Issue Six - 7th December 2015

Welcome to the sixth issue of our new e-newsletter Talking Trees. 

As ever, we’d appreciate you taking the time to give us some feedback about the newsletter. Please feel free to pass it on and share it with friends and contacts.

It’s been a really busy term so far and as a result it’s been a struggle to decide what news to include and what to leave out. First of all, on seeing the Diablo club mentioned in the last e-news, some pupils in Oak class pointed out that they had started a Book club and so we would like to give a formal mention to the lunch-time book club which mainly comprises Oak class pupils (age 12-14) and they meet once a week to read together and talk about their books with one another. 

Sequoia class have been on a day school trip to Gressenhall Rural life museum near Dereham, to participate in a Victorian day. The children had a wonderful time meeting the animals, cleaning leather, helping with the cooking and washing and experiencing a Victorian school room. 

More recently Sequoia class have been working with the story from the Old Testament of the building of Solomon’s temple. As part of their study they have been looking at different temples from around the world, taking ideas from different cultures and then making their own out of card.

In games lessons, it’s been a term dominated by running, partly because Oak class are using the gym to rehearse their forthcoming play: “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, but mainly because autumn is a great time of year to be out running in the rawness of the elements amongst the autumn leaves. 

Chris Skinner and his son Daniel, owners of High Ash Farm on the southern outskirts of Norwich, have kindly allowed us to use their amazing woodland and paths to set out Orienteering and Cross-Country running courses. The pupils ages ranging between 11 and 16 years, who have had the opportunity to experience running on the wonderful wildlife-rich land of High Ash Farm have had a brilliant time and return from each run rosy-faced and exhilarated (and tired!).

A big thanks to Chris and Daniel for their hospitality.

Birch class pupils (age 14-16) have just finished an Experimental Science Block. The essence of the block was to allow the pupils to develop skills in planning and analysing science through carrying out a range of different experiments. 

Birch class have also been busy outdoors, as they start the process of digging a wildlife pond and depositing the excavations onto a ‘hill’ in the kindergarten area. 

UPPER SCHOOL FACT - You may not know……that although our oldest class (pupils age 16-18) is now in its second of a three-year school leaving qualification (the Steiner School Certificate), we can still take new pupils of this age and they can chose to enroll for the qualification. Contact us for more details.

The following video clip has been put together by one of our 17 year-old pupils for a recent international conference about the Steiner School Certificate (SSC), held in Frankfurt. The video is about 5 minutes long and is a compilation of 4 different types of assessment carried out last academic year for the SSC, all of which contributed to the Level 1 qualification. 

The assessments were for music performance, Bothmer movement, “Worlds in Collision” (social sciences presentation) and spoken French.

Please also find attached an abridged version of an article written by a member of kindergarten staff toward the end of the summer term, entitled ‘Stepping Up’. This and other articles in this series of articles about kindergarten life can be read in full by clicking on the link below or visiting our website. These articles are written in an easy-to-read style and bring to the reader a real sense of the children. 

“Stepping Up"

As the end of the school year approaches and the six-year-olds prepare to leave us for Class One, our five-year-olds are 'stepping-up'- getting ready to take their places at the head of our kindergarten family. Proud to take on new roles and responsibilities, they form a distinct group now, with stronger opinions and louder voices, taking up more space, feeling bigger and stronger, and standing more firmly, together. 

The younger children watch them, and wait…

To read the full article click here.