As the longest night of the year draws near and the whole school prepares to come together to mark the return of the light on Friday's winter solstice, the Primary School is a hive of activity, putting the finishing touches on lanterns, dipping candles, practising songs and the intricacies of the lantern walk - one of the Festival's highlights.

These activities, which are unique to this time of year, help build the atmosphere of reverence and wonder for the children. Friday's Winter Spiral is one of these special moments for students in Class 1, 2 and 3, helping bring an inner quiet and peace, before the colour and song of the Winter Festival story, that takes place in the Hall for the Primary School and our graduating class. The night is nigh, the time is near. We wish everyone a beautiful Festival night, full of peace and cheer.

Cathy Jones
Primary School Coordinator

Year 8 students have been exploring various scientific phenomena through practical first-hand investigations. The Year 8 Science course provides us with the opportunity to introduce our students to the world of processes and allows them to develop and practice their skills in observational, scientific process and drawing.
 
Students enjoy the hands-on approach and watching the simple scientific processes occurring before their eyes. Our hope is that students will leave school with a curiosity for the living world and the skills to investigate and observe scientific phenomena.

Praba Manning
Science Teacher

Both Class 6s have been busy mosaicing during afternoon block lessons this term. Class 6C, pictured above, did a beautiful job brightening up the barbecue in the canteen area, for the whole School community to enjoy.

Our Year 9s have recently returned from an epic three-week journey around the Northern Territory. The first four days were spent travelling on the bus, stopping only to eat and sleep. It was a character building time, often arriving at in the dark, setting up camp, cooking for 55 people, eating, washing up, sleeping, waking before dawn, packing up and leaving. The first night we stayed at a free camp site where we set up camp in the dark not realizing that it was a day picnic area. At 1am the sprinklers went off soaking all the tents. There was much moving of tents and ducking and weaving the fountains of water - luckily most of us saw the funny side.

Our first actual destination was Bitter Springs at Mataranka (pictured above). We stayed for two days in a beautiful camp spot a short walk away from most wonderful hot springs. A crystal clear stream that carried you down stream to a bridge, where you got out and walked back to either do it again or soak in it’s nutrient rich warm waters. The students loved it!

A couple of days later we headed off to Litchfield National Park where we spent two days. During this time we swam at Buley Rock Waterhole and had a talk from the rangers about crocodiles and termite mounds. Later in the day, we walked to Florence Falls where we also swam, getting the students to buddy up for safety in the large swimming hole.

We then headed up to Darwin, stopping at Berry Springs, yet another beautiful swimming hole. In Darwin, we went to the War Museum and the Museum and Art Gallery of Northern Territory, where we had a excellent talk from the curator and saw the stunning Yidaki exhibition.

The following day, we all enjoyed the Big Buoy Water Park, before heading to the Trailer Boat Club for a great dinner overlooking the beach sunset.

Our next destination was Kakadu. In Ubirr we took in the magnificent rock art sites as well as the incredible view from the escarpment over Kakadu wetlands. One of the highlights of the camp was the Wetlands tour where we saw huge crocodiles and many varieties of birds. The students participated in workshops with a local indigenous  family. The boys made didgeridoos and clap sticks under the guidance of Travis, while the girls learnt how to make bangles with Mandy, beginning with harvesting pandanus palm leaves to make thread and learning how to dye the thread using natural dyes. Later we enjoyed some excellent damper that they had brought and shared our lunch with them.

After Kakadu, we headed to Katherine Gorge and the Nitmuluk National park. We swam at Edith Falls, stopped at Katherine Thermal pools, and went to the Cutta Cutta Caves (meaning place of many stars). We took a ferry through the gorge and some of the students did a challenging walk back to camp.

The camp was amazing and such a journey of growth for the students and staff alike. One we will remember for the rest of our lives with gratitude and wonder.
 
April and Tony
Year 9 Guardians

Winter is here, in our Kindy garden, and we are all enjoying our work and play in the winter sunshine. We sing songs of King Winter, sleeping seeds, golden glowing mandarin trees, and Mother Earth and her Helpers. 

As well as getting started with our preparations for our Kindy Winter Festival, the Birdsong children have been busy making their own set of wings! Each child coloured their own wings and finger knitted their straps. Our wings turn us into dragons, butterflies, dragonflies, eagles, magpies, sugar gliders and all sorts of flying and gliding creatures.  Special thanks to the Kindy parents who kindly offered to help us with the overlocking of our wings.

