Dear Friends

As you are all aware, the Australian National Curriculum Framework is currently being developed by the Federal Government as part of the Education Revolution of the Rudd Government. Compliance with this National Curriculum is mandatory for all independent schools as a condition of federal funding (Schools Assistance Act, 2008).

What does this mean for Steiner Schools?

Steiner schools, like all independent schools, depend on government funding for sustainability. Of this the largest part comes from the Federal Government. Continuance of funding relies on legal compliance. Registration of independent schools also depends on compliance.

All independent schools were required to sign their agreement to this legislative requirement in January 2009. At this stage, the only detail we had as to what might be contained in the National Curriculum documents (English, History, Science and Mathematics) was contained in Framing papers of broad general principles.

The RSSA and its representatives engaged fully with the consultative processes being offered by the National Curriculum Board - attending forums, writing submissions and providing detailed feedback to the framing papers. Our goal was, and continues to be, to have input into the rationale, form and content of the national documents at every stage.

The National Curriculum detailed content documents for English, Mathematics, Science and History are now being written and will be ready in draft form by the end of 2009. There will be opportunities for further consultation and feedback for the first three months of 2010 and it is anticipated that the final curriculum documents will be ready by mid 2010 and then distributed around all Australian schools ready for implementation in 2011.

However compliance with this National Curriculum, whatever its eventual form, is seen as one of the greatest challenges Steiner education has faced in this country. The essential question for the RSSA has been how to negotiate our way through these demands in such a way that we can remain true to our educational philosophy, our curriculum and most importantly the development of the children enrolled in our schools…. Please click here to view the rest of this letter from the RSSA

Dear sister Waldorf/Steiner school

Today the ABC radio segment that our school and its parents were involved in was broadcast on Life Matters program. If you missed it, you can download the podcast from here http://www.abc.net.au/rn/lifematters/ or listen in tonight for a repeat at 9.00pm on Radio National.

We are also very pleased to let you know that we now have a public website for Australian Waldorf parents and other interested parties. Please visit www.waldorfparentsunite.org to see the latest in news and views about the Rudd Government’s new national curriculum, as well as a host of Waldorf resources and information. Feel free to leave a comment or send us content that you think would enrich the website. This is a growing resource and there is much yet to be added - it also links to a ‘background’ resource that we Mt Barker parents have been building for some time.

We would really appreciate it if you could mention this new website in your parent newsletter and/or other communications.

If you have material (PDF, Word or image files) that you think would be useful on the website, please send them to me.

Thank you for your support.
Anne-Marie Taplin

Parent at Mt Barker Waldorf School, South Australia

The key points of this phase for schools are:

any student or staff member who has been excluded from school because of travel, and is currently well, can return to school immediately
any student or staff member who has been placed in quarantine by public health authorities because of ill health should maintain their quarantine until they are well
any student or staff member who is unwell with flu-like symptoms should remain at home and seek medical advice from their doctor, and
Boarding schools and schools catering mainly for children with special needs remain at greater risk with respect to an outbreak of influenza (of all strains) and additional hygiene precautions should still be taken in such environments.
Please click on the link below to open a Letter to Principals from the NSW Department of Health which provides more detailed advice, including an Information Sheet for parents and staff, about the PROTECT phase of the response. This advice can also be viewed and downloaded from the AIS website at www.aisnsw.edu.au under ‘What’s New?’.

For more information about Human Swine Flu and other influenza viruses, including daily advice and updates, go to www.health.nsw.gov.au or contact the Swine Flu Hotline on 180 2007.

Yours sincerely

Dr Geoff Newcombe
Executive Director
AIS

The Education Tax Refund lets you claim up to 50% of eligible education expenses for school children. If you are eligible, you can get back up to $375 for each primary student and up to $750 for each secondary student.

You can claim things like text books, stationery and even internet costs.

If you receive Family Tax Benefit Part A for a child at primary or secondary school, you will be eligible. Some other people are eligible too, to find out more about this and other information such as what you can and can’t claim go to australia.gov.au/educationtaxrefund or call the Tax Office on 13 28 61.
Remember, you need to keep all receipts for expenses you claim.

In addition, the Tax Office has prepared, specifically for schools, some frequently asked questions and answers. These questions and answers can be found on the Tax Office website by following the link below.
http://ato.gov.au/individuals/content.asp?doc=/content/00192105.htm

Children are to be dropped off at 9am; and picked up at 1pm from the children centre in North Bellingen.

Supervision - Nerrida, Sylosz Jane, Priya and Miriam

Classes 3 & 4.

Dropped off at the Bellingen bus stop at 9am
School in town - (activities; walk, library, museum, violin with music teachers)
Pick up at 3pm at Bellingen Bus stop

Supervision: James, Will, Kym, Susan, Jacqui, Sarah

Class 5

Rest day: post camp

Classes 6 - 8

Drop off at 9 am at Bellingen bus stop; pick up at 3.00pm.
Half day educational excursion in Coffs (National Marine Science Centre and Bureau of Meteorology), tennis at Bellingen park

Supervision: Betty, Cathy, Pete

Any questions: Kelley 0432 105 205, Steve 0427 551 305

The National School Pride program has seen our School successfully apply for and receive a grant of $75 000 for ongoing refurbishment and maintenance.

The Primary School in the 21st Century programme is underway with our grant application due to be submitted in July. This grant will be for a hall/performing space/ outdoor/indoor learning space. We still have work to do in defining this grant. It is for $850 000 and will enable us to get a wonderful piece of infrastructure.