DANDENONG RANGES STEINER SCHOOL
11c Duffys Rd Emerald and 51 School Rd Menzies Creek
www.drss.vic.edu.au T: 03 8790 4797
In the free being of the humanThe universe is gathered up.
Then in the free resolve of your heart
Take your own life in hand, and you will find the world…
The spirit of the world will find itself in you.” – Rudolf Steiner
Term four 3 October – 14 December
Sat 15 Oct / Working Bee 10 - 1Sun 16 Oct / Class 5 Girls Celebration Day 9-4 Cl 4 room
Mon Oct 17 / Class 6 camp to Kilcunda departs 8.30am
Tues Oct 18 / Class 6 camp returns 3.00pm
Wed Oct 19 / Class 5 camp to Sovereign Hill departs 9am
Thurs Oct 20 / Class 2 Parent meeting 7.30pm
Fri Oct 21 / Class 5 camp returns 4pm
Sun Oct 23 / Spring Fair and Market Day 10am – 4pm
Mon 24 Oct / Rest Day
Wed 26 Oct / ASSOCIATION SPECIAL GENERAL MEETING 7.30
Thurs 27 Oct / Information Evening Kinder
Mon 31 Oct / Report Writing Day
Tues 1 Nov / Melbourne Cup Day
Tues 1 - 4 Nov / Class 6 Camp to Jungai
Wed 9 Nov / Assembly Classes 1-6 9-9.30am
Thurs 10 Nov / Prep Meeting 7pm
Wed 16 Nov / Curriculum Day – No classes for whole school
Thurs 17 Nov / Little Kinder Parent meeting 7pm
Thurs 1 Dec / Puffing Billy Excursion Big Kinder
Wed 7 Dec / Prep 2017 Orientation session
Class 1 2017 Orientation session
Fri 9 Dec / Little Kinder Christmas Festival
Tues 13 Dec / Little Kinder Puffing Billy excursion
Primary Christmas Festival
Wed 14 Dec / Big Kinder Christmas Festival
Prep Christmas Festival
Term 4 ends - Half Day
Class 6 Graduation
School will be closed on Severe Extreme & Code Red Fire days / Page 6 of 12
Snapshots
Big Kinder - Karin
The Big Kinder children have started term 4 with great joy being amongst our beautiful Spring garden. Prep transition has begun and children eagerly await their turn to play in the Prep area. Our circle time is Pelle's new suit which shows us just how much the children have grown over the holidays and we are acting out The Three Billy Goats Gruff at story time.
We would like to extend a very warm welcome to Noah Nestor and family who have joined our Kindergarten and school community this term. And also to Delilah baby sister for Amalya.
We would also like to thank the many families who came to our Working Bee on Saturday. We had so much help; our jobs were completed in no time.
We look forward to a busy and rewarding term.
Class 1 - Dionne
Class one are happily solving many problems for their farmer friends; adding apples, taking away extra cups, sharing the eggs and multiplying cake ingredients. They are a clever bunch of mathemagicians!
Class 2 - Marianne
We are hearing of the struggles of Columba (dove) who was also named Crinithan (wolf) at birth, as he finds his path and becomes Saint Columba.
Class 3 – Susan
Class 3 has begun the term with the Building Main Lesson, including a project to build a model of a house. In the school-grounds, we are constructing a Willow-dome after having learnt about floor-plans and measuring circles in a simplified way using string and stick. Enid Blyton’s Tamillan is our inspiration! We are also taking weekly walks to the pine trees next to the dam to build ‘bush cubbies’. Our vegetable gardens are flourishing under the extra rain and tropical? weather.
The Class 3 Parent Meeting is on at 7pm this Thursday.
Class 4 - Tamsenne
We are busy rehearsing our for play“Thor’s Hammer of Thunder”. We are dancing the Voluspa, reciting a poem and performing our play for all of the classes on Thursday morning and the parents in the evening. Our sheilds are all finished and we are making Viking helmets. We welcome two new families to our class this term, Chrisiana Nestor and parents Brooke and Tom, and Jack Syme and his parents Kimberley and Cage.
Class 5 – Glenn
Class 5 have started term with a Local geography Main Lesson focussing on the Dandenong ranges, Melbourne and wider Victoria. A visit to the William Ricketts Sanctuary and Sky High, Mt Dandenong is planned for this week. Whilst our work will culminate in a two night camp at Sovereign Hill, where the children will learn more about the Goldfields and the life of the early settlers in Ballarat. We are looking forward to the Class 5 “Greek Olympics” which will take place on Friday 4th November at MRSS. Little Yarra and Sophia Mundi are also taking part.
Class Six - Martina
Class Six are completing their astronomy main lesson. We have wondered at our glorious sun and our tiny solar system and then been astonished by the whole cosmos. We will finish our lesson with a look at our humble singular moon. Next week we begin our Geology main lesson with an overnight camp to Kilcunda beach. We will collect rocks and consider the many formations in the beach-scape and attempt to paint it. If the night is clear on camp we will do a little star gazing. Being at the beach will give us an opportunity to witness the tides.The children are revising formulae for perimeter and area and have heard about Archimedes and his attempts to measure circles accurately in ancient times. No nudity or baths in that story! And, they have learnt about Pi and how it describes the ratio between the radius and circumference of a circle. We will apply our knowledge to measuring circles this week.
From the College
Animals at School policy
The Dandenong Ranges Steiner School values a warm and caring respect for the animal world. Whilst we welcome animals to the school, it is the responsibility of the owner to provide for the needs of the animal and for it’s control.
In the interests of all concerned, all pets brought to school need to be suitably contained and provided for by the owner (water and appropriate food for duration of visit).
The approval of the Class Teacher must be given for a pet to visit the classroom.
It is the owner’s responsibility that dogs must be HELD on lead at all times in the school grounds. It is also the owner’s responsibility to clean up after their dog. As some children can be distressed by a dog’s presence, the duty teacher or other staff member may ask the owner to remove the dog from the school grounds.
Liability for the actions of any animal brought onto the school grounds remains with the owner.
Rob Gordon Talk
On Tuesday evening we had a fascinating talk by Dr Rob Gordon on "Building Resilience in Children". Rob gave many illustrations of the various stages of child development, challenging us to reach back into our early memories of childhood to see the world as they do. Some of these related to how the young child is constantly interacting with the material world around them physically and, indeed, with all their senses, much more directly than adults as, for them, it is all new, unexplored and needing to be experienced.
He then gave an example from his own childhood when he, and a friend, had thrown first fruit peels and then fruit at a greenhouse - with predictable results. He was simply delighted at the amazing (shattering) sounds it made, and when asked why he had done it, he had absolutely no (conscious) idea.
So often when we ask a child why they have done something they don't really know. Whereas if we ask what they might have been thinking or what prompted the action, they can be led to both give their parents some understanding of their action. This then enables the parent, according to the child’s age, give them some recognition of why that was not the best possible response (in, say, the case of hitting another child).
He also talked about the importance of allowing children to explore their boundaries and potential dangers. At the same time still giving them distinct boundaries so they know and experience being held and looked after. The lack of such boundaries frequently leading to various levels of anxiety, as in effect, we are asking them take on the responsibilities beyond their years.
Overall it was a very stimulating and rewarding evening and we thanks Emily, Michaela and Tamsenne for their work in pulling it together. It was very pleasing to see so many parents take the opportunity to attend despite the havoc of the power blackouts from Sunday’s storm.
A Pictoral day in the life of our School
Wild and windy weather saw our Primary campus closed on Monday. SMS messages sent out to parent’s took some co-ordination with phone services intermittent and roads blocked by fallen trees across the Ranges. Some people got the messages and others didn’t. The clean-up began early Monday morning at the Primary campus. Our thanks to you all for meeting these challenges with grace and good humour. Some families are still without power four days later and various other families have provided showers and refuge for the stressed. These small acts of kindness make us a community.
From Publicity Fund-raising
Spring Fair and Market Day
IMPORTANT DATES
· SATURDAY 15th OCT - Working Bee at the Primary Campus 10am – 1pm
· SATURDAY 22th OCT – Basic set up 10am – 1pm
· SUNDAY 23th OCT – Spring Fair and Market Day 10am – 4pm
· MONDAY 24th OCT – Rest Day – No school
Please check your Spring Fair and Market Day Newsletter for detailed information and raffle tickets.
ROSTERS
We've joined the 21st Century! You will now have received an email with details of how to Sign Up for a 1hr shift. With 228 hours of shifts to fill this is the biggest help you can offer. Contributing 1 hour each allows all families time to enjoy the day together. If you are able to cover additional shifts it would be greatly appreciated.
SHARING IS CARING
We are hoping to have a fantastic turn out at this year’s event. Please share the Spring Fair and Market Day poster with your friends and family via email, text message and face book. We also have spare posters on the Office if you would like to hand some out.
RAFFLE TICKETS
SPECIAL PRIZE
The first family to sell two complete raffle books will win a $75 voucher for Kallista Biodynamic Market! MUST BE RETURNED TO THE MAIN OFFICE TO CLAIM THIS PRIZE.
EARLY BIRD DRAW
As an extra incentive to get those raffle tickets back quickly we will be holding an early bird draw next Wednesday with the great prize of a Puffing Billy Family Pass for 2 adults and 4 children.
CHILDREN'S TENT
The Children’s Tent team are eagerly awaiting your contributions. Please get them to Nardya (Class1, 3) or Sarah (Little Kinder) or hand in items to the office.
SCHOOL TABLE
Craft working bees will be held on the following dates. Please contact Abbie if you are planning on attending any session to assist her with planning each session. 041249737
Thursday 13th October, 7.00pm – 9.00pm ECH Campus
Tuesday 18th October, 9.15am –11.45 am ECH Community Room And 1.00pm - 2.45pm ECH Community Room
Thursday 20th October, 7.00pm – 9.00pm ECH Campus
CLOTHING STALL
Donations of ladies and children’s/babies clothes, in good condition can be left in the corner of the hall under the DONATIONS sign or at kinder until Tuesday the 18th. Please no stained or torn items, and kindly no marketed merchandise.
WOODWORK
This year we would like to have some woodcraft items to sell in our School Table. If you are interested in helping out please call Simone Healy on 0414326475/ 97542026.
STRAW BALES
Straw bales can be pre-purchased for the bargain price of $12. They will be used for seating on the day. Please contact Rachel on 0432 105 510 to order. Payment must be made at the Office before Friday the 23rd
From the Spring Fair and Market Day Team
From the Wider Steiner Community
The Gabriel Trust
‘Doll-making for nourishment and support’
A beautiful and artistic way to express love and loss.
Saturday 22nd October 2016, 10.00-2.00p.m.
We invite bereaved women to join us for the ‘Doll-making for nourishment and support’ workshop, offered by the Gabriel Trust to support women who have experienced the loss of a baby, either as a result of miscarriage, stillbirth, or due to other circumstances after birth and in infancy.
Dolls for workshop Doll-making is a beautiful, simple and nourishing artistic activity. In this workshop, we will craft a doll in a supportive and gentle atmosphere.
This hands-on creative exercise offers bereaved women an artistic opportunity to express and focus their grief, loss and love, and in this process, find some comfort.
In lovingly stitching, shaping and bringing a doll into form, we invest our innermost self. The doll becomes a simple but deeply felt gesture of love toward the child who has not survived.
Emotional support will be offered through Sands Victoria. Sands Victoria is a service that offers support 24/7 for parents whose baby has died through miscarriage, stillbirth or other circumstances resulting in newborn death.
When: Saturday 22nd October from 10.00 am- 2.00 p.m.
Where: The Michael Centre, 37A Wellington Park Drive, Warranwood, VIC 3134. To register: visit the “News and Events” page at www.gabrielcentre.com.au Cost: no charge. Information: Tiffany Lovegrove, 9876 1092 (Monday-Thursday) or 0413 120 345 or email:
DRSS - Term Dates 2017
Term One Tuesday 31 Jan – Friday 31 Mar (9wks)
Mon 30 Jan Staff Meeting
Tues 31 Jan Classroom preparation
Tues 31st Jan Set up day (EC Campus)
Wed 1 Feb Students Commence – Class 2-6
Wed 1st Feb Interviews Prep, LK, BK
Thurs Feb 2 Students Commence – Class 1
Thurs 2nd Feb Interviews Prep, LK, BK