18March2010 Big Newsletter

Stephen Scott, Casuarina School Principal

From the Principal’s Desk

As I’m sure you are aware, there are many wonderful things about Casuarina Steiner School, however one of the strongest aspects of this school is its great sense of community. This really is a community school and it makes it a very special place.

There are many things I love about being in this community. In particular I love the collaborative nature of the parents, staff and students at Casuarina.  There are definitely many advantages of working together as a team but obviously in a school environment the students will benefit when the partnerships throughout the school are strong.

Although I think we’re doing a great job in this area, I’m always of the belief that in everything there is room for improvement. I thought in this newsletter I would suggest several ways we could make our community even stronger.

1. Always maintain a positive attitude and endeavour to banish negativity. Try extremely hard to avoid judgmental statements. . Within a healthy community nobody is criticized or ridiculed even when they make mistakes. I think it’s important to endeavour to be less critical.
2. The old saying, “There’s no I in TEAM” stands true.  Within a healthy community it’s important that individuals stop thinking of what works for them, and determine what will be best for the group as a whole.
3. Consider all viewpoints and suggestions and learn to compromise. Everyone has ideas worth hearing!
4. Acknowledge others within the school. Let them know that their contribution to the group is significant and that our whole community is improved by their participation.
5. Endeavour to appreciate that each person within our school does things a little bit differently. We are certainly NOT a ‘Cookie Cutter’ school.
6. Open communication fosters trust within a community. We all need to encourage each other to be candid and to communicate. Having hidden agendas, communicating via a third party tends to hurt relationships. If each person (teachers, parents and students) know what each other expect, it will be much easier to fulfil those expectations.

Finally, a story

The Spotted Owl has been disappearing in the USA. Originally it was believed that the increased logging was its greatest threat.  But research shows that one of the owl’s own relatives may be the main problem.  For the past 15 years the Barred Owl has been rapidly migrating into the same area as the Spotted Owl.  Barred Owls, which used to live in another region, compete for the same food as the Spotted Owls, but are more aggressive and adaptable.  Unfortunately, the same thing can happen in a community – the greatest conflict can come not from the outside but from within.

‘The life I touch for good or ill will touch another life, and that in turn another, until who knows where the trembling stops or in what far place my touch will be felt.’

This Thursday Tracey and I are heading off to the Rudolf Steiner Schools Association conference in Adelaide.  The main purpose of this conference is to give each Steiner school an opportunity to have input into a national Steiner Curriculum which will give it recognition as a nationally endorsed alternative curriculum.  The outcome should be to increase the respect the broader community has for the educational processes within all Steiner schools.  I’m also looking forward to learning substantially more about Steiner Education and meeting other heads of Steiner schools across Australia.

NOTES FROM THE OFFICE

• Reminder to parents to regularly check school bags for notes that have been sent home with the students.
• Class contact lists are available at the front office or contact lee or haylee if you would like one emailed.
• Can all parents please notify the office when there is a change of contact details
• Reminder to all parents that there is no teacher/adult supervision prior to 8.30am. Please refer to excerpt from “The families guideline booklet” on the enclosed insert.

Impetigo, or “School Sores”

We wish to advise parents that there is an outbreak of impetigo at the school.  Impetigo is an infection of the skin.  It is often called “school sores” probably because school age children are usually the most likely to get them, and they can be spread at school.  Impetigo is highly contagious.

Important Dates

• Friday, March 19th 4:30-6:30pm:  Kindergarten Autumn Festival.  Grandparents invited.
• Friday, 19th March 2010 – 10:20 am:  Main Lesson Sharing.   Grandparent Day – All welcome for Main Lesson and morning tea.
• Friday, 19th March:  Class 4 Swimming
• Friday, 26th March, 5:30pm start:  Autumn Festival/Harmony Day and Japanese Moon Festival  (See later in this newsletter for details.)
• 28th/29th April – Life Education Van
• Craft Group every Wednesday from 9:00am

Term Dates

• Term 1:  3.2.10 – 1.4.10
• Term 2:  20.4.10 – 25.6.10
• Term 3:  20.7.10 – 24.9.10
• Term 4:  12.10.10-15.12.10

Crazy Hair Day

Class 3 raised $277.65 for their bell tower!  Thank you to all who donated.  There were many wonderful, crazy hair designs.  (Click on the gallery to see larger images.)

