THE MESSENGER
Term 2 Week 4
Wednesday 1 3 May 2026
Term 3 Week 7 Wednesday 3 September 2025
The trees are about to show us how beautiful it is to let go Unknown
Dear School Community,
I hope you are making a smooth transition to cooler Autumn weather. The trees at school have been sharing a final burst of amazing winter colour before they turn in for the winter.
We must have experienced the divine within ourselves, before we can discover it in our environment. - Rudolf Steiner
Thanks to those of you who have completed the 2026 Annual Parent Survey. The Survey will close this week on Friday, and we are hoping to have 80% of parents respond (we are at 40% now). Reminders have been sent via Sentral and Text Message. Your
The first few weeks of term has been filled with many opportunities, Melanie Deefholts sessions with students and parents on navigating child development, our French exchange students arriving, state swimming representation, senior monologues performances, Year 9 trips to Mt Feathertop, The Viking, and the Murray River, Year 10 Surveying camp, Class 3 School Camp, Working Bee, strings player at the Delatite Winery, Senior Vocal
GRAPEVINE
students performing at Buckland House, Wednesday Morning Runs. All these things are in addition to the wonderful Main Lessons and classes that are our core business. Thanks to the staff that make these things happen.
Autumn Festival is this week (Thursday at 3.15pm for Kinder and Prep & Friday at 5.30pm for the ‘Big School’). We look forward to sharing this celebration of the change of season with you.
Open School Tours – On Thursday 21 May, perspective families are invited to join a tour at either 10.00am or 12.00pm. If you know of any families who might benefit from learning more about the school, please ask them to book via the QR code on the messenger, or to contact the school.
Our Annual General Meeting is on May 19 at 7 pm. Invitations have already been sent but if you have not seen one yet, please know you are most welcome to attend. At this meeting Governance Committee Members will be elected. All parents can sign up to be a
member of the MRSSK Association on the night and vote at this meeting (if you are not already a member).
You will continue to see, hear and feel the effect of Artificial Intelligence on your life alongside debate and information in the media about the opportunities and threats posed by this technology. If you have some time, check out ‘The AI DOC: Or How I Became a Apocaloptimist.’ We continue to work on our school policy in this area but be assured that we will be doing all we can to prioritise an education where real human relationships and the skills to develop and maintain them are at the forefront of our minds, and where curriculum and assessment requires students to develop real human thinking skills. Beyond this we can help them engage with AI in positive ways.
Glenn Hood | PRINCIPAL
PLAYGROUP Laura Herridge The days are certainly growing chilly! Little hands have been warmed by kneading sourdough buns first thing in the morning, followed by wiping the table clean ready for cutting up rainbow fruit. Last week we were able to sit out in the morning sunshine to do some Autumn leaf rubbings. It was a beautiful time together, and we were grateful for the warmth Father Sun was generously streaming down onto our backs. As the days grow colder we will be knitting slippers for little feet and keeping warm together in our cosy space. King Winter is beginning to let us know he is coming!
MORNING STAR Tash KavanaghHoneybee’s have trip trip trapped into term 2 learning our new morning circle. We have been gnomes who trip trip trip down to the King of the Gnomes. One little, two little, three little witches echos throughout the kindergarten room and garden throughout the day and I’m sure many of the children are singing it at home as well. We have been preparing for the cooler weather. We now start with inside play and are looking forward to cosy morning sitting by the fire making our pom poms. While Father Sun was still warm we dip dyed some singlets filled with love and warmth that we can wear to keep ourselves warm when Jack Frost visits in the autumn and winter.
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MORNING STAR Sandi Valerio Term 2 has begun with warmth and golden tones all around. We are practicing songs of Autumn ready for our Autumn Lantern Festival and the Prep children have been visiting on Fridays to help us along.Painting has been a focus to use tones of golden and lemon yellow and watch them dance on the paper all the way to the edges. This is the beginning of creating our lantern for the festival. As we walk in the big school on Nature day the children have collected autumnal leaves to use for both leaf rubbings and to put in out lantern windows. This week we are making the finishing touches on our lanterns, cutting the bases, glueing them up and making our lanterns round. Our last job is to make a twisty handle and our project is ready for festival night. The children have enjoyed the process and progress of slowly making their Lantern over the past three weeks. The anticipation grows each day and they have learned patience, focus and shown care as they work on a project slowly. This is the beginnings of future learning, taking time and care as they watch the project evolve.
