The Armidale Waldorf School and Boongaiai Preschool

Gathered in the garden 🍃

The chill of Winter is upon us ❄ While we wait patiently for the sun to creep higher in the sky, and for the soil to warm, there are still plenty of things to keep our hands busy in the school garden.

Spreading mulch, pruning branches, oiling tools, tidying garden beds, and preparing seeds for storage. Meaningful work that helps students care for the garden through the quieter season.

Simple work, but important.

What is a Main Lesson? 🌿

In Steiner education, the school day often begins with Main Lesson: a longer, focused learning period where students explore one subject deeply over several weeks.

Rather than moving quickly between many separate topics, Main Lesson allows time for story, discussion, writing, drawing, practical activity, observation and reflection. Students create their own Main Lesson books as a record of their learning, which are bound together at the end of the school year.

Little moments from the week ❄

1. The beautiful music practice tree in Class 3/4. Depending on how often a student practices, they will receive a type of snowflake to place on the class tree. So magical!

2. Our school librarian loves puns 😁

3. High school has been celebrating Pride Month 🏳️‍🌈

4. Physical items being used for mathematics in Class 1/2. A concrete way for children to explore numbers.

5. A packed audience for the Class 3/4 music concert on Thursday morning. Thanks for coming!

6. High school decorating Pride Flags.

7. Class 5 have been baking cinnamon scrolls. The kitchen smells heavenly!

8. Baked cinnamon scrolls 🥯

9. After the music performance, Class 3/4 had an open classroom for families to visit. Such beautiful bookwork! Well done Class 3/4!

Bridges at the creek 🌿

Crossing a creek can be a surprisingly difficult task. How does one get across? What materials are available? Will we build a bridge or stepping stones? Where is the best place to build it?

The children ponder for a while, and then teamwork begins. Hands working together to lift a heavy log, steadying a friend as they step off the muddy bank, maybe a squabble or two about best placement for the biggest branch. Breathless smiles, flushed faces, and a few pairs of wet socks later, a bridge is built.

Through this muddy, joyful work, the children have practised creative thinking and problem-solving, exercised their resilience, determination and courage, and, perhaps most importantly, had fun! Sometimes the richest lessons happen at the creek🌿

Music in Steiner education 🎶

Music begins in the earliest years of Steiner education and continues throughout the school journey.

From finger-play rhymes and morning circle songs, to choir singing, recorder, strings, ensemble work and performances, students develop far more than musical skill.

Music supports memory, listening, coordination, concentration, confidence and social connection. It asks students to listen to themselves, to one another, and to the whole.

A look at some of our Winter Festival Lanterns from years past...❄️

The Winter Festival is fast approaching! As the days grow darker, and the cold winds blow, it is nice to remember that the warmth and promise of Spring is just around the corner.

See you at the Winter Festival! 23rd June 5:30pm

🐝School Working Bee Saturday 13th June 8:45am-1pm 🐝

During the High School years, students continue to work with a balance of clear academic thinking, creativity and thoughtful presentation 🌿

At TAWS, students are encouraged to take care with both the process and the presentation of their work. A well-kept book can show the path of learning: the practising, correcting, organising and deepening of understanding over time.

Head, heart and hands, still at work in the older years.

Learning does not only happen at a desk 🌊

Camps are an important part of the school journey at The Armidale Waldorf School, giving students opportunities to step beyond the familiar, build independence, deepen friendships, and share experiences in the world beyond the classroom.

From their first school library sleepover in Class One, right through to overseas journeys in the Senior Years, time away together helps students grow in confidence, resilience and connection: with one another, with their teachers, and with the places they encounter.

A beautiful glimpse from one of our high school camps 🌊

https://waldorf.nsw.edu.au