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BILYA BARDIP SCHOOL NEWS
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TERM DATES & CALENDAR
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Welcome to Bilya Bardip (River Stories), Helena River Steiner School's parent, caregiver and community newsletter. We warmly invite you to read on and keep up to date with news, important information and upcoming events at our school.
PRINCIPAL'S ADDRESS

Kaya Parents and Caregivers,

National Reconciliation Week (NRW) is a time for all Australians to learn about our shared histories, cultures, and achievements, and to explore how each of us can contribute to achieving reconciliation in Australia.

The dates are the same each year; 27 May to 3 June.

These dates commemorate two significant milestones in the reconciliation journey— the successful 1967 referendum, and the High Court Mabo decision respectively.

27 May 1967 On this day, Australia’s most successful referendum saw more than 90 per cent of Australians vote to give the Australian Government power to make laws for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and recognise them in the Census.

3 June 1992  On this day, the Australian High Court delivered the Mabo decision, the culmination of Eddie Koiki Mabo’s challenge to the legal fiction of ‘terra nullius’ (land belonging to no one) and leading to the legal recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the Traditional Owners and Custodians of lands. This decision paved the way for Native Title.

OUR EVENT WEDNESDAY 1 JUNE, 2 PM
We invite Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal members of our community (parents, staff and children) to collaborate with each other on artistic projects, which will be shared with the community at our family event.
Do you want to sing a song?
Write a poem?
Do a painting? 
Do a dance?
A sculpture?
Weaving project?
Tell a story?
Make a piece of furniture?
Do a comedy act?
Design clothes?
Anything that tickles your fancy!
If you have an idea, we invite you to "be brave" and approach someone in our community to work with you on your project. You are also welcome to invite people outside our immediate school community.
If you would like to be involved but are not sure where to start, go to Gerry in the office and she will have a register of projects you can join.
We are also asking those who don't feel they have something to offer to come forward too! This is the bit about being brave!
We will celebrate with a sharing event on Wednesday the 1st of June at 2 pm, around the fire.
High School students will be brought to Spring Park Road for the event and it will finish approximately 3/3.30.
Put your thinking caps on, let those creative juices flow and register your interest with Gerry in the office by Monday the 23 May:
We look forward to enjoying your creativity and your company then.
Blessings on our school,
Tanami Magnus
Principal
DIARY DATES
Primary Assembly - 18 June
Busy Bee - 28 & 29 May
Reconciliation Event - 1 June
Pupil Free Day | Staff PD - 3 June
Pupil Free Day (WA Day) - 6 June
Pupil Free day for High School - 7 June
WA Day | Public Holiday - 6 June 
Makuru Winter Festival (Kindy)- 16 June
Makuru Winter Festival (Primary and HS) - 22 June
Students Last Day of Term 2 - 24 June

(Full 2022 Year Planner on our website)
Click here to see the Term 2 Planner
KAYA...
FROM THE HIGH SCHOOL EDUCATION COORDINATOR

As you have heard from our recent notification, we have confirmation that Middle School will move to Hazelmere over the long weekend in June. Congratulations to everyone who has been a part of the big effort to renovate the existing property and stables to welcome our Class 7, 8 and 9 students to their new classrooms.

We started this term with a staged introduction to Hazelmere, with the students starting their Biodynamic (BD) Gardening and Horticulture excursions to Hazelmere; their instructor Heidi Halter, is a long-time BD gardener and farmer of high regard in the community. 

The Gardening and Horticulture Program at our School is the first curriculum-strategy in building our Ecology and Sustainability Area of Excellence. The program aims to give the students the experience and practical skills to grow their own food in a healthy sustainable way - caring not only for their own physical and developmental health, but for the health and vitality of the planet. Their introduction to this Science area of the Steiner Curriculum is to learn of the Biodynamic approach to agricultural practice, developed by Rudolf Steiner, while also being learning how to start identifying the six Noongar seasons and understanding their own relationships as living organisms in the physical environment.

It was an idyllic scene and a beautiful introduction to the new site, topped off by a nanny goat next door giving birth to a beautiful little kid; much excitement. The students will continue the gardening excursion to Hazelmere in the weeks leading up to moving onto the property.

As with many schools a number of our students have been isolating with COVID-19. Their acceptance and resilience is admirable and we are very proud of how our students face into their work with such a lot of disruption to their in-class experience. 

We are looking forward to welcoming our High School parents, carers and families to Hazelmere. It has been a difficult start to the year with extra restrictions applying to our temporary home at Swan Valley Adventure Centre; thank you so much for your ongoing support of your children and the School during our stay at SVAC. It has been a great location in so many ways; however, nothing beats home.

We hope to see you at our Busy Bee on May 28 and 29 to prepare the grounds for the move in the following weekend.
See you there.

Catherine Vann
High-School Education Coordinator 
KAYA...
FROM THE PRIMARY EDUCATION COORDINATOR

Wanju to all parents and guardians! It is so wonderful to welcome you all back on to school grounds again. With the dropping of restrictions, we are now able to have parents back into classrooms helping, attending birthday celebrations, assemblies, and also the parent study group on a Tuesday morning from 8.45 am til 9.45 am.  If you would like to support your class teacher with listening to children read, please let your child’s class teacher know. 
Last term was challenging as we navigated the evolving landscape of Covid, and I thank you all for your patience and support. 

