The Steiner curriculum strives to educate the whole child — cognitive, creative, and social — to inspire a lifelong love of learning and help our students contribute to the world in a meaningful way. Outdoor experiences such as camps, hiking experiences, bike rides and excursions provide rich learning experiences which are pivotal in supporting this goal in the education journey at Orana.
A major event for Class 6 this term has been our two-night camp at Greenhills Centre. After two years without camps, this was a priority in our planning this year. With COVID regulations easing towards the end of Term 1, we finally made it there in Week 4 of Term 2! Our students were given opportunities to engage in a variety of outdoor, team building experiences, including bushwalking, orienteering, group initiatives and cooking around the campfire. The aim of these experiences was to work towards building resilience and supporting social/emotional development in the final year of Primary School. Unfortunately, the weather was something that could not be planned in, and it was a very wet two days for them. Still, this is all part of the experience and the students pushed through and made the most of their time at Greenhills.
Another major event for Class 6 this term has been the Twilight concert, which took place on Friday 27th May. This event was particularly special because we were able to perform with our buddy class, Class 3, and in front of Class 3 and Class 6 families due to the recent further easing of COVID restrictions.
How wonderful it was for Class 3 and Class 6 students to showcase their beautiful songs and musical ensembles to such a big audience. Both classes worked very hard in the lead-up to the event and put on a performance that will no doubt be remembered for many years to come by those who were lucky enough to see it. Many thanks to the students for their amazing efforts and enthusiasm, the music teachers for organising this wonderful event, and to the parents for being there to support and encourage your children. Congratulations, Classes 3 and 6 – what a huge achievement!
As the Twilight Concert was held on the first day of National Reconciliation Week, reconciliation was evidently a strong theme in the evening’s program. The theme of Reconciliation Week this year was ‘Be brave. Make change.’ As well as showcasing their music, Class 6 also held a display of artwork, inspired by this year’s Reconciliation Week poster, by Indigenous artist and illustrator, Tori-Jay Mordey.
Students spent time in class in the lead-up to the Twilight Concert researching and discussing how each of us can contribute to achieving reconciliation in Australia. Students also explored Tori-Jay Mordey’s work and created their own posters to raise awareness of the actions we can all take to be brave and make change for the benefit of all Australians.
Class 6 is a year of Main Lesson topics that support the students to gain a greater understanding of the world around them. Phenomena-based science topics hone students understanding of the physical world, whilst history topics are more ‘within reach’ containing concrete links to today’s culture. Geography learning connects students own diverse stories within Australia and the world.
This term, Lena’s class has enjoyed connecting with Ancient Roman mythology in the first Rome Main Lesson. They have been challenged to immerse themselves into the stories by not just retelling but taking a position to write persuasively about the texts, advocating for different outcomes or occupying the perspective of a specific character. Meanwhile, Luciana’s class dove into family heritage projects as part of the Australia and the World Beyond Geography Main Lesson. Students explored and shared their own ancestral links with countries around the world and stories of migration within their own families. Through this, they gained more insight into the complexity of Australian identity and learnt about a range of other cultures around the world. After these HASS Main Lessons, both classes moved on to the more practical Geology and Astronomy Main Lessons, learning more about the beauty, order and wonder of the physical world around them through a range of stories, practical activities, excursions and incursions.
