Winter Festival
There is a buzz of excitement throughout the School as weeks of preparation build towards our celebration of the solstice with Winter Festival being held this evening. The Winter Spiral is celebrated in Steiner schools on the Winter solstice throughout the world and the children at Orana have been working on their lanterns for this special evening, which at its core is a celebration of light.
Teachers have been preparing the children through story and practical activities, and Class 7 students have been working on their firestick’s performance. A way you can support your children in this and be a part of it yourself is by taking the time to connect with the environment, plants and animals and observe the changing weather. A walk with your children after dark or before sunrise to capture our ever-changing environment will be rejuvenating.
The Early Childhood Winter Festivals are a gentle and reverent experience, beautifully held by the loving care of the teachers and assistants, who we thank for all their thought, wisdom, time and dedication.
The Winter Festival helps remind us of our ability to bring light into darker times. The spectacular glowing spiral of light created at the Winter Festival, by children walking out from the centre of the spiral by candlelight, also reminds us that we are beginning to move towards the warmth of spring and summer. The Winter Festival is held when the days are short and the nights are long. It’s a chance to reflect, go inwards and find light within that shall strengthen and guide you. May you be a light for others.
P & F Winter Markets
Next Friday, our last day of term for students, the P & F team are holding a spectacular Winter Market in the High School gardens. Please come and celebrate with one another and enjoy some warm delights together, before a well earnt winter break.
Science in Steiner Schools
The Steiner science curriculum is deep and wide allowing students lots of space and time to observe. In Steiner schools we want to engage students much more deeply than content.
To truly see a phenomenon and then come to an understanding out of careful observation is the key to lifelong curiosity, interest in the world and the ability to think.
A student of science must first observe and then hypothesise. This is different from being told a theory and testing it to confirm it. It is hard to engage in anything when the answer is already given and you are only being asked to check it is correct.
Thank you to our class teachers and our Science teachers for their dedication to the art of teaching in this way and for supporting our children to be lifelong observers. We aim for our graduates to be curious, to wonder, to fail and to not know as they explore the world and navigate human relationships.
Kelly Armstrong
Acting Principal