Parent/Teacher Evenings
This term face-to-face parent/teacher evenings will recommence, and I encourage you all to attend. It is a wonderful opportunity to build community with the other parents in your child’s class, understand your child’s development from the perspective of the Steiner curriculum and how as a parent you can support your child’s learning journey.  The partnership between parents and teachers is a fundamental aspect of all Steiner schools and one which we greatly value. So please do come along.
 
Open Day
I really enjoyed seeing all of you at open day a couple of weeks ago. All our children have been working very diligently during term 1 and it was fabulous to see the fruits of their labor. A big heartfelt thank you to the P and F who put in many hours of preparation in the lead up to the day. Thank you also to all the teachers and children. I was so proud of our school. 
In my day-to-day chats with children in the school I often ask them what they like about coming to our school and the consistent answer I get is.  I love coming to school because it is Safe, Kind and the teachers Care about me. 
 


Deborah Neale
Primary Education Coordinator
CLASS NEWS
We hope you enjoy learning about what our students have been up to, as much as we enjoy sharing it with you!
CLASS 3/4 KAARAK CLASS
Dear Friends and Families of the Class 3/4 Kaarak Class,
 
We have had a wonderful start to the term with our new Main Lesson 'The Lost Secrets of Mathematics'. Our two adventurers navigate a series of maths riddles that require the children to employ both old and new strategies to help our narrative progress.
We are revisiting some familiar strategies for solving equations such as using our houses in Vertical Addition and Vertical Subtraction. The children know to use the 'attic' to store the additional number for adding if the 'ones' column has more than nine. Bringing these concepts first in a pictorial form, allows the children to see the function of each space as rooms for organising large and formidable numbers by their place-values. 
There is considerable practice of these problems using simplified houses before we move towards simple lines to organise the sums. So much momentum is gained in the practice that the children move seamlessly away from the detailed houses and are able to easily internalise these handy maths processes.

We have welcomed in the new season of Djeran with some wonderful studies of nature, noticing that the many Banksia flowers are blooming now that the weather has become cooler. We have painted wet-on-wet Banksia blossoms that now have a special place in our classroom. With so much variety in our local flora and fauna we always look forward to the change in our Noongar seasons to see what is flourishing during that time of the year. 

Thank you for sharing in our start to the term and we look forward to sharing the next instalment from the Kaarak class.

Warm Regards,
Thomas
CLASS 1 
Have you found that doing something with your hands can help you learn? Whether it’s doodling during a meeting or giving the skill you’re learning a go. In the early years of school, children are more engaged in learning when their hands and hearts are engaged in doing. We move our arms to create forms, we use our legs to walk/run/jump different letters, we use our hands to create beautiful things. 
 
Through using our bodies, we are developing both our fine and gross motor skills. Gross motor skills allow us to walk, kick, jump, balance, climb. As we get older our fine motor skills develop with practice. We can shrink our actions and now pick objects up with our hands, hold a crayon, point, weave, sew, tie our shoelaces. 
 
Before we commit any learning to paper, we experience it with our bodies. To each letter written in our Main Lesson book there was a myriad of actions. Running, jumping, beeswax modelling, blackboard writing, forming the letters with sticks/blocks/stones, saying verses, and singing songs. Only then can we commit our learning to paper. The learning must live within our bodies first in large motions and gestures and then can we transfer this knowledge from our heads to our hands to our paper. 
 
In Class One we have been creating Wool Letters. These letters made from sticks and wool have an incredibly calming effect as we weave. The slow progress of wrapping the wool around the sticks gives us the opportunity to fully immerse ourselves in the letters that we learnt during Term 1. Sometimes the children discuss their plans for the play times and sometimes it revolves around where they have seen the letters or the sounds they make. 
 
We also need to think about how we are going to create the letter from the sticks. How many straight lines are in each letter? Do we need a pipe cleaner to create a curve? How can we use the wool to hold each stick in place? Can I hold the wool tight enough so the stick is not wobbly? So many aspects to consider when embarking on each new letter. 
 
With the vowels being our special singing letters, they are represented in yellow (as golden as we can get with our wool). Each consonant is then other colours. Once completed we will be able to manipulate the letters to create an array of consonant-vowel-consonant (or CVC) words. This is the second part of our phonemic awareness learning. The learning about sounds and how they work together to create words. 
 
FRENCH WITH ANNA

Class 1/ 2: At the beginning of the school year, it was lovely seeing the children a few inches taller and to welcome some new children. They have settled really well in their French lessons. They are more confident every week as they are now familiar with the classroom routine and activities. To enhance their learning, the children have started their ABC of animals.  Feel free to ask them how do we say donkey, whale, cat, dolphin, elephant, pink flamingo, giraffe and hedgehog in French. Showing your interest may increase their motivation for this subject. We also celebrated Harmony Day by creating a whole class collage representing a diversity tree with colourful human hands. 
 
