THE MESSENGER
Term 1 Week 7 Wednesday 13 February 2024
DEAR SCHOOL COMMUNITY
Thank you to all the parents who supported the swimming program this year and the staff who made it possible, particularly to Rachel, Amanda, Bethany, and Jessica for teaching such valuable skills to the students and helping to support their confidence in the water. The school has also competed strongly at division and regional levels, and we have students heading to the State Championships. This is an excellent achievement, and we congratulate those involved and thank the students for representing the school so well.
The swimming program concluded with the annual school Swimming Carnival where the emphasis is on participation, fun, dressing up, and supporting each other. There was a fabulous atmosphere facilitated by Geoff and Lou J which included dance competitions, music, jokes (bad ones), and of course many swimming events. While all usual strokes and events were on offer, house relays, noodle races, and parent-staffstudent races make for an inclusive event where we hope all children feel comfortable trying something.
Thank you to parents and Ariel for your support of our students to attend the mountain bike inter-schools events. There is an outstanding article by Ariel in this week’s courier which I encourage you to read. The student’s support for each other should be commended.
This weekend the school was represented by Anthony, Nicky and Leith at the Mansfield Pottery Festival. In addition to providing demonstrations and pottery experiences for attendees at the festival on Saturday, Anthony conducted a workshop that focused on throwing large format pieces. Anthony’s love of the ceramic art form and kind gentle way with students (both children and adults) meant that many people were able to have a positive experience creating something. This is exactly the kind of experience we hope for at our school. Thank you to both Nicky and Anthony for representing the school so well.
Thank you also to our parent volunteers who walk with students to the pool, read with students, attend camps, excursions, and take on Class representative roles and P&F responsibilities. We rely on this help not only to run the program but to continually rejuvenate and maintain our community connections.
Glenn Hood | Principal
Look to this day for it is life
The very life of life
In its brief course lie all the realities and truths of existence.
The joy of growth
The splendour of action
The glory of power
For yesterday is but a memory
And tomorrow is only a vision
But today, well-lived, makes every yesterday a memory of happiness
And every tomorrow a vision of hope
Look well, therefore, to this day
SECONDARY SCHOOL ASSEMBLY VERSE
ALL SCHOOL EVENTS AND DATES: mansfieldsteiner.vic.edu.au/calendar
GRAPEVINE
MORNING STAR Sandi Valerio
Morning Star children are preparing for our Easter festival in the coming weeks. The Echidnas spent time in the outdoors on nature day last Friday wet- felting nests. Easter baskets will be made from golden paintings we have pre prepared, and eggs will be formed with busy fingers from bees wax and clay. The Honeybee children will make little chicks from mini Pom poms and the Echidnas will make hens using little stitches to sew felt delicately as they learn a new stitch, diver dolphin. Our morning circle will be shared with the prep children to be ready to sing at the festival with families and friends. We are looking forward to our festive weeks ahead in Morning Star.
ROSA MUNDI Jack Finegan
Down in Rosa Mundi we have been welcoming Autumn with songs and verses that highlight the change seen all around us. The children have begun to create their own spaces in the yard and tell stories to each other during inside play. Preparations for our Easter festival have begun and we are all very excited for the weeks to come.
CLASS ONE Liz Morrell
Class 1 have begun the Math Main lesson titled the Quality of Numbers. The focus is centered on the discovery and exploration of each individual number from 1 to 12, delving deep into the specific and special aspects of each number as presented in the world. Bookwork involves representing Roman numerals, Arabic numbers, and dice patterns. The students have begun ‘skip’ counting by 1s, 2s, and 4s in morning circle. Using our pebbles, we continue the journey of odd and even numbers, groupings of 12 and representing a given number story. The pebbles are also used to represent a set of numbers and to make geometric forms. Another lesson of the week is guided drawing, where the students follow directions and learn new drawing techniques such as scrub, flick, and light and dark shading. A fortnightly craft activity with the support of our Class 5 buddies is always enjoyed and appreciated. This week we made nature windows.
