Motueka Steiner School

Motueka Steiner School For Kindergarten, please contact:
[email protected]
03 528 6453
165 Robinson Road, Lower Moutere We are a state integrated Waldorf school and farm.

We strive to foster and uphold the integrity of childhood, community, food and the natural world. We endeavour to educate children so that out of their own freedom they will be morally responsible, socially competent, and able to choose their own path through life. This goal is at the heart of the Waldorf curriculum and our work on the land. We offer a positive alternative to influences of a media

-driven and commercially dominated society. You are invited to join us, enroll your children, and support our work. The Waldorf curriculum follows indications given by Rudolf Steiner, a prominent scientist and philosopher who was active in a number of social fields early in the twentieth century. The first Waldorf School was founded in 1919 and there are now more than 1000 Rudolf Steiner schools world wide. Waldorf Education has been developed and proven for almost 100 years. Waldorf schools work with an understanding of the evolving human being and seek to educate the hands and the heart, as well as the head. Steiner recognised that the growing child passes through three major developmental stages on the journey to adulthood. Specific forces are at work in each phase and different capacities develop as the child grows into his/her body. During the first 6 or 7 years the child is primarily a being of will, learning through doing. Children at this age have an amazing capacity for imitation and need to learn through hands on experiences and through watching others. At this age, the emotions are still wide open and the child is very sensitive to his/her physical environment. As such, the kindergarten years (age 3 - 6) are filled with opportunities for meaningful play and feature beautiful, natural surroundings worthy of reverence and imitation. A major transition occurs at around the age of 7 and the child becomes ready for formal schooling. It is from this age that the child is ready to use his/her forces of memory in order to learn in a more structured environment. Between the ages of 7 – 14 children need to learn through stories and artistic activities, and teachers in Waldorf schools are constantly striving to imbue their lessons with an imaginative quality and a feeling for all that is wondrous and beautiful in the world. The third stage begins with adolescence, when a capacity for critical judgement begins to develop. Students at this age have a thirst for truth; they seek living knowledge and need to feel that their teachers are worthy of respect as experts in their fields, that they are the ambassadors of an objective truth. This is the time to foster a regard for different perspectives and to develop the young person’s need for moral action. Rather than pushing primary school children into intellectual modes of thinking from a young age, the Waldorf curriculum seeks to celebrate number and language through imaginative stories, living pictures and artistic impressions. On their journey from Class 1 to Class 7 the children are guided through an imaginative recapitulation of how literacy and numeracy have developed over the course of human history. For example, 6 year-olds learn about letters through pictures. They might have a story in which the hero has to cross some misty mountains; the letter M can then be found in the picture. The hero might shelter in a deep den – the letter D. This mirrors the way in which the earliest writing developed; writing was originally pictorial (hieroglyphs are the best known example) and only developed into abstract symbolism much later in human development. The magic of the Waldorf curriculum is that it delivers the right stimulus at the developmentally appropriate time for the child, engaging their natural enthusiasm and fostering a genuine love of learning.

Save the date for our 2026 Spring Fair! Motueka Steiner School Spring Fair
20/08/2026

Save the date for our 2026 Spring Fair! Motueka Steiner School Spring Fair

Motueka Steiner School and Motueka Steiner Kindergarten are holding an Open Day on Wednesday 6 May. School tours will in...
28/04/2026

Motueka Steiner School and Motueka Steiner Kindergarten are holding an Open Day on Wednesday 6 May. School tours will include a visit to all of our classrooms! Please remember to RSVP: [email protected]

VACANCY Fixed-term (term 1 and 2) Part-time Teacher aide position 3.5 hours per week, term time only on a Friday Please ...
05/03/2026

VACANCY

Fixed-term (term 1 and 2) Part-time Teacher aide position
3.5 hours per week, term time only on a Friday
Please send your CV to [email protected]
Applications close: March 12, 2026

Today was an exciting moment in the Outdoor Classroom. For the first time we got to harvest all the materials on site fo...
17/11/2025

Today was an exciting moment in the Outdoor Classroom. For the first time we got to harvest all the materials on site for our hand brush project . We have watched the bush grow quickly here on campus and now the planned plantings for the OC curriculum are being harvested to craft . A really satisfying moment harvesting tī kōuka today !