Class Reports

Class 2 News

Class 2 is having a wonderful Main Lesson visiting a school in Northern Thailand and at the same time adding up strings of tens and ones.

Our first excursion for the year is taking a while to begin but our camp is well underway and scheduled for the second week of Term 2.  I will call a meeting before the end of term to discuss camp activities with the parent helpers and send a list home before the holidays with suggestions of what to bring.

Thank you to all those parents who so lovingly support the children and me by amongst other things, volunteering their time to assist in the classroom.  Thanks for the crazy hair too!  Our new school bell will be a beauty!

Cheers,  Margie

Class 3 News

A warm hello to our school community from Class 3 and myself.  We have had a very exciting start to our year so far with many great things ahead of us.  Of particular note is the Crazy Hair Day we held last Friday.  It was wonderful to see all the children, teachers and quite a number of parents getting into the fun  community spirit – especially as we were raising funds for the brass bell to go in the bell tower that Class 3 will begin making in our Building Main Lesson over the next 3 weeks.  We look forward to showing our ideas and what we’ve been up to on Friday at Main Lesson sharing.

Love and cheers,

Ruth

Class 6 News

Konnichi wa.

Class 6 have now completed two main lessons, Geology and Number & Problem Solving and are finishing term 1 with a Personal Development main lesson. As an adjunct to this lesson, the mothers and daughters are participating in a “Maiden’s Day Celebration” with a sleepover at the main house at Bundagen on Saturday 27^th March. The boys and fathers are having a weekend with Tynon Bradford on 1^st/2nd May. Details for the boys’ weekend will be sent home as soon as the venue is confirmed. The date is now definite so please put it in your diaries. It is most likely we will share this weekend with the Class 6 dads and boys from Chrysalis to make a bigger group.

Our doll making is in full swing and many thanks to Pierina and Wendy for their great efforts and patience. Japanese with Steve Sensei is going well and we look forward to the Japanese Moon Viewing Festival on Friday 26^th March, 5.30pm. Class 6 will performing a small play “Kaguya Hime” (See details in this newsletter).

Thank you to Trina and Karen for helping with Clean Up Australia Day and to all the parents who have contributed to or helped in the Breezeway this term. Our fundraising for camp has certainly increased. The next fundraising activity is a disco for the upper classes next term.

I will be away on Friday 19^th March at an RSSA meeting and Thursday 25^th March at a National Curriculum meeting with ACARA. Julie will take the class this Friday.

Ja mata,

Tracey

Class 7 News

Dear Class 7 Students and Parents,

A brief quote from our morning verse:

“I feel my star, my star finds me

I feel my goals in life, my goals in life are finding me,

My soul and the great world are one…”

Right now the Class 7 students are beginning to feel some of the difference between primary and high school. Each student has been looking at their own approach to learning, both at school and at home and asking whether it is a high school approach yet and how they can strengthen what they do.  This requires great maturity and is good work.

We have completed our geometry main lesson and moved on to our first science main lesson of the year: the physics of electricity and magnetism. The sciences always bring afresh the wonders of the natural world and the genius of human creativity. The students experience themselves as scientists, striving to work precisely, observe accurately and give reasoned ideas about what might happen.

Thank you to parents who were able to attend our class meeting, at which we discussed the Birthing Main Lesson, Naplan (basic skills test), high school issues and class admin for the year, including camp fundraising. Toni Gray has kindly renewed her offer to be class carer for our final year together and is organising the breezeway roster. Thank you very much, Toni.

Parents, please feel welcome to contact me at any time about issues related to your child as they make their transition into high school.