CLASS TWO Amy Burns
Class 2 will this week begin a new Main Lesson based on Fables from all around the world. A stalwart of Class 2, these animal stories ask students to examine some of the dualities of being human. They usually contrast two human qualities, and invite children to reflect on the place of both of them in life, for example, looking at whether working slowly and steadily (like the tortoise) or to rushing as quickly as can be (like the hare) is more fitting in certain situations. For this Main Lesson, students will create their own anthology of Fables by writing, drawing, painting and finally binding them together at the conclusion of the lessons.
CLASS THREE Ariel Stava
Class 3 had an amazing time at the swimming sports last week. After a nervous start for most, all had a swim in their first competitive race with lots of laughs in the under the lane rope race and the “not a race” swim down the pool by all of the students, some of the parents and teachers. The students were very proud of their ribbons and should be congratulated on all their accomplishments. This week the class will continue to learn new athletic skills in preparation for the athletics next week. Starts and high jump were the focus last week along with discuss. This week the students will move to jumping skills and learn some more tips for running. Main Lesson work shifts this week to the final Main Lesson for the term with the introduction to Farming and Gardening. The students will investigate lots of different food corps, the importance of caring for the soil and many aspects of animal husbandry. Work in farming will continue throughout the year as they continue to tend to their gardens throughout the different seasons working with the elements to produce food to harvest, preserve and share.
CLASS FOUR Lou Pullar
Class 4 have begun their Heroes of Old Main Lesson which is mathematics focused, and based on stories from the Old Testament and heroic tales from Africa. We continue to learn about the importance of rules and laws and how they can vary in different places and times. As we work with these stories, we are looking at mathematics rules and processes that help us solve more complex problems and different strategies and methods we can use to find the answers. The class is also enjoying harvesting produce from the garden for cooking with Finella and sharing our Wednesday meal together.
CLASS FIVE Clare Bennetts
Class 5 have been rehearsing their lines and honing their acting skills, all the while learning about the wonderful and enthralling tale of The Ramayana. Look forward to the Class’s performance on 20th March at 12pm and 7pm in the Melidoora Hall. More about Ancient India will be explored during our trip to Melbourne’s Hari Krishna temple and Buddhist Institute on 27th March. Students have applied themselves to practicing form drawing, a skill which helps with the development of fluent, consistent and beautiful handwriting. They’ve been enjoying an array of games to explore and reinforce maths concepts. The Class are keenly exploring botany and will be able to share their understanding about the flower’s relationship with the earth and sun, as well as the many forms taken by the dandelion. We have moved to the Plant Kingdom, beginning with fungi, and will work our way through to flowering plants.
CLASS SIX Jacinta Walker
Class 6 has started working on their gardening project – making a new garden bed along the side of the Science classroom. We have dug out all the old, gravelly soil and will replace it with lovely home made compost, ready to plant seedlings. Our new Main Lesson has started – Business Maths (with a twist). Students are choosing characters to take on an adventure to the town of Phandalin. They need to work out what equipment they need to take – and then pay for it. Students are graphing all sorts of things – how many elves, dwarves, halflings and humans are in our party, whether they are wizards, rogues, clerics or fighters, and how hot it is in this new land. They will also need to borrow some money and learn all about interest!
YEAR 7 Amy McMahon and Oliver Raymond
Year 7’s will be revisiting our Arthurian Literature stories; employing crafting, wood-working and drawing skills to develop scenes, characters, props, and costumes. We will audition for their respective roles, develop their character through a series of exploration tasks, rehearse diligently and work together as an ensemble cast to put on a 5-act performance at the Mansfield Performing Arts Centre in Term 2. This play will spread across two Main Lesson cycles utilising the April school holidays as a ‘break’ and a chance for students to practise their lines, ready to enter Term 2, off-script!
YEAR 8 Dion Hall
In the Chemistry of Food Main Lesson students are exploring the world of matter through the conceptual lense of chemistry, atoms and molecules to explain our taste for food. Our hands will be busy beating, sifting, and mixing an array of doughs, creams and batters to better understand where our food comes from and how it is processed. Finally we will look at who has and hasn’t access to a healthy diet in the world and how a proper nutritional balance makes a happy mind, body, and soul.
