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            Port Macquarie Steiner School News


March 2019
Autumn
To mark the arrival of autumn and the beginning of the Harvest Season  - as the classes start preparing for our upcoming Harvest Festival, we are raffling this gorgeous home made collection of farm toys. Thank you to the people who lovingly crafted this wooden tractor, farmer and his wife, cat and mouse. Tickets are available for purchase through the school office at $2.00 each or 3 for $5.00. The raffle will be drawn at the Harvest Festival at the end of term 2. 
Parent Event - Lyn Clifton Workshop
Lyn Clifton will again be visiting our school to provide an informative two-part workshop for parents. This takes place over the evening of Thursday 4th April at 7 - 8:30pm and concludes Friday 5th April at 9:15-11.30am. Please contact admin@portmacquariesteinerschool.nsw.edu.au for bookings.  
Kindergarten News 
Kindergarten has started regular Monday morning walks down to Kooloongbung Creek Nature Reserve.
The beauty of this mangrove environment is so special to Port Macquarie, and the children are enjoying this opportunity to spend more time in nature and explore this reserve. We have been looking out for koalas, but haven’t seen any yet. Regular walks in nature provide opportunities for the children to observe and live into the seasons in an experiential way, and it is so good for them to breathe out, to be in their physical bodies and to walk rhythmically along, sometimes quietly, sometimes singing our kindy songs, and other times just chatting away. We stop for a little fruit break and a play amongst the trees before our return to a hearty, warm morning tea.
 
Blessings from Kristy and Kylie
Class 1/2 News

Our class is coming to the end of “The Quest” main lesson at the end of this week.  This four-week long lesson has seen us exploring the letters of the alphabet in many creative ways, such as drawing, wax and clay work, bread baking, skipping and singing rhymes.  We have started a Work Book as a group and add as many words to the book as we can each day with the relating letter, and love going back and adding more as we go.  We have heard lots of the Grimm’s fairy tales which have led us through our journey and it is a delight to see these stories carried out in our games in the playground too.  The class has been so eager to see the picture hiding on the blackboard each day and try and figure what letter it may be linked to. 

There has been a lovely shift in seasons over the past couple of weeks with the bright summer days softening a little.  This has sparked conversations and the children are busy watching the natural world and bringing in any changes they see to add to our nature table.  This is being reflected through our morning circle also.  If you are a family that has something that reflects this time please feel free to share. 

We have been very fortunate to have received some fantastic donations passed down from Manning River Steiner School and the hard work of some of our board members at the school.  Our classroom has been gifted art supplies such as a drying rack, paints etc, many large bookshelves and literally hundreds of books to really get our library going.  We are so grateful for this generosity and are already seeing the children benefiting from this gift.  Thank you to everyone involved in this. 

Board News
Our board - Cheryl, Ruth, Bianca, Mel and Fred
 

Hello parents and friends! We would like to introduce ourselves as your Board of Directors. Some of us may already be known to some of you, but as our school has grown so much in 2019 we may not be familiar faces to many of you. Please feel free to say hello and introduce yourselves if you happen to see any of us around the school campus, if you haven't already.

Melodie Ayriss – our President, and Secretary of the Board

Mel is one of the three founding mothers of the school and is also a parent of Sid in the Kindergarten. Some playgroup families also know Sid's younger sister, Olive. Mel is very dedicated to the School and committed to seeing Steiner Education being an option for the Port Macquarie community.

Bianca Bateman – our Vice-president, and Director of Community Relationships and Marketing

Bianca is another founder and is mum of preschooler, Matilda and her younger sister Indi. Bianca teaches drama to children and runs the family concreting and excavation business with her partner, Andy.

Cheryl Meyer Millican – Meeting Chairperson and Director of Culture, Ethics and Diversity

Cheryl is a keen supporter of Steiner Education, having been a founder with husband, Kevan and other community members of Manning River Steiner School in Taree (closed). Her own two sons were graduates of MRSS and are now living happy, independent lives in Newcastle. Cheryl is also a 20-year member of the Anthroposophical Society in Australia, and gives cello lessons to beginners in both Taree and Port Macquarie.

Ruth Gallagher - Director of Human Resources

Ruth has a background in both education and human resources at TAFE NSW. Ruth moved to the Camden Haven area in 1991 with her husband, Mark who developed the family organic (and later Bio-dynamic) farm. Ruth is a member of the Anthroposophical Society in Australia and lives in Kendall.

Fred Buys - Director of Planning and Infrastructure

Fred is father to twins in Class 1 - Lisa and Chris - and is husband to Elma. Fred is a civil engineer with a background in planning and project management. He and Elma migrated to Australia from Namibia and now live in Port Macquarie. Fred is a small business owner and works from home.

The board meets monthly. More board news in the next newsletter!

Port Macquarie Steiner Craft Group 

All are welcome! We meet fortnightly on a Thursday morning from 9am at the school, weather permitting, for craft, cuppas, conversation, connection. This is a time for parents and friends of the PMSS to meet, chat, share time and craft inspiration. 

 

We aim to make seasonal simple, natural Steiner-inspired craft and decorations for the classroom, PMSS craft cabinet, and for selling at some of the local markets throughout the year. Over our next few parent craft sessions, we will be making for the school lovely felt fruit and vegetable.…Patterns and felt provided.

 

This is a great way to meet other parents and friends of the school, and a simple way to make a little difference to the school community. No skill or experience required! 

 

If you’re interested, please message me on 0417770756.... or just turn up! Our next craft morning is Thursday 5th April at 9am.

 

Looking forward to sharing some cosy crafting space with you! 

 

Love Robyn 

Port Macquarie Steiner Libraray 
Reading Resources for Parents
We have a good collection of resources which includes a Parents section and covers toymaking, singing, poetry and Steiner Education. We recommend the following reading for parents: 
 
Free Your Child's True Potential - Martyn Rawson
Books for the Journey - A Guide to the World of Reading - Pamela Fenner, Anne Greer & John Wulsin
The Parents Guide to Storey Telling - How to Make Up New Stories and Retell Old Favourites - Margaret MacDonald 
Toymaking with Children - Freya Jaffke
You Are Your Child's First Teacher - Rahina Baldwin 


All Enquiries regarding the Library, or borrowing books can be made with Gallina on  0422 751 021
IMPORTANT DATES 
  • Thursday April 5th and Friday April 6th - Lyn Clifton Talk - all welcome.. bookings/enquiries through the office.
  • Craft mornings - Every Second Thursday morning form 9 am - next date: 5th April
  • Wednesday April 10 - End of Term Wed April 10 - Happy Holidays!
  • Wednesday 1st May - Start of Term Two - Wednesday 1st May 
Port Macquarie Steiner School GoFundMe page is live. Follow this link to read more or to donate. 
https://www.gofundme.com/sbqt2-port-macquarie-steiner-school
Copyright © 2019 Port Macquarie Steiner School, All rights reserved.


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