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.
HIGH SCHOOL INFORMATION NIGHT
Our High School Information Evening is being held next week at our Hazelmere Campus. The evening is a wonderful opportunity for families to hear more about our expansion plans, high school classes and educational approach.
Please share this information with anyone you think will be interested.
2023 SCHOLARSHIPS AVAILABLE
DIARY DATES
Early Childhood Spring/Djilba Festival - 13 Sept
Greek Olympics - 16 Sept
High School Play - 21 Sept
Primary Spring/Djilba Festival - 22 Sept
High School Spring/Djilba Festival - 22 Sept
Students' Last Day of Term 3 - 22 Sept
Term 4 Commences - 10 Oct
The pre-kindy children have been keeping each other warm with their shared humour and love for one another as they work.
We have also been enjoying the warmer days and sunshine Djilba has brought us, with much time spent sitting in the sun for picnics and drawing in the garden.
The children have observed the flowers and caterpillars in the garden, which we have started to bring into all our being through our circle songs, as the children metamorphosis into butterflies with their whole bodies. To our reverent story time which gives a real impression of the season.
The children loved the processes involved in creating a clay bowl with imprints of nature we found in the garden. They were very excited to give their beautiful handwork to their Fathers as a special present.
Blessings and love to our families and school community.
Jessica Coker
Early Childhood Teacher
Creating a unique clay bowl as a special Father's Day gift.
Imprints of nature in our clay bowl creations.
Enjoying the beautiful weather, drawing in the sunshine.
Children with their handmade lanterns in our spiral.
CLASS NEWS
French
Class1/Class2: The children have been focusing on learning French numbers from 0-20 and French vocabulary related to the animal world. To enhance their learning, they have participated in group discussion and educational games such as charades, animal flashcards and Guess who? The children have worked through the alphabet individually drawing a different animal every week and so far they are up to the letter ‘R’. Their favourite book during our story telling session was I am too big from Lone Morton. This story is about an elephant and a giraffe who are not happy with the way they look until they realise, thanks to their friendship, that they are absolutely fine.
Class 3/Class 4: The children have discovered some similarities and differences between French and English using the French alphabet and the months of the year. They also compared the Noongar Seasons calendar and what is happening in France at the same time. They are now learning the days of the week in French through songs and games such as ‘Le facteur n'est pas passé. Il ne passera jamais. Lundi, mardi, mercredi, jeudi, vendredi, samedi, dimanche (The postman didn't pass by. He will never pass by. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday).
Class 5/Class 6: In the last weeks, all the students made a lot of progress with numbers from 0 to 100. At the beginning of the term, some of them were struggling to count from 0 to 5 and can now count to 20. This is a great achievement in a short period of time. Well done everyone! As the French celebrated their national day on the 14th of July, it was a great opportunity for the children to learn more about the French revolution and about the history hiding behind the symbols of France. Finally, as they studied ancient Egypt during the year, the children discovered who Jean-François Champollion was. Using the Rosetta Stone uncovered during the Napoleonic invasion of Egypt, he was able to decipher the ancient Egyptian language.
Class 7: The students are more confident every week and they are showing a genuine interest and motivation for learning French. This term, to their great delight, they are learning to order food and drinks in a restaurant and a café. Through this, they are also unveiling some of the myths related to French cuisine. Do French people eat frogs? What about snails? What are the most commonly-ordered dishes in French restaurants? Class 7 parents, you can start planning your trip to a francophone country as the menus at the restaurants won’t have any secrets left for your daughters. Bon appétit!
Class 8/Class 9: Students have been investigating the French secondary school system. They developed their language skills by learning how to give the time in French, read a timetable and talk about what subjects they are studying. They also developed their critical thinking skills with discussions held in class on topics related to education. What are the good points (and not so good points) in your opinion of each country’s education system? For example, would you prefer not to wear uniform? It is not easy learning a foreign language, but they are improving each week.
Anna Edwards
French Teacher
AFTER SCHOOL SAFETY PRIMARY & KINDY
This has been a difficult year navigating the COVID pandemic and it was challenging in Term 1 and 2 when restrictions meant there was an absence of parents and guardians in school. It is lovely to now rejoice in the continuation of our parent groups, birthday celebrations and before and after school play, however we want to remind our community of some playground rules and responsibilities as some of these have recently changed.
Classes finish at 3:10pm and on Wednesdays at 2:10pm.
All Kindy and Class 1 children will need to be collected from their teacher at their classroom.
Parents are responsible for the duty of care of the children once they have been collected. This means if they are playing in the playground they need to be supervised at all times.
If you are running late please contact the office to let them know.
We have a duty officer in the playground until 3:30pm (or 2.30pm on Wednesdays). Please make sure that you leave the premises before 3:30pm. The gates will be closed then.
The duty teacher's main role is to assist children to find their parents and general playground supervision, it is not to supervise children already collected by parents.
Any children not collected from Kindy or Class 1 after 3:15pm will be taken to the office and their parents called.
Children from Class 2 onwards who are not collected by 3.30pm will be taken to the office and their parents called.
It is preferred that Kindy children are collected first if they have older siblings. The Kindy rooms are open 10 minutes prior to the end of school for earlier collection of children.
The equipment and playground in the primary school is not suitable for Kindy aged children.
Children who are waiting on the veranda for pick up are kindly reminded to behave according to the student code of conduct.
Balls are only to be played with on the hard court, no where else in the school.
FUNDRAISING
We are excited to announce that the School has been awarded a $5,000 grant from Birds Australia to enhance Australian native bird conservation outcomes and extend their nesting and breeding habitat on the Helena River (adjacent to our new school site).
Grant monies will be used to run two Re-Cyc-Ology nest-box workshops, which provide schools and community groups with the opportunity to learn how to build, install, monitor and maintain nest-boxes for hollow dependent wildlife.
The workshops will be delivered by Simon Cherriman and Danielle Crichton, two environmental educators who are members of the Sustainable Schools Alliance. Simon is an award-winning environmental scientist/ecologist, writer, educator and wildlife film-maker, WA Parks Foundation Ambassador and an enthusiastic advocate for the unique Australian bush and its creatures. He specialises in bird-related research and environmental education and is currently undertaking PhD research on Wedge-tailed Eagle population dynamics and movement ecology at Murdoch University. Dani is a primary school teacher with over 20 years’ experience and passionate environmental educator with extensive experience in linking environmental education programmes to the WA Curriculum, who aims to foster in others a sense of custodianship for Perth’s diverse and fragile landscape.
The School will also organise; two presentations by Talitha Huston, local teen photographer, environmentalist and author of Birds of the Perth Hills; nesting-box signage; revegetate a small area of the foreshore with locally indigenous plants and install a permanent watering source for our feathered friends. Wow! Much appreciation goes to Birds Australia and to Robert and Catherine for their support of, and future commitment to, this exciting project, which will be implemented over the next 9 months. You are all invited to join, with further details to be provided.
Yoga at Hazelmere campus to begin in Term 4. Details below.
CRAFT GROUP MONDAYS!
No prior experience is necessary, it’s free, and all materials are supplied by the school.
Crafting together is a lovely way to spend the morning whilst having a cuppa and a chat with fellow parents in a relaxing atmosphere.
Every Monday, Stax Café 9 - 11:00 am.
ANTHROPOSOPHICAL STUDY GROUP RETURNS
Anthroposophy literally means “the wisdom of man” and it examines all aspects of life and living. It encourages individuals to awaken and develop their understanding of themselves, the people around them, and all elements of the world.
In Study Group we come together to examine, question and reflect upon the insights provided by Rudolf Steiner. These include human development, health, the kingdoms of nature, planetary influences, and much more. Anthroposophy is an integral part of a Steiner community.
Term 4, at our Hazelmere campus, Thursday evenings 6 - 7:30pm.
COMMUNITY NOTICEBOARD
UPDATES IN OUR COMMUNITY
Parenting Programs
Introduction to Child-Parent Psychotherapy (CPP)
Rudolf Steiner College Perth
Job Vacancies
Think Green - City of Swan Aug/Sep program (view here)
Nature Know0How - City of Swan Aug/Sept program (view here)
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.