ROSA MUNDI Jack Finegan Rosa Mundi have been busy this term preparing for the change in weather and our upcoming Lantern festival. The Autumn leaves are falling and providing our yard with some extra sunlight to keep us going through the cold and misty mornings. Our morning circle and verses we sing represent this change and helps to keep our bodies moving, whilst golden soup and bread help to warm us from the inside. This week we are working to finish our Lanterns for our Festival and look forward to gathering around the fire with our friends and family.
CLASS 1 Kristi Mulvihill First Excursion
Class One had a significant and memorable week, culminating in their very first excursion to Mirimbah Park. On Friday, the class hiked in from Carter’s Road, well prepared with hiking packs, hats, water bottles, sunscreen, and a small snack. They were blessed with gorgeous autumn weather, and throughout the walk the students kept their eyes peeled for signs of gnome residences and evidence of gnome behaviour. The day ran smoothly thanks to the wonderful support of our adult volunteers, whose help made the experience so manageable and enjoyable for all. To finish the day, the students delighted in a paddle in the beautiful Delatite River—a perfect ending to a special first excursion
CLASS 2 Samantha Charlotte Saint Odilia
Class Two met Saint Odilia, and have been exploring her life through the medium of a play. We have been working hard on learning her story, and how best to portray it so that we can share it with a wider audience. The class will be performing Saint Odilia in a matinee, then an afternoon performance and are excitedly putting the finishing touches on our costumes. Class Two students have also been diligently weeding the school gardens, practicing our maths, as well as exploring the change of seasons through various artistic pursuits, such as painting, modelling and form drawing.
CLASS 3 Liz Morrell Rulership and Authority
Our Main Lesson literacy block has centred around the theme of Rulership and Authority through the rich and meaningful stories of the Old Testament. The children have journeyed through the stories of Jacob, Joseph and Moses, exploring the human experiences of family, jealousy, courage, leadership, freedom and responsibility. We will conclude this part of the unit with the story of Moses receiving the Ten Commandments, bringing a picture of law, guidance and community responsibility appropriate to the developing Class 3 child. The class are becoming increasingly aware of the moral questions within stories, engaging in discussions about actions, choices, fairness and what it means to act rightly toward others. Through oral retelling, sequencing events and structured story work, the children continue to develop narrative writing with a clear beginning, middle, problem and resolution. We are also looking forward to our first Cross Country event. The focus for the children is on participation, perseverance and doing their personal best. It has been lovely to see students encouraging one another and approaching running with growing confidence and determination.
CLASS 4 Clare Bennetts Fractions
Class 4 have been learning about fractions and listening to stories from Norse Mythology. We have heard about the Wall of Asgard and drawn the stones as parts of the whole with the first layer in 1/2s, the second layer in 1/4s, the third layer in 1/8th and so on. We then listened to how the goddess, Idun, harvests magic apples and gives each god 1/8th each day for immortality. We each cut an apple into ½ and found ½ of a ½ then ½ of a ¼ to make eight pieces from the whole. We have begun learning about the Norse Runes and will use them to write words onto our shields. Alliterative verse and sword fighting with staves help us immerse ourselves into this culture of fierce Vikings during Morning Circle.
EARLY CHILDHOOD
CLASS 5 Micheal Britton Ancient India
Class 5 have been immersed in their Ancient India Main Lesson over the past few weeks. Through storytelling, the students have been developing their literacy skills by retelling stories, identifying the main ideas and writing clear summaries. A particular focus has been on using direct speech and learning how to weave it effectively into their own writing. We will soon continue with the stories of King Pandu and then move into the Ramayana, with an increasing emphasis on writing more complex sentences and learning to more independently self‑edit their work. Alongside this work, the students have been busy preparing for the Autumn Festival. They have been making lanterns, singing seasonal songs, and exploring Indian‑style form drawing. The students also glazed their Indian style oil lamps (diyas) and were fortunate to welcome a special guest, Ajanthi, who shared insights into her country and culture, Sri Lanka. She spoke with the class and shared examples of traditional dress and food, which was a rich and engaging experience for the students. In Practice Lessons, the students have been working with decimals and fractions, particularly through word problems that require careful thinking and number sense. In physical education, the class has been enjoying a cooperative game called Bench Ball, using it as an opportunity to build teamwork, practise good sportsmanship, and focus on kindness learning to enjoy the game without becoming overly competitive.
