, and Artemisia Gentileschi, one of the few successful female painters of the era. In contrast, students turned their attention to the Northern Baroque and the Dutch Golden Age of painting, where Protestantism, Dutch independence and nationalism influenced artists to focus on landscapes, still lives, and scenes of everyday life. They analysed the quiet, intimate scenes of Johannes Vermeer and the expressive portraits of Rembrandt van Rijn.  

Moving into the 18th and 19th centuries, students saw how art began to respond to a rapidly changing world. The Age of Enlightenment, which focused on logic, reason and order, led to events such as the French Revolution and the Industrial Revolution. These historical events challenged artists to rethink their purpose and style to reflect the changing world. Art of the Romantic movement (1790s-1850s), for example, saw artists like JMW Turner returning to nature and capturing the beauty, wonder and terror of the natural world through passionate and striking landscape paintings.  

New technologies in the late 19th century, such as photography, led to the rise of Impressionism (1860s-1890s) and Post-Impressionism (1880s–1910s), where painters like Claude Monet and Vincent Van Gogh experimented with light, colour, and brushwork to capture the feeling of a moment rather than a realistic image. This departure from realism shifted art to become more recognisably ‘modern’. Students closely examined the complex emotions captured by Van Gogh through his creative use of colour and expressed their appreciation for his life and work.  

Finally, we explored how art continued to evolve in the 20th century with movements like Cubism (1907–1920s) and Surrealism (1924–1960s). These modern movements were influenced by the chaos of increasing technological advancements and world wars. As a result, artists began to experiment with more abstract forms and experimental techniques. We examined how modern artists push the boundaries of how we see and interpret the world around us. Students are now applying their knowledge to researching an artist of their choice.  

On this inspiring journey through creativity and change, students have developed a deeper appreciation of how art reflects the ideas, values, and events of its time. This understanding will inevitably inform their own art practices as well as their perception of the world around them.  

Chiara Corbet  

English and Humanities Teacher 

Term 1 has been an exciting and active time in Physical Education across all year levels! 

Class 8 and 10 students embraced the outdoors with a kayaking unit, led by one of our experienced camp leaders, Pete Ashby. Sessions took place at a variety of scenic venues, giving students the chance to build their paddling skills and water confidence in real-world settings. Over the term, it was fantastic to see students grow in confidence and capability on the water, learning to navigate, paddle effectively, and support one another in challenging environments. 

It has also been a real joy to have the Class 10 exchange students joining in Physical Education this term. Their enthusiasm, energy, and willingness to try new activities brought a great sense of fun and cultural richness to our sessions, and they’ve been a wonderful addition to the group. 

Class 9 focused on volleyball this term, with a strong emphasis on both skill development and gameplay. Students worked hard to refine their serving, passing, and spiking techniques, and applied these in competitive and cooperative game settings. The improvement in teamwork and overall skill level across the group was impressive. 

Meanwhile, Class 7 students spent Term 1 preparing for their upcoming camp. Their program focused on building water skills through swimming and sailing, as well as developing team spirit through group activities and bonding sessions. These experiences helped students get to know each other better and laid a strong foundation for the adventures to come. 

It’s been a fantastic start to the year, with students across all classes rising to new challenges and supporting one another in active, engaging learning experiences 

Siobhan Jones  

Physical Education Coordinator  

The Red Tails Coffee Shack lunch service has returned in 2025, providing a wholesome school lunch service to PSC families. 

Lunch Service will be available Wednesday and Fridays.

All orders will need to be placed through the below site preferably the night before or by 8am on lunch order days.

Please take time to peruse the site below: Canteen-Parkerville Steiner College (square.site)

Password: steiner 

Please make sure you put your childs name, class and order day/date in the 'Add a note for the seller' section of the website at the checkout.

We were very excited to be provide this to our families and have found a wonderful service in Red Tails, thank you for your support.

Steiner Voices XYZ is a podcast series showcasing some of the varied voices of Steiner school communities and their people around the country, of teachers, parents and students.

Follow our Steiner Voices XYZ podcast series every second Tuesday as each episode is released, and you’ll meet some of the many people who make our Australian Steiner schools such vibrant learning communities.

Steiner Voices XYZ - Steiner Education Australia