Gumnut Bulletin 3, 2025

Education Manager

Hello everyone,

I hope the gentle unfolding of autumn has been kind to you all.

Some of us are clinging to the warmth, while others are ready to welcome cooler days. Here at school, the changing season makes itself known in subtle but familiar ways. While it might not be about swapping to the winter doona or dusting off the slow cooker, we certainly feel it in the morning chill and the renewed enthusiasm for bush cubby time!

The students have been joyfully immersing themselves in nature—gathering sticks, leaves, and other treasures to build their forts and bases in the bushes. It's delightful to watch their imaginations at work. Please do check your child’s bag for any extra “resources” making their way to school—we often find household items tucked into cubbies as the children try to stake their claims and assert “real estate” rights!

These play spaces are more than just fun—they’re fertile ground for learning. Hidden among the leaves, the children are deeply engaged in active, healthy play. They test boundaries, negotiate, problem-solve, and collaborate. Their imaginations and critical thinking are in full flight as they plan how to enhance their “land” with the limited materials they find. It’s a perfect microcosm of life’s challenges and opportunities.

Earlier this month, I had the privilege of attending the GLAM (Governance, Leadership, Administration, and Management) conference for leaders in Steiner education, held in Canberra at Orana School. The program explored a rich range of topics: the safeguarding of education, social and economic trends, political advocacy for independent schools, governance, reconciliation, cultural leadership, and the spiritual aspects of leadership such as karma and connectedness.

Beyond the learning, it was a meaningful time to connect with fellow Steiner leaders from across the country—reigniting old friendships and forming new ones. The few days were full, nourishing, and deeply inspiring, offering renewal for those of us guiding this unique and enriching educational path.

With Gratitude

Lisa Scamporlino

Community Manager

Dear Families,

We hope this message finds you well! This term we have welcomed no less than 9 families to our little school.  We extend a warm welcome to you all and look forward to getting to know you and your children as the year rolls on. 

During the school tours, our visitors always comment on our beautiful grounds and buildings. As we continue to create a nurturing and vibrant environment for our children, we are reaching out to our wonderful community for some extra hands. Your support is invaluable in helping us maintain and enhance our school grounds and facilities.

Here are some tasks where your assistance would be greatly appreciated:

• Delivery: We need help with  trailer loads of mulch from the tip delivered to the school site.
• Sanding Play Equipment: Our play equipment could use some sanding to keep it safe and enjoyable for the children.
• Work Horses: We need our newly constructed workhorses in our woodworking room sanded.
• Donations: We are looking for donations of second-hand pavers and horse manure for our gardens.

Additionally, we still have openings for P&F (Parents and Friends) or Governing Body membership. If you would like to lend your helping hands in this way, we would be delighted to have you join us.

Your assistance is valued not just as "Parent Commitment Hours," but as a way to nourish and nurture your children's school environment.. Maybe we should rename this scheme Community Care Hours, or do you have any other suggestions? 

 "A healthy social life arises when the whole community finds its reflection in the mirror of each person’s soul, and when the virtue of each person lives in the whole community."  Rudolf Steiner 

Together, we can create a thriving and supportive community for our children.

 If you can assist with any of the tasks listed, please let me know info@leaningtree.wa.edu.au .

Finally, I acknowledge two fine students who presented the LTSS wreath at the recent ANZAC Day service. Thank you to the respectful and service-oriented James Clarke and Tristan Watson. In addition, Tristan was awarded a grant to attend a Leadership camp earlier this month. Congratulations Tristan, and thank you for being a guiding light. 

Kind regards,

Lara     

My New Gallery

Starflower Kindergarten/Pre-primary

Starflower News

Dear Starflower families.

For the golden corn, and the apples on the tree’s

For the golden butter, and the honey from the bee’s

For the fruit and nuts and berries, we gather on the way

We bless you Mother Earth, and thank you every day.

Autumn mornings are beginning to show themselves. Mornings are a little cooler, children are arriving rugged up in warm jumpers. We are blessed with this cooler change to the weather, meaning that the Starflower children will stretch their limbs into Bush Kindy.

Bush Kindy is a beautiful feature of our Kindergarten room, where the children happily engage with the natural environment. This includes cubby making, damper eating and fire building, and all of the fun that comes with tree climbing and exploring the outdoors.

In the following weeks, we will also begin our preparations for Winter Festival. The classroom will come abuzz with lantern making, vegetable chopping and soup making. This is such a lovely time of the year, and we are looking forward to the wonderful warm smells of soup wafting through our room.

Autum blessings to you all,

Warm regards, Nina, Helen and Charlotte.

Sunflower Room Class 1/2

Dear Families,

What a wonderful and lively start we’ve had to Term 2 in the Sunflower Class! The first four weeks have been full of rhythm, stories, creativity and discovery as we settle into our daily and seasonal rhythms.

Each morning begins with our Morning Circle, where the children sing in tune, keep a beat, practise rhythm and movement and enjoy verses and games that support memