What is a Steiner education?
Steiner education (Also known as Waldorf education) is an educational method based on the philosophy of Rudolf Steiner, emphasising holistic development (head, heart and hands), creativity, and experiential learning through a curriculum that integrates academics, arts, and practical skills.
At Orana, students learn social responsibility through a rich balance of academic, artistic and practical learning experiences as they grow and connect with the people and natural world around them.
There are over 1200 Steiner Schools across the world, 51 of which are in Australia and there is an increasing number of other schools that are implementing Steiner philosophies within their own educational methods.
Orana is a member of Steiner Education Australia.
How does a Steiner education differ from a ‘mainstream’ education?
Steiner education places a strong emphasis on holistic (head, heart and hands), age-appropriate development and experiential learning, integrating arts and practical skills into the curriculum, while mainstream Australian schools typically follow a more traditional academic approach focused on standardised testing and subject-specific instruction. Additionally, Steiner schools foster a deep sense of community and the importance of connection to the natural world. Australian Steiner schools, including Orana, follow the Australian Curriculum, but guide the students through it with the Steiner philosophy which encourages the love of life-long learning and teaches students that the process is more valuable than just the outcome.
Why would I choose a Steiner education for my child?
An Orana Steiner education will benefit your child in many ways. The child-focused educational Steiner philosophy that underpins our curriculum brings a healthy and well-balanced education for students. This encourages them to develop their academic understanding intertwined with creativity, artistry, imagination and practical experience and leads the students to a life-long passion for learning that goes far beyond their school life and sets them up for future success, satisfaction and valuable community contribution.
Can student’s just do whatever they like at a Steiner school?
There is a misconception that a Steiner education is a child-led education where students can do whatever they want, but a more accurate description is that our educational philosophy is child-focused. By child-focused, we mean that we are focused on each child’s educational, social, emotional and developmental needs and teach using age and developmentally appropriate methods and content for the stage the student is at. Students do not get to do whatever they like and you will actually find that it is quite structured, and with our community focus and awareness, participation in all aspects is key to our educational philosophy. Students are expected to give their best effort in everything they do.
Is Orana a ‘special school’ for Neurodiverse students?
Orana is not a ‘special school’ only for neurodiverse students, we are an inclusive and caring School that caters well for a range of students of all backgrounds and abilities including the neurotypical, neurodiverse and high-achieving students.
Can my child get into university if they go to a Steiner school?
Absolutely. ATAR and other academic results show that our students are not only well adjusted in social and emotional perspectives, that they perform very well academically. In fact, at Orana, all of our Year 12 students over the past few years were above the ACT average in their ATAR results. On top of this, those students who applied for university have received early-entrance. This is due to our comprehensive and well-rounded educational methods and philosophy. An Orana Steiner education encourages deeper real-world learning, leading to engaged learning and academic success.
Do Orana students wear a uniform?
Orana students do not wear a uniform but adhere to a dress-code that allows individuality within boundaries. The dress-code calls for appropriate clothes to be worn for the activities to be undertaken and the weather. This is to build a sense of individuality and allow students to express themselves, value their identity, and learn to value themselves as well as to be thoughtful and prepared for what the day might hold.
Why do students call teachers by their first name?
This is a deliberate and values driven choice to help break down unproductive barriers and to engender mutual respect between adults and students. Rather than dictate and force, our teachers are there to guide the students which encourages trust and respect leading to higher self-motivation and deeper learning.
Does Orana use technology?
In alignment with our age-appropriate and developmentally conscious education philosophy, the use of digital technology in our classrooms in introduced once the students have mastered the skills they need to use it. Digital technology is seen as a tool to be used when of benefit rather than as a default medium to learn. Digital technology is not introduced into the classroom or as a learning method until the end of Primary School and early High School and even then, it is in dedicated sessions or for specific reasons. We acknowledge and understand that we all live in the digital age and that our students will be required to use digital technology in many aspects of their lives and so we teach them the appropriate skills to be able to use it effectively without sacrificing the general analogue skills that is essential to our lives.
Do Orana students learn to read and write?
Yes. Reading and writing are fundamental and crucial pillars of learning and life which is why at Orana we introduce and develop these skills through developmentally-appropriate proven methods and programs.
Through the early childhood learning program, our imaginative, creative and play-based approach might look on the surface as though we don’t start to teach reading and writing, but we lay the important foundations through listening and aural activities, repetition of songs, verses and stories and developing students fine motor skills in preparation for handwriting. In Kindergarten, students are introduced to the Sounds Write “Quest” program which supports them in decoding the most common sounds in the English language through interest and adventure. Our Class 1 students then progress through a more formal learning to read and write through a systematic phonics program.
There are many studies that show that delaying the formal teaching of reading and writing until children are developmentally ready increases a love of learning throughout their life-long learning journey and decreases the stress and anxiety that can come with the expectation of reading and writing too early. This approach is common practice in the top performing countries for literacy outcomes in the world such as Finland.
Once students learn to write, they are expected to write with pencil or pen, far more than students in most other schools. The practice of handwriting helps with hand-eye coordination, fine-motor skills, neural pathway development and artistic exploration. It also prepares them very well for the written tests that they will face in their higher schooling years.
