“Love is higher than opinion. If people love one another the most varied opinions can be reconciled – thus one of the most important tasks for humankind today and in the future is that we should learn to live together and understand one another. If this human fellowship is not achieved, all talk of development is empty.”
R. Steiner
Yuma Orana Community,
Since my last communication at the start of term there have been several developments in the school. For the students there have been sports events and a swimming program as well as the rich, ongoing learning program. Many parents and staff were engaged in the Kim John Payne talk and discussion on Monday 6 May on simplicity parenting. There have been enlightening discussions in the College, faculty, executive, Board and committee meetings on meeting the needs of our students and planning the future for our school. There has been the re-instatement of Class Parent Representative concept and a meeting will take place on Thursday 23 May at 2.30pm for all those reps. There has also been the re-instatement of the Site Committee (formerly Infrastructure and Grounds Committee) with our first meeting on Thursday 16 May. The College Chairs and I have been in discussions with experienced Steiner educators who were part of Orana’s teaching staff who have volunteered their services to mentor and offer support to our current teachers. It is wonderful to have these elders contributing to our rich community. We are also seeing university new graduates and undergraduates showing interest in being involved with Orana as student teachers and support staff.
It has been a privilege to have been in very fruitful discussions with parents, friends, and staff about ways we can work in a healthy, collaborative way for the benefit of the whole community. It has been very heartening to see the goodwill and expertise in these discussions. There is a real commitment to setting up supportive systems and structures and healthy communication.
I have also attended meetings outside of our school such as the Steiner Education Australia’s Governance Leadership and Management 2024 Conference on 2-4 May and Association of Independent Schools ACT meetings. There have been some common themes in all these events that have struck me:
- The importance of healthy parent engagement;
- School staff wellbeing and psycho-social hazards;
- The rapid rise and unprecedented rate of loneliness and mental health issues in our society, particularly in young people, correlating with the increase in social media use;
- The cost-of-living crisis and its effect on school choice and family stress.
I can see a link with all these things.
It seems that, in schools, we are being asked, more than ever, to do more than just providing for the academic progress of our students. We are being tasked with extending our work to the wellbeing of students and their families. We can see this extra community work as a burden and/or an opportunity. We are in the position of deciding what it is we are able to/wanting to offer in the community building space. Educating students remains our priority. My sense is that there are many among us who would err on the side of generosity in our offerings to our community, but this needs to be at a healthy, sustainable level. I look forward to continuing this conversation with you and continuing to come up with strategies for community building.
Coming up
I look forward to seeing you at the AGM on Wednesday 29 May. The Board and other bodies of the school have been working together on community building, and we hope you will see evidence of that work at the AGM. We acknowledge that in the past there have been challenges in these key meetings. We hope that you will experience transparency, collaboration, leadership, responsibility, and a sense that we are all co-creators in building a healthy community at Orana.
There will be the first of our Community Conversations in Week 8. It will be 9 to 10.30am on Thursday 20 June. We plan for these Community Conversations to occur once per term and will be an opportunity for parents and friends to meet with the principal, members of the school executive and Board members. There will be a theme for discussion at each session and our first topic will be a big one: Orana’s vision – what sort of school do we want now and in the future? This will be the platform from which we build our strategic plan.
Our Winter Festival will include events over the week at the end of term and preparation in the weeks leading up to it. It will be a wonder-filled community time. More details on events will come closer to each one.