Class 3/4: In February, as the children were coming back to school, it was the right time to learn useful French vocabulary like school supplies, verbs about schooling as well as common phrases used in a classroom context. The children have also been given the opportunity to celebrate Harmony Day by reflecting on aboriginal spirituality looking at the meaning of totems. Through this process, they learned some more animal names in French but also in Noongar. 
 
Class 5/6: To develop the children’s language skills and cultural awareness, their learning is based this year on the French calendar. They have discovered la chandeleur (pan cake day), la fête des rois  (Epiphany or King’s/Queen’s Festival), le premier avril (April’s food day) and les fêtes de Pâques (Easter). So far, they favourite is la fête des rois. For this celebration,  the French buy a cake called La galette des rois which has a little figurine hidden inside and it comes with two paper crown. The person who finds the figurine becomes King or Queen. Through these tradition, they learned key French expressions but also shop names (La boulangerie, La pâtisserie, Le restaurant etc.) and of course a variety of French food. Finally, the children celebrated Harmony Day by looking at the evolution of food in Australia. 

Class 7: It was a privilege to welcome Eden and Tenae into a High School setting and to meet Paige, Ruby, Maybel and Jessie. All of them have demonstrated an interest for learning French and every week they are building stronger language skills. In every lesson, they are encouraged to speak, listen read and write in French. They are learning to interact in the target language with the teacher and each other. They have noticed how French is used differently in different context and how the French communicate in ways that may be different to their own. At this level, learning is achieved through formal activities to prepare them for next year but also through some educational games. 

Class 8/9: Some of the students have been attending the school for a few years and it is a great feeling to witness how their personality is standing out more and more. We also had the privilege this year to welcome Waimana and Shakalla in our French lessons. In term 1, the goal was to build the students’ confidence and make sure they realise how capable they are to learn French if they take  good work habits. After learning some of the basic questions, the students discovered also some of the French icons and this term for their biggest delight we are focusing on food. Parents get ready for your trip to Paris! By the end of this term, the students will be able to read a French menu and order at a restaurant. Bon voyage et bon appétit!
 
NOTICEBOARDS
COMMUNITY NOTICEBOARD
UPDATES IN OUR COMMUNITY
  • Artistic Activities by Nicole - School Holiday 
  • Parenting Programs
  • Introduction to Child-Parent Psychotherapy (CPP)
  • Rudolf Steiner College Perth
VIEW COMMUNITY BOARD
SCHOOL NOTICEBOARD
SCHOOL UPDATES
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

We are pleased to invite all parents, teachers and community members to attend Helena River Steiner School’s Annual General Meeting.

The meeting will be held at 6pm on 16 June 2022 at Lot 13 Stirling Crescent Hazelmere.

Please save the date.

The AGM agenda and other relevant documents will be sent out shortly.

Please RSVP to board.secretary@hrss.gov.edu.au
SCHOOL BOARD MEMBERS
Helena River Steiner School seeks new Board members who can help govern the major financial decisions and strategic direction of the school and ensure our compliance with government and related industry regulations and requirements. 
We are particularly seeking candidates with the following skills, qualifications or experience: 
  • Parents of current students
  • Law and legal services
  • Teaching/Education
  • Finance
Please note that we are looking for people who are willing to commit long-term, and who have adequate time, energy and dedication to spare for these voluntary roles. The role requires around 2-4 hours per week.
Please email your expression of interest to board.secretary@hrss.wa.edu.au
VARIETY GRANTS

Variety Individual Grants on offer for students affected by financial hardship or disadvantage and/or long-term health condition or disability. Variety BeKids grants provide practical equipment to help WA kids have a fair go. The items funded will help kids access the community, extracurricular endeavours and support their wellbeing.

If your child has a disability or sickness (long-term health condition) and your family is eligible, you may also be able to apply for a Variety ThriveKids grant or a Variety TechKids Grant.
Variety ThriveKids grants provide practical equipment to help WA kids develop and thrive. This includes items that promote behavioural regulation, physical development, independence, wellbeing, social inclusion and more. Variety TechKids Grants provide assistive technology to help WA kids with their communication, learning, behavioural regulation and safety.
All three grant rounds are open from January to October annually.

For further information and to apply visit this website
SECONDARY ASSISTANCE SCHEME APPLY NOW!
The Secondary Assistance Scheme is available to parents/guardians with children enrolled in secondary schooling who hold an eligible concession card.  

The Secondary Assistance Scheme comprises of an Education Program Allowance, which is paid to the school, and a Clothing Allowance that is paid to the parent.  

Applications are due by the end of this Term. For more information click here, and contact HRSS Reception if you wish to make an application.
EDSTART PAYMENT OPTIONS

Edstart is an organisation which provides families with flexible payment plans to help them manage their education costs. They have payment plans designed to fit around family budgets.

The Edstart brochure and payments plans can be found on our website. 
Helena River Steiner School
39 Spring Park Road, Midland WA 6056
T: 08 9374 0230
Copyright © Helena River Steiner School
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