YEAR 9 Suz McKay
After a heart challengingly steep climb and soul deep sunrise experience on Mt. Cobbler, Year 9 will this week head out to The Bluff. Our legs are getting stronger and each climb lets us feel that we are more capable than the week before. Our walks in the Alpine National Park links back to factors related to our Ecosystems and Human Cultures, Main Lesson. This Main Lesson encourages us to think about the ecological factors that have given rise to particular ways of living in different environments and across cultural history. Students will present, in pairs a presentation about Biomes to inform and deepen their peers understanding of how environment and people have changed naturally occurring landscapes across time.
YEAR 10 Nick Koschitke
In this Main Lesson, Year 10 will be challenged with choosing, staging, and performing a monologue, a style of performance that is equal parts challenging and rewarding. Throughout this process the students will dive deeply into their character, fleshing them out into three-dimensional beings from just words on a page. We hope you’ll be able to come along next term and watch the fruits of their labour.
SWIM CARNIVALE Nick Koschitke
On Tuesday March 5th, 18 secondary students competed in the Southern Ranges Division Swimming Carnival. It was a perfect day for the event, sun shining brightly and only just being outmatched by the students’ enthusiasm. Throughout the day all students were fantastic competitors and were willing to have a go, no matter what their confidence levels were for each event. This was highlighted by Annella’s willingness to jump into the 14yo boys relay team at the last second so they could compete, coming away with a second place in the freestyle relay and moving them onto the next level! Congratulations to Annella, Finn, Rueben, Ben, Colton, Declan, and Tom who have all progressed to the next level. We wish you the best of luck and hope to hear of more success!
YEARS 11 & 12 IB DIP
Both classes have been diligently studying, with the 11s exploring idealised Australian phenomena in anthropology and the 12s refining their High Level English essay drafts for submission. Amidst these academic endeavours, CAS has facilitated some much-needed community interaction. The 11s were led by the example of Ella, who volunteered her Saturday to assist at Mansfield’s most beautiful garden. The 12s followed Angus’ shining lead to construct an outstanding swim carnival for the youngest year levels. See CAS section on the back for more information...
MUSIC
Our extracurricular orchestras are busy rehearsing in preparation for The Strings on the Green on Friday the 22nd of March. The school community is invited to bring a picnic rug or chairs to enjoy the event. Families will have the option to purchase a delicious baked potato made lovingly by our Parents and Friends committee (BYO plate and cutlery). Food will be served from 5:30pm until 6:30pm and the orchestras will play Classical concertos, Folk tunes and popular string arrangements from 6:30 until 7:30pm.
STRINGS ON THE GREEN
A Classical Music Picnic Featuring: JPO, MSPO, MSCO and the Year 7 String Group
Friday 22nd of March
5:30 - 6:30pm BAKED POTATOES (P&F) at Melliodora Hall
BYO bowl + cutlery eftpos only
6:30 - 7:30pm Picnic & Music outside Gallinbirem & Gurrin
Creativity, Activity, and Service (CAS) are often seen as optional or altruistic elements in daily life. However, for International Baccalaureate (IB) students, these components are imperative. The premise of CAS is to ensure that students take time out of their studies to focus on themselves and the communities around them, producing balanced and community-minded individuals. As students of the Steiner system for more than a decade each, CAS comes quite naturally to us; an example of CAS is this publication here, working on building real-world skills outside of academia and contributing to our community. CAS works as an academic justification to engage in personal projects that may otherwise be foregone without the validation of it being schoolwork. To enhance the 12s CAS portfolios this year, each student has taken on a leadership role in sports, music, or academia. One of these students, Angus, undertook the challenge of organising the Class 1 +2 Swim Carnival. Despite the many unintentional, though inevitable games of Chinese whispers, the event was a wild success. This year’s event was both the largest to date and the first studentorganised, and thanks to its success – one can predict many more student-led days to come.
IB - WHAT IS CAS? Mackenzie Henderson & Willow Matthews
