YSS Newsletter 2025 Term 1 Week 10 – Yallingup Steiner School

Now to myself belonging I radiate my inner light Within the darkened realms of space and time; To sleep inclines the natural Being. The depths of Soul-life must awaken And waking, carry sun-filled glowing To chilly winter's flooding. Calendar of the Soul -Rudolf Steiner

Upcoming Events Term 4

Week 10

Monday 7th April

Class 6 Acts of Service 9am
Introduction to Eurythmy -in Hall 3:45-4:45pm

Tuesday 8th April

Wednesday 9th April

Ice Cream Day: Matt H and Kerstin

Thursday 10th April

Friday 11th April

Acts of Service and Games day.
Last day of Term 1 (full day).

Term Two

Monday 28th April

First day term 2

Week 10

Dear Families,

As the term draws to a close there is much to reflect upon and to celebrate.

The seasonal mood is shifting with changeable weather and the most beautiful early mornings. Here at school the recent rains have brought vitality back into the local native species in our gardens after the dry of summer.

Our beautiful Pygmy Perch installation from the Equinox has had a spruce up thanks to Class 5 and we look forward to the Acts of Service and games day this Friday.

This week’s newsletter strongly features the activities of this year’s graduating Class 6’s who have been deeply immersed in curriculum activities.

It is my pleasure to make mention of the performance held on Friday evening to the wonder of all lucky enough to be in the audience.

In collaboration with Class teachers Ruth and Sally and music specialist Rae-Lee, the students were presented with an adaptation of the Greek tale of Odysseus. This is a script that I had written for a graduating Class of mine several years ago.

The opportunity to re-imagine the staging to suit a different group of children in conjunction with respected colleagues resulted in a newly crafted, cut and amended version, that was wholeheartedly embraced by this cohesive and receptive group of young people.

The transformative power of the dramatic artform was evident in both process and product.

As a Steiner school, it is so vitally important that we ensure that artistic experience is continually offered as a vehicle for deep learning and experience to our students.

In the words of Steiner himself;

“Joy in living, a love for all existence…

Such are among the lifelong results

of a right cultivation of the feeling for beauty and for art. “

Kindest Regards,

Jacqui

Class 6 Play: Tale of Odysseus

Class 6: Sailing

As the 12-year-old child stands on the precipice of adolescence and prepares to venture into the world beyond our little school, they are seeking confidence, strength and independence. The Class Six Sailing Program is a special experience for the Class Six students that meets these needs and provides a challenging rite of passage for our oldest class.

Adventure Sailing is located at the Port Geographe Marina and we participated in the Learn to Sail – Level One course over three half days. This sailing course is designed for participants who wish to begin sailing. The first step on the sailing journey introduced the basics of sailing including boat handling, safety and sailing theory. On completion of this course, they were able to confidently crew a sailing boat and be a useful crew member instead of being just a passenger.

A piece from Emma at Adventure Sailing

The crew at Adventure Sailing were so fortunate to have Yallingup Steiner school bring their Class Six students for a 3 day sailing program for the 3rd year in a row!

This year the kids and adults got to sail in a bit more luxury on our 65 foot ketch ‘Starsand’.

The students were great listeners, and worked well together in teams to make the boat work.

We covered topics such as understanding wind and weather, parts of a boat, helming, raising and lowering sails, sail trim, knots, reefing sails, rules of the road, IALA markers and buoys, tacking, gybing, sailing a course and more!

What we love sharing about sailing is that you must be present in the moment and continually observe the conditions. It’s an act of mindfulness at its best, keeping us away from all the distractions of life on land.

We hope the kids got as much out of it as we did, we were super impressed at their grit and determination whilst grinding winches and hoisting sails!

Once they are 14 they can come and do their Skippers ticket course with us, and when older we offer commercial maritime training pathways. It’s a great industry to be in.

Fair winds and smooth seas,

Emma (Pups) McPherson

Adventure Sailing

Class 6: St Georges Family Centre Experience

The Class Six students began their year of service by assisting the volunteers each Monday at St George’s Anglican Church with the Share & Care program. This program based at the precinct builds community through sharing food, skills, space, time and knowledge. By connecting people, we foster a mutual respect and support for each other and the planet. The children assisted the church volunteers to sort through the donated food. In this process different groups weighed and collated the food, sorted through and processed the recycling and prepared food for the Tuesday night family night.

These are the students’ reflections.

