Class one to six

In the "heart of childhood” years, each child develops his life of feelings. For this stage, Rudolf Steiner asked teachers above all to work as artists; not to teach art as a subject, but to bring into the class room all the living imagery, colour and poetry of which they are capable. Classroom practice too, should have a living organic balance between listening, speaking and doing, between humour and seriousness, impulse and patience, taking in, transforming, and giving out.

One of the most notable ways in which the Steiner philosophical approach to education differs from others is the response of the curriculum to the various phases in child development. Primary years at the Ballarat Steiner School focus on delivering a high quality and rich educational experience to children. We provide a hands-on artistic approach in the teaching of literacy and numeracy. In the primary years, developing imaginative capacities enables to engage with academic material and forms the foundation for future creativity, problem solving and innovation. The timing of curriculum content and lessons is carefully matched to the children’s developmental and emotional needs. The capacity to appreciate beauty in the world is developed.

The curriculum is designed to harmonise with the particular stage of development that the child has reached, while affording a rich context in which to work on practical and academic skills. In this way, the development of the life of feeling is not divorced from practical learning and the curriculum is both integrated and truly child-centred.

Historically the human being drew pictures before reading and before the use of abstract symbols. In classes one to three there is a pictorial introduction to the alphabet, writing, reading, spelling, poetry and drama.