Warmest regards

Linda

Food and meals

Steiner education emphasises our relationship with nature.  Our School prefers that children are eating a balanced diet of natural foods, consuming a minimum of processed foods.  Children are to bring food for morning tea each day and lunch when they are not buying a cooked lunch.  We ask parents to ensure that every child has fresh and nourishing food for a full, active day at school.  If children are attending Out of School Hours Care, they should bring a piece of fruit to share. Every Friday, a healthy lunch is provided at a cost of $3.00 from our Breezeway kitchen.  The money raised goes to our class camps.  Parents are rostered to take turns to prepare these delicious meals.  On some other days parents or others may provide a meal for sale for the same cost.  We request that pre-packaged or processed foods such as chips, sweets, chewing gum, cordial, lollies and chocolates are not included in the children’s lunch boxes.  In consideration of the environment parents are asked to avoid packaged food as much as possible.

Due to severe allergies experienced by children in the school, the following products are not to be brought to school including as spreads on sandwiches:  Peanuts/peanut butter, Hazelnuts/Nutella

Parenting Corner

As a parent myself I’m totally convinced that there is no more important job in any society than raising children, and there is no more important influence on how children develop than their parents.  Although most children spend several hours a day at school and teachers often play a huge part in their overall development it is still the parents who have the greatest role to play.  Therefore it is my intention, where possible, to include in most newsletters some helpful parenting tips which I sincerely hope you will find useful.  At the very least you might know someone that can benefit from reading them.

These following 7 Rules for Spoiling a Child have been adapted from a pamphlet Twelve Rules for Raising Delinquent Children distributed by the Houston Police Department.

Seven Rules for Spoiling a Child

1. Begin at infancy to give the child everything he wants.  Give a child all the spending money he wants.  Never expect him to earn his own.  In this way he will grow up to believe that the world owes him a living.
2. When he picks up bad words laugh at him.  This will make him think he’s cute.
3. Never give him training in values.  Always let him decide for himself what is best.
4. Avoid using the word ‘wrong’ – in case the child develops a guilt complex.  This will condition him/her to believe that when in trouble with authorities later in life that society is against him/her and that he/she’s being persecuted.
5. Pick up everything your child leaves lying around.  Do everything for him/her so that he/she is not capable of taking responsibility for himself.
6. Let him watch what ever he likes on television and give him free and open access to the internet.
7. Always take his/her part against teachers, or other authority figures.  Clearly they have a bias against your child.  When he gets into trouble always make excuses for him.

Grandparents Day, Casuarina School

Grandparents Day, 19 March 2010

Kindergarten Grandparents are invited to the Kindergarten Autumn Festival at 4.30pm this Friday 19th March.

Grandparents from classes 1-7 are invited to school at 10.20am for our Main Lesson Sharing Presentation in our hall followed by morning tea in breezeway.  All grandparents are welcome to stay for morning tea and look around our beautiful school.

Staff Profiles

INTERVIEW with Steve Scott, Principal

Years at Casuarina:  0.2 of a year.

How many children in your school:  164.

Favourite subject to teach:  Drama and Japanese.  I taught for 6 years.

Best camp:  Took students to Newcastle.

Favourite Breezeway Food:  Cannelloni

First job ever:  Working in an abattoir

Hobbies, sports and interests:  Guitar, golf, bodybording and movies.

Are any of your children here?  No, they are at Christian Community School, in year 8 and year 10.

Why did you decide to become a teacher:  Loved kids and liked to make a difference to the school.

Anything else you’d like included in your profile:  Really love Casuarina.  Everyone is so friendly.

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Dawn Song Children’s Centre Inc

Contact: Atalanta Lloyd-Haynes (treasurer – 0418 462 320)Dawn Song Children’s Centre is holding an Open Afternoon on Friday 19th March 2010 between 3pm & 6pm in conjunction with the Autumn Equinox.  There will be seasonal craft, games and singing for the children (and big children) to participate in.

Rudolf Steiner said that “Through celebrations in their seasons are the deeper powers of human nature realized.”. The Autumn Equinox is celebrated in many world traditions, and is a celebration of the changing of the seasons from summer into winter with thanksgiving being the first and foremost theme of the celebration in all traditions.

