Our Philosophy
We work with the philosophy elaborated by Rudolf Steiner (1861 - 1925) which describes the child as a spiritual being who brings his or her own gifts into the world.
It is the task of the teacher to recognise and foster these gifts and to support the child in becoming his or her true self. This gives education a purpose which extends beyond that of getting a job or into a course. Steiner education strives to provide an environment - physical, emotional and intellectual - where not only the thinking, but also the will (striving towards a purposeful destiny) and the feelings of the child can grow and truly reflect the whole person. Rudolf Steiner awakened a new impulse in education with this philosophy.
“Steiner education prepares our children for life.”
In Steiner ("Waldorf") schools we strive to help the children develop their feelings as they grasp ideas, and help them gradually cultivate their own impulses of action and initiative. We believe that education can be a process of growing in the light of truth and the warmth of a community dedicated to improving our world. Being clever is not enough in our times; the solid human qualities of free will and healthy deep feeling must accompany clear thought. Our children must have our love to nourish them every day of their growth to adulthood, and it goes beyond this, for they need our love every day of their lives. Therefore we work closely with our community of parents to share in this task. Steiner education prepares our children for life.
“Our children must have our love to nourish them every day of their growth to adulthood, and it goes beyond this, for they need our love every day of their lives.”
The way children are educated by family, school and society determines so very much about their innate attitudes and their will to act in the world. Children live in deep community with their parents and teachers and guardians, and by their nature, are innocently open to all the influences of the world. Commercial and political and dogmatic religious influences can be balanced in the soul of a mature adult, but we must protect the children from such influences which are not based upon a loving concern for their free development.
“Our school is non-denominational, co-educational, and invites students of any race, ethnic or religious background.”
Each of our years of education, requires that we look with wonder and love at the efforts of the child to become a citizen of the earth, and the challenge is always there to find loving methods to initiate the child into our ways of understanding the world. It is a miracle to observe again and again how our students can take what teachers offer them and use it to develop faculties and knowledge far beyond that which we can demonstrate or embody. Our teaching therefore is offered in service to the unfathomable potential and destiny of each one of our children. It is offered with imagination and love for both the students and the subject, to nourish the free development of the human beings in our care.
“Each of our years of education, requires that we look with wonder and love at the efforts of the child to become a citizen of the earth...”
We have the Australian National Steiner Curriculum, which is a shared body of knowledge accumulated by hundreds of Steiner schools over eighty years and in many different national settings. This is a blessing to us, for it allows us to enjoy the fruits of experience from the world community of Steiner teachers. However it is secondary to the principle of teachers striving to understand the nature of the children before us, and learning to love them in a deeply responsible way, and bringing our subjects to them in a form commensurate with the stage of growth they are enjoying.
“We value this uniquely balanced education which integrates academic excellence with practical learning and creative and performing arts.”
We use the great tools of true imagination, art and music, and we work to engender the warmth of enthusiasm, and the glow of reverence for that which is worthy of the children’s devotion. This does not preclude the necessity for plain hard work to finish that which must be completed, or to learn that which must be known, but it is vital that these demands are presented in the context of a loving and supportive community. We strive to educate children in an atmosphere of human love, of preparation for good and noble deeds, of penetrating thinking. Our school is non-denominational, co-educational, and invites students of any race, ethnic or religious background.
