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The faces of our Primary School's newest arrivals said it all last week as they "crossed the bridge" to big school, filled with a mix of excitement, nerves, pride and anticipation.

After a thanks-giving ceremony in the gunyah, the two classes travelled across the bridge in a Star Canoe, symbolising the threshold between Early Childhood and the formal learning environment of Primary School. Each Class 1 child was met by a student from our graduating class, bearing the gift of a flower and a native seedling, as the children's Kindergarten teachers, Kat and Kara, delivered them into the care of Class 1 teachers Rin and Lisa, to begin their journey together through the Primary School years.
 

Our Sunny Sunflowers were standing tall and bright in our Kindy garden to wave the children goodbye as they embarked on their at-home learning journey. But while our Kindy gardens are having a lovely autumn rest, the children have been busy little bees in their own homes.
 
It has been heart-warming to see so many photos of the children doing their Kindy work, and hearing stories of the wonderful family activities that are taking place.
 
Our Kindy stories have been focusing on pumpkins and harvesting the bounties of Mother Earth, noticing the changes in the colours of the leaves as they begin to fall from the trees, and the bright colours of Rainbow Glow as she shines across the sky after a dark and stormy day: Rainbow Glow shines oh so bright, she fills our hearts with love; A warm glow shines within us all when a rainbow shines above.
 
We have suggested that families create their own autumn celebration at home over the holiday weekend, and are looking forward to seeing some photos of family fun! Here are some ideas that Kindy teacher Jane Michaelis suggested in her ‘Autumn Reflections’ message that was sent to our families this week:
 
It is important to note that with young children, the preparation for the celebration is as important as the celebration itself.

• Find a good spot to make a seasonal table with your children, and keep it alive with new treasures found and added after daily walks in nature (or play in the backyard).
• Let your children help prepare a special meal with fruits and vegetables that are in season: pumpkin soup, pumpkin pie, pumpkin scones or muffins, apple crumble, apple cake, hot cross buns, corn on the cob, corn fritters, homemade bread etc.
• Decorate the family dining table with a special cloth and autumn leaves, flowers in season and seed pods.
• Light a candle and say a verse or sing a song before sharing your special family meal.
• Share seasonal stories, sing, dance, make music or play some games together as a family.
• Go on a seed pod/autumn leaf treasure hunt and make a family mandala out of the collection, or spend the afternoon getting creative and making things out of your treasures. You could sew together autumn leaves for a necklace, make seed pod boats to float, make autumn crowns for the whole family out of vines woven with leaves.
• Last but not least, don’t forget to go out before bedtime and look up at the stars. In autumn time they shine more brightly.

 
Look up, look up, look up to the stars
They shine very high
Their light with love
and if you’re very lucky
And if you’re very quiet
you might see a falling star…. a falling star tonight!
 
Kara Mallory
Hummingbee Kindy Teacher
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The first day of the year for our Primary School is always busy and bustling with expectations and excitement. After each student reunites with their teacher and classmates, the whole Primary School gather together to welcome Class 1. This year, the strings teachers played while the Class 1 children crossed the bridge with their teachers Maria and Heather and their assistants Emma and Karin. Each Class 1 child was greeted by a Year 12 student who presented them with a rose and accompanied them to their classroom, where they were welcomed with songs by the rest of the Primary School. 

Shearwater's Crossing the Bridge ceremony brings the youngest and oldest students of our K-12 school together at the beginning of each year. The growth that takes place between these stages of development is remarkable to see. Many of the older students (as well as parents and teachers) remember back to their first day of school - the crossing of a threshold, and are able to reflect on how much they have grown and learned in the intervening years. 

We welcome all our Class 1 children and their parents to the Shearwater Primary School and we wish them well as they begin the next phase of the journey through their child's school life.

Catherine Jones
Primary School Coordinator

​This year marks the centenary of Steiner education and more than 1100 schools around the globe are marking the occasion with a range of projects and initiatives.
 
As part of the Waldorf 100 celebrations, 12 students from Shearwater, the Mullumbimby Steiner school will be unravelling the big questions of our times at a national youth conference, hosted by Brisbane’s Samford Valley Steiner School, this week.
 
The conference will bring together senior students from Steiner schools around Australia, to explore social renewal, with a focus on racism and prejudice; divisions and world conflict; indigenous perspectives; minority groups; Australian and world-wide responses to refugees; the environment and sustainability; education and imagining the future; and the role of the arts, money and ethical business.
 
The students will spend three days immersed in workshops as diverse as moral technologies, living with bees, pliable ethical urbanism, refugees and art, indigenous perspectives, mural painting and song writing.
 
Year 10 students Hanini Schembri and Elzie Bambach who have just returned from a two-week camp to Vanuatu said they were all about expanding their horizons.
 
“My intention for this year is to take every opportunity that’s given to me,” said Elzie.
 
Hanini, who plans to become a Steiner teacher when she finishes school, said Steiner education may have its roots in the past but its focus is strongly on the future and preparing students for the world beyond school. “I would have to say the camps are a highlight – getting out of your comfort zone and having these amazing experiences with your class.”
 
“It’s like being part of a family,” added Elzie.
 
The first Steiner school opened in 1919 in the German city of Stuttgart. It was built at the Waldorf-Astoria cigarette factory, and its students were the children of the factory workers seeking a new approach to education following the devastation of World War 1.
 
With its emphasis on social renewal, it’s no surprise that Mullumbimby is home to one of Australia’s biggest Steiner schools. Shearwater will be celebrating 100 years of Steiner education at its annual Spring Fair on Saturday between 10am and 3pm. The fair will feature live music and entertainment, delicious food stalls, and crafts and activities for the whole family, including candle making, Sideshow Alley, spring garland weaving, a Wearable Arts showcase, Monster Raffle and one of the event’s highlights, the Spring Fair Busking Competition, which will again bring some of the most exciting emerging musical talent, from high schools around the region, to the stage.

Winter is well and truly here - a time to turn inwards to find our own inner light and warmth. We hope all of our Preschool families are enjoying this time of candlelight and warm fires at night, with gentle, nourishing stories for the children. Eating delicious warming foods as we rug up and keep our feet snuggled into woolly socks and slippers.
 
At Preschool, all of our children have celebrated the longest night – with each group holding their own Winter Festival. In readiness for our festivals, the children have been involved in preparing apple crumbles and pumpkin soups to share. We have been busy making gnome hats, lanterns and candles and practising our songs and our 'Lantern Spiral’, a symbol of the inward reflection that is marked by the longest night and an opportunity to help create a rhythm of quiet inwardness in the children.
 
As well as the lantern walk, another important part of our winter festivals are the special songs that we practise and sing at this time of year. The following are two of our favourites:

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

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

As the ancestors did long before, we join together to share the joy of music and motion, and pay homage to gatherings prior, and those to come.

The weather gods smiled on the Primary School's annual Bush Dance on Friday evening, when students, staff and families gathered to mark the advent of autumn with song, dance and feasting. Classes 1 to 6 shared dances old and new from around the globe, weaving the ancient and the contemporary with the story of this place and time.

The Primary School held its Autumn Festival, marking the equinox, today. Before a display of abundance from the School's Farm and gardens, Class 4 students proudly handed over four kilograms of wheat, from their own harvest, to the current Class 3 students, who will plant the seed in the spring.