The Open Afternoon is also a wonderful time to meet our new centre Director, Jeanette John, and new staff member – Matthew Harvey, along with our other staff and committee members. Jeanette has been involved in Children’s Services and Early Childhood Education for the past 20 years, working in primary schools, preschools and long day care centres. She is also a part-time educator with the North Coast Institute of TAFE, teaching subjects up to the Diploma level in Children’s Services. She is keenly interested in the Steiner model of education and is updating and implementing an excellent Steiner-based pre-school programme that is being warmly received by the children. Matthew holds a Certificate III in Children’s Services and is also a Teacher’s Assistant at the Casuarina Steiner School in Coffs Harbour. He first became interested in both early education and Steiner education through volunteering at Casuarina School, where his daughter attends, and intends on furthering his qualifications to the Diploma level, and eventually an education degree.

To help us celebrate the festival, come please bring a plate of afternoon tea to share, and some local produce or winter woolens for donation to The Red Cross. You can find us within Bellingen Children’s Centre, 1 Elliot Close, North Bellingen. Feel free to call the office on 02 6655 2304 for more information on our Open Afternoon or general enrolment enquiries.

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Japanese Moon Viewing/Autumn Festival

Friday 26^th March from  5:30pm

As we say farewell to the heat of summer and embrace the cooler autumn nights and mornings, we find renewed energy.  We invite you to join our school community in our Japanese/Autumn festival.

Why do we celebrate the seasonal festivals? In our modern times, many old traditions and connections to the earth and the natural world, are lost or forgotten. In our hurried busy lives, it is so important to take the time to celebrate the changes going on around us and also within us; to take note, to be observant, to be contemplative, to be a part of our community.

Both Autumn and Spring are the hiatus of the seasons, the pause between the Earth’s in and out breath, the point of change which gives rhythm to the cycle of the seasons. This time for pause is also a time for reflection, to look within and find hope, inner peace and courage. External pressures, world events and daily troubles can be forgotten when we take time to find an atmosphere of peace in our own hearts and in our school and community. When we find our own inner strength and courage, when we fill our hearts and minds with joy and love, our children benefit.

This year’s Japanese/Autumn festival encompasses these themes of love for one another and building a harmonious community. As the week also coincides with Harmony Day celebrations, we also take this opportunity to celebrate other cultures with songs from other countries sung by the Casuarina Community Choir.

Timetable of Events:

Friday 26^th March, 5.30 pm

Festival begins

• Welcome to country – Class 7
• Adult choir – songs from different languages to celebrate Harmony Day
• Class 1 and 2 – Japanese song
  • Dan Sensei – Story of the Rabbit in the Moon
  • Class 3 and 4 – Japanese song
  • Class 6 Japanese Moon Play – Kaguya Hime
  • Class 5, 6, 7 – Japanese song

After performance – Miso Soup and rice dumplings.  Families to bring soup mugs, picnic blankets and own supper picnic to view the moon.

Extract from Families Guideline Booklet

Parents and the School –> Children Out of School Hours

The School takes responsibility for children during school hours and school excursions only.  At all other times parents / guardians are required to ensure that their children are adequately supervised.  The school can take no responsibility for ensuring the appropriate behaviour of children on school premises outside normal school hours, including evening or weekend festivals and similar events.

All children on the school premises outside of the above school hours, whether they attend the school or not, are the responsibility of parent/guardian at these times.  All children must be supervised by a responsible adult at all times.  This does not include older children who may be siblings or friends.

This guideline relates to children who are in the care of parents or visitors while on the school premises, such as visiting children or enrolled children at school out of school hours; for example (but not limited to):

• Prior to 8.30am and after 3.00pm weekdays.
• Preschoolers visiting with parents, friends.
• Festivals, working bees, school-related meetings or extra-curricular activities.

Please remember:   Parents/Guardians are responsible for the appropriate behaviour of children in their care (that is, outside school hours), including obeying all school rules and the common law and statutory duty of care requirements in relation to safety.

Casuarina Craft Group

The craft group have made beautiful Easter bunnies, hares and chooks.   These will be popping up in the office soon ready for Easter.

Prices range from $8.00 to $15.00.

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