THE MESSENGER Term 3 Week 9, 17 September 2025
“The world laughs in flowers.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson.
Dear School Community, The last few weeks, we have been privileged to see all the students from Class 3 through to Year 12 perform at their solo concerts. As the school continues to grow, the audiences follow suit, and the task for our performers becomes a little more daunting. There are multiple reasons behind asking the students to perform in this way. The obvious reason is that it provides a goal to work towards and a consequential reason to practice. More importantly, it serves as a vehicle for confronting nerves, anxiety and developing resilience and confidence. Everyone who performs (particularly music) must confront nerves, doubt and be able to keep going when, inevitably, mistakes happen. It is the ability to cope with these small (but in this case, public failures) that is the most important lesson. The responsibility of our ever-growing audience is to hold and celebrate each child as they undertake this difficult task and to acknowledge the complex interplay of practice, effort, nerves, and confidence that sit behind and within each student when they take the stage. Thank you to everyone for being supportive audiences, and to our music staff who teach much more than music.
Our Year 12 Students have been sitting practice exams in preparation for the fastapproaching real thing, and we wish them the best in their efforts through this last part of the 2-year IB Diploma course. IB Staff have gone above and beyond in their support of the students, and we can all feel lucky to have such dedicated staff.
We also have a 40-year Mansfield Steiner School Alumni Celebration, after Spring Fair in the Hall at 7 pm. We have a wide definition of Alumni, so if you are a past student, parent of a past student, a past staff member/volunteer, or have a connection to the school, we welcome your attendance. Please register using the QR code on this Messenger.
The Working Bee on the first Saturday of Term is an important one to help us prepare the grounds for Spring Fair. We greatly appreciate any time you can spare to lend a hand. Thank you to everyone in advance for your contributions to the day. It is an important and fun day for the students, but it is also a wonderful showcase for the school, as well as the major P&F fundraiser for the year.
Spring is a wonderful time of year, and I hope you can enjoy some family time with your children over these holidays. As usual, the students will be ready for a rest but will also be excited about spending more time outside as the weather improves. Happy Holidays Glenn