The next few weeks are full of meetings. We urge as many parents as possible to attend. The class meetings form a vital bridge between the class teacher and the parent body. They allow parents to get an overview of the term's lessons. They allow an extended conversation around issues of interest to the class and they allow a deepening of the class community. We really appreciate the effort it takes to go out on a school night, particularly for those parents who have multiple class meetings to attend. So thank-you in advance! For those new parents - the Morning…

One of the feature Main Lessons of the Chrysalis curriculum is underway in Class 7 this week. The Birthing Main Lesson is a brilliant example of the integrated Steiner Curriculum at it's best. Weaving strands of PDHPE, art, story-telling, music and science together, the Birthing Main Lesson is an introduction to reproduction as a pathway to self-knowledge.The content  introduces Class 7 children, who are in their early adolescence, to the biology of reproduction, beginning with changes at puberty, bringing an awareness of the responsibility for, and science of, conception. The marvel of genetic imprint, the miraculous story of foetal development, the…

We continue to be aware that there are continued cases of  whooping cough in the Coffs and Bellingen region at the moment. It is not out of fear that we keep updating and reminding people to be diligent, but out of a consciousness that we hold for the whole community.As whooping cough is extremely contagious and extremely dangerous to newborns and the elderly it is imperative that we become more aware as individuals within our community. Take some time to read the following so we can support each other in knowledge and foresight on behalf of our children and the…

Building Panpipes, Clarinets from Carrots and an Earth Harp! Class 5,6 & 7 children who are not on String Camp have an exciting day planned for this Wednesday from 9.15 until the end of the day working with Sean, Lucas, Kath, Luke and Claudia. Children will be divided into  3 groups on the day. Kath will lead the construction of an earth harp. Luke will lead children in the construction of clarinets made from carrots and Sean will be leading the pan-pipe construction. Lucas and Claudia will roam and assist the three groups.

We had a good turnout at the talk after assembly last week. Technology and the 3R's. Under discussion was technology - how we incorporate and understand the role that technology should play in family life. Thank-you to all those that have taken the time to engage with the debate and to email in their responses.  We hope to print a version of that talk in this upcoming issue of Emerge. In the meantime we wanted to thank Jane Noack for offering their family's "Teenage Tech Agreement" which we hope will help inspire your family to engage conciously with his new…

When community works like it should! The mallets in our woodwork room have been a bit tired and worn, like the one in the photo below. They were made many years ago from Tallowood and most were nearing the end of their life. So John Boxtel, our woodwork teacher, approached The Bellingen Men’s Shed to see if they could help us out by turning some new ones. It was perfect timing because Paul Holding (who is also the principal of Bellingen High School) was looking for projects for his woodturning demonstrations at The Bello Show! John supplied the timber which came…

There are a few more cases of whooping cough amongst children at our school. Whooping cough in older children can be a prolonged coughing illness which is typically worse at night. Both vaccinated and non -vaccinated children are being infected. Whooping cough caught at school or childcare can be brought into the home where it spreads to other family members. Coughing spreads the infection to others nearby.    Whooping cough caught at school can spread to any younger brothers and sisters at home. The biggest risk is to any baby at home.  Whooping cough can be especially dangerous for babies. In…

Sometimes a photo says it all.  While they were in Bellingen as part of their Building Main lesson Class 3  managed to find time to drop into Bellorana to share some of their music with the residents. Thanks so much to Jay for sharing her photos

With a smart phone in your hand, you are in possession of a technological tool with 1,300 times more computing power than the guidance computer that took the Apollo space mission to the moon and back. In this talk Bruce will lead a discussion about the new visitor in the family: Technology. How do we incorporate and understand the role that technology should play in family life. This is a debate in which there are no experts. The pace of change is simply too fast. But we can look to the wisdom tools we already possess, such as the 3…