16/11/2025

VACANCY - 0.4 FTTE Part Time, Fixed Term.

Start date: 27 January 2026

ECE/Primary Certificated Teacher

The Motueka Steiner School is a Special Character school offering Steiner/Waldorf education in its fullest sense. The ideal candidate will have experience at a Steiner/Waldorf school or KG, and will hold a Steiner/Waldorf teacher qualification or be in the process of acquiring one.

How to apply:
Please send an expression of interest letter and a CV to the principal at [email protected]

Applications close on: 28 November 2025

10/11/2025

VACANCY - Expressions of Interest – Kindergarten Coordinator (Team Leader) Role (Flexible Structure, ~30 hrs/week)

Kia ora koutou,

We are inviting expressions of interest from our school, kindergarten, and wider community for a new Kindergarten Coordinator (Team Leader) position, with a negotiable start date but preferably no later than mid to late January 2026.

This is a special opportunity for someone who feels a strong connection to Steiner education and its underlying anthroposophical values, and who enjoys working collaboratively within a close-knit team. The role involves supporting our kindergarten staff, nurturing a collegial environment, and ensuring that our daily life and rhythms reflect the principles of Steiner early childhood education.

The position is approximately 30 hours per week (plus or minus). While a teaching qualification or registration would be an advantage, it is not essential — we welcome applicants with relevant leadership, management, or early childhood experience who resonate with Steiner pedagogy.

The role includes three main areas of responsibility:

Team management and leadership – guiding and supporting the kindergarten team, managing staff rosters, ensuring ratios are maintained, and leading regular team meetings.

Community engagement and enrolments – building strong relationships with families and whānau, responding to new enquiries, coordinating tours and enrolment interviews, and maintaining healthy roll numbers.

Administration and operations – overseeing compliance with Ministry of Education licensing requirements, reporting and policy processes, and supporting budgeting, and payroll data.

We are open and flexible in how this position is structured and are happy to consider splitting the role between two people.

If this sounds like something that aligns with your skills, values, and interest in Steiner early childhood education, we’d love to hear from you.
Please send your CV and a short note about your motivation for the role to Alex and David ([email protected]; [email protected]).

Warm regards,
Alex Allie, volunteer CEO of Kindergarten

David Gaston, Chair MRSST

04/11/2025
Our gratitude to Network Tasman and Pub Charity whose generous grants have meant we could undertake much needed shade an...
09/10/2025

Our gratitude to Network Tasman and Pub Charity whose generous grants have meant we could undertake much needed shade and waterproofing work on the Kohatu classroom deck. Now the children have a nice shady spot to eat their lunch, and no more wet shoes and bags when it rains! Thank you!

06/10/2025

WOW, what a blast!

Steiner Spring Fair 2025 was colourful, vibrant and magical... and we couldn't have done it without YOU!

Huge thanks to the parents, the community volunteers and the past parents and students, who put in so much mahi to make this event not just possible, but a success.

Once again thank you to all the local businesses who generously donated time, resources, supplies, gifts, vouchers - we appreciate it so much!

We have just a couple left to thank:

Chambers and Jackett - for their invaluable support with traffic management
https://www.facebook.com/chambersandjackett

Tyrella orchards - for a trailer of apples, and drums for the new pizza oven
https://www.facebook.com/tyrella.orchards.nz

Dean's trucks - for the lend of the stage truck
https://www.facebook.com/DeansTrucks/

Most of all we want to thank YOU THE PEOPLE! For turning up, for bringing the good vibes, eating the good food, and being all round awesome humans!

See you next year ❤️🩷🧡💛💚💙🩵💜

We had another successful working bee and our campus is now ready to host the Motueka Steiner School Spring Fair this Su...
09/09/2025

We had another successful working bee and our campus is now ready to host the Motueka Steiner School Spring Fair this Sunday 14 September. We are so grateful to all the parents and community volunteers that helped us on the day! A special thanks to Contour Mowing who turned up on the day with their specialised equipment to deal with some of the challenging tasks.

Address

165 Robinson Road
Lower Moutere
7175

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 4pm
Tuesday 9am - 4pm
Wednesday 9am - 4pm
Thursday 9am - 4pm
Friday 9am - 4pm

Telephone

+6435280246

Website

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