CLASS 6 Lou Pullar Greek Tales
Class 6 have heard the Greek tale by Homer of The Odyssey, working with each of Odysseus’ adventures, writing descriptively and publishing their depiction as a fold out/flip up double page presentation in their Main Lesson books. It has lived up to its name as an epic in more ways than one! We are now talking about the influences of Ancient Greece in our lives today from language to democracy and planning a Greek feast for next Thursday 21st May where we’ll share our eurythmy activities and dance together. Then it’s onto Ancient Rome for the rest of the term.
YEAR 7 Charlotte Dayman Linear Perpectives
Year 7 students have been learning the fundamental skills of perspective drawing this Main Lesson. We have been learning how to use vanishing points and the horizon line to create depth in our drawings. Students began this main lesson learning how to apply these rules to flat 2 dimensional shapes, turning them into 3 dimensional forms and have since applied this new knowledge and these skills to drawings of landscapes and notable pieces of architecture such as the Arc de Triomphe. In the final stages of this main lesson, students have been working on their own masterpieces, apply the rules of perspective drawing to a scene or piece of architecture of their choice.
YEAR 8 Dion Hall Platonic Solids
Year 8 students have explored the historical significance of the Platonic solids across millennia, recognising them as both intellectually engaging and a powerful expression of the elegance and beauty inherent in mathematics. Using compass and protractor, they have constructed accurate 3D nets from first principles, working with radius and straightedge to develop precision, concentration, and patience. Through this work, students have also deepened their understanding of key mathematical ideas, including transformations, tessellations, and the properties of congruent and similar triangles.
YEAR 9 Nicholas Koschitzke & Amy McMahon
Between trips, the Year 9s have begun their new Main Lesson, Making of the Modern World, where they will investigate the major events, ideas and movements that shaped the world we live in today. Throughout this Main Lesson, students will explore topics such as imperialism, colonialism, the World Wars and other significant conflicts, technological change, propaganda, and the social transformations that emerged over the past two centuries. Students will continue to explore this vast area of history through games, research, source analysis and the construction of timelines. This Main Lesson is designed to deepen their understanding of the historical timeline and examine how conflict, innovation and social change have influenced everyday life across the globe.
Year 10 Andrew Raftery Surveying
The Year 10 group, made larger with the arrival of 10 French exchange students, visited a block of native bush on the edge of the Strathbogie Ranges for three days as a part of the Surveying Main Lesson. The cracking of sticks as students walked and measured the trails of the property could be heard, highlighting the peaceful environment. Singing around a crackling fire outside and laughter from various card games became the sounds of our evenings, with the zipping of tents and sleeping bags marking the close of some long days. On return from camp, the students have been carefully mapping the data they collected, producing a map of the trails and wombat burrows to gift to the property owners.
IB DIPLOMA YEAR 11&12
Phoebe Brown + Leith Pierce
This term we, the Year 11s have been starting work towards our CAS Projects. CAS Projects are a part of the IB program that consists of planning an event, involving either the school community, town or both. Tom, Jarom, Campbell, Billy and I (Phoebe), have decided to try planning a triathlon for later in the year. We are hoping for 12km bike ride, 100m swim, and a 3km run for people 12 and above. We would love to know who would be interested in attending, in order to plan the day to the best of our abilities. Please email TomasW@mansfieldsteiner.vic.edu.au and send the number of people in your family or your friends that may be interested in attending.
MUSIC Danielle Andreasen-Cocker
Eight students from Class 6 are taking part in the Musica Viva Australia strike a chord chamber music competition. As part of this the school was offered the opportunity to have a professional musician come to the school and do a workshop with these students. Hannah Wallace; a violist who is studying at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music came to the school and ran workshops with each quartet. She built their ensemble playing skills, pulling the music apart and getting them to play as in sync group. We felt very lucky to be given this opportunity and the students enjoy themselves a lot.
As part of the Itet program, Snowgum Strings participated in rehearsals and mentoring sessions across the weekend with the Flinders Quartet, culminating in a shared performance at the Delatite Winery. It was a marvellous musical performance in a magnificent venue!
SPORT from Alicia Krsticevic Congratulations to Giulian, Willem and Jude (class 7) for winning their coaches awards this season. A big congratulations to Giulian and Alex (class 7) for winning their grand final and Lex (class 5) for being runner
Open School Tours
Come and see Steiner Education in action
May 21 @ 10am + 12 pm
Join us for an information session with Principal Glenn Hood followed by a tour with a member of the Leadership Team focused on your particular area of interest; Early childhood, Primary, Secondary and the IB.
This is a unique opportunity to see a Steiner School at work. Each Session will last 45 minutes. Please register at Humantix.