Kat Barwick
Kindergarten Teacher

Congratulations to Class 4 students, Olly and Finley, who took out first place, representing Shearwater, in the junior division of the Australian Marbles Competition, held at Brunswick Heads on Saturday. It was the second year the Shearwater team has taken out first place, with Olly also retaining his title as the junior division's overall winner. Congratulations also to Shearwater duo Anelle and Catia, who were runners up in the junior division. A lot of fun was had by all the competitors.

We don’t often have a chance to experience the simplicity of inner stillness in full consciousness. Winter is a time to look within and reflect on our lives and gather for the next year. To ensure your children experience this mood of soul here are a few possible suggestions to continue the mood into your home life:
 
• Create a quiet family ritual that you enact each year on the longest night.
 
• When you arrive for the Winter Festival in your car, ensure the radio is turned off for a quiet ride home.
 
• After the festival, go home and share a meal by candlelight. Immerse yourselves in a rich peace and quiet. Prepare the meal during the day so that you don’t have to turn on any electric lights.
 
• Have the whole family at home - no sleep-overs - for the longest night.
 
• Light candles instead of turning on the electric lights.
 
• Have a family campfire and go to bed early.
 
• Wake up early in time to watch the sun rise on the new year ahead.
​

Below are the words of our new Winter Festival song, composed by Lisa Cameron and written by Liz Kee.

This year, our school is creating a new opportunity for parents, alumni and friends of the school to connect and be part of the rich culture that is our school community. On Wednesday 19th June, we will be having our first meeting.

Here’s why we’d love you to come along:

•  Shearwater is a large school, with many programs and resources... if you want to know what’s going on, and how it all works, this is a forum that will facilitate that.
• As a Steiner school, we look to provide an environment that nourishes the soul... we do that for our children in the classroom, and in this forum we are seeking to nourish the soul of the community through parents, alumni and friends
• Soon, we’ll start planning our biggest whole school event of the year : the Spring Fair! It’s an extraordinary and magical day, where children and parents from every class really come together to create something special and showcase to each other and the wider community what we can do together.
• Research has shown that educational outcomes are often better for students whose parents are more involved in what’s going on. We hope this forum will support you to create and maintain that connection, even amidst your busy life.

So please! Come along and meet other parents and friends of the school, enjoy some warming soup, a cup of tea, a talk, and an opportunity to be part of a vibrant community. We‘d love to see you there!

Shearwater Parents & Friends 

During Class 3, the nine-year-old child begins to separate from the sense of unconscious flow and one-
ness with the world that characterises the years prior. As this stronger sense of self unfolds, a certain degree of isolation and angst can be experienced by the child. This is a threshold year for the children, a time to pass through fear, doubt and even loneliness. On the other side of the threshold is a new world of strength, confidence, clarity and understanding. The lessons presented in Class 3 are designed to support this new growth.

This term, the children of Class 3N have begun work on the Homes and Shelter main lesson. This
foundation Class 3 unit meets the nine-old year child as they begin to build their own inner shelter. As
they take steps into the world as individuals they need something to assure them that they will be OK
during this passage. Through understanding how human being, through history, have 
provides themselves with shelter, the children can live into the image of what is required to build a
strong and safe place to live. This outer experience of constructing a solid structure on a stable
foundation runs parallel with the inner experience of the nine-year-old.

We are undertaking a collaborative class project to build a tiny tiny trailer home. The children have
been designing, and have begun to build, this tiny version of a somewhat modern housing solution that
is current to our times.

There is so much experience in the Class three curriculum to keep these busy nine-year-olds engaged, including music, farming, painting, literacy, building, numeracy, eurythmy and much more.

Nick Vuorinen
Class 3 Teacher

​During Term 2, our Year 11 Biology students have been immersing themselves in a depth study, part of the revised Stage 6 Biology course, which provides students with the opportunity to pursue their interests in science, acquire depth in their understanding, and take responsibility for their learning,  
 
A depth study is any type of investigation/activity that a student completes individually or collaboratively, that allows the further development of one or more concepts found within, or inspired by, the syllabus. It may be one investigation/activity or a series of investigations/activities.
 
Depth studies are designed to provide opportunities for students to consolidate their learning, develop competence and confidence in relation to their knowledge and skills, and foster creativity, by allowing students to apply their knowledge and skills to new situations
 
This year, 11 students have been investigating the function of various enzymes, and the environments required for their optimal functioning, specifically testing enzyme function under the parameters of temperature, pH and substrate concentration. 
 
These students will enter the field of science with the skills and knowledge to undertake scientific investigations and make their own discoveries.

Praba Manning
Science Teacher