Zoe

St George’s is a place where food donations go, and this food is turned into delicious meals for the public. One of the most surprising things about this experience was the amount of food discarded when there was nothing wrong with it. Some food was thrown out just for having a dent in the packaging. One of the jobs I was given was to prepare the space for people who would come to eat there on Tuesday nights. This job has given me a great understanding of how people work around a kitchen and all the sanitisation requirements. I also noticed the amount of work going on behind the scenes to prepare for the evening, smalls things I now notice when I go out and recognise the effort gone into it. The impact this place has on some peoples’ lives has given me a different understanding, one that will stay with me for life.

Grace

I had an amazing experience at St George’s. I learnt so much about recycling and how different milk lids are softer and harder than others for example if a milk lid has a 4 on it is softer and if it has a 2 it is harder plastic. I also chopped a lot of food; the amount of food they get from the major supermarkets is unbelievable and they save it from going to waste. So, I think it is really amazing to be able to create meals for people who are in need. It was also fun to go every week, and it was really nice to get to know all the volunteers there who don’t get paid, just do it to help others. This learning experience has made me realise how good it feels to be able to help with community service. I mostly helped with the recycling, and it could definitely be something we could do better at our school.

George

At St George’s we helped make food for people in need. We also learnt a lot about recycling and how much more we could do. I was surprised at how much good food got thrown away for reasons like the package was damaged, it was close to being out of date or slightly wilted. So much waste is being created by the big supermarkets. This waste goes into landfill and is so unnecessary. I am going to try and think more about how and what I can recycle. The people who volunteer at the Church help people come together and have a nice meal, this simple action helps the earth stay healthy. I am inspired to help people who need it and look after our planet.

Isaac

I have had a wonderful time helping with the recycling process. We had to weigh coffee pods, label boxes of aerosol, sort batteries and pill packets and so many different plastic lids. I would like to bring in more recycling into school.

Sascha

I think it was really helpful going to St George’s because we learnt so much about recycling. I never knew how much food got thrown away into landfill. St George’s also helps people who can’t afford a meal or for people who don’t have a family, they provide a place to enjoy food and company. This experience will hopefully be carried out into the future at our school.

Florence

I had such an amazing experience at St George’s. I helped chop food to make desserts like fruit salad and dessert cups. I realised just how much fruit is thrown away that is perfectly fine. I also enjoyed doing the recycling, sorting lids from milk cartons, hair care and dental care. I learnt that there is so much stuff that can be recycled, and this experience has made me more aware.

Jarrah

Helping at St George’s was really fun and it made me feel good knowing that I was assisting someone in need. I helped a volunteer called Mark and our job was to sort the frozen meat, veggies and ice-cream. Personally, I think we made a difference. If St George’s didn’t exist the poorer people in our community would be in need, luckily the nice volunteers are here to help from the kindness of their hearts.

Sophia

My experience at St George’s will be an experience I will never forget. Preparing food for our community is something I love to do and definitely one of my favourite parts of the experience. Most of us kids never had to really think about this problem of food waste before. It was amazing how many volunteers help prepare this food waste to provide a delicious meal to the community. Knowing that I also helped is a great thing and this experience I will take into my future.

Amiel

At St George’s I learnt about how much food could potentially go to waste. Piles and Piles of food, good bread, fruit, vegetables, cakes and much much more, all this produced looked just fine to me. What I didn’t understand was why it was discarded, maybe the box was dented but it doesn’t change the taste of the food. Sure one of the pieces of fruit is bruised, why don’t they may these items cheaper or even free.

Ahlyah

I’ve had an incredible time at St George’s. I could not believe the amount of bread destined for the bin. I really liked making dessert cups out of custard, cake, yoghurt, fruit and chocolate nut crumble. It was really nice seeing all those people donating their time to help the community. Throughout the time we were there I’ve learnt how important recycling is and I can bring this to my own life by not buying products that can’t be recycled and not wasting food.

P&F Easter Raffle

The P&F Easter raffle is well underway. With a selection of five fantastic prize’s to be won, tickets have been flying out of the door each morning and afternoon.

Tickets went on sale on Wednesday 2nd April and the Raffle to be drawn tomorrow Wednesday 9th April.

$2 x Ticket

If you haven’t already seen the ticket & prize table yet they are for sale out side of the school hall before and after school.

Good Luck Everyone !

Bus Driver Update

Our much-appreciated bus driver Robert De Gruchy will be taking some well deserved time off work during Terms 2 and 3 and possibly into Term 4 for a much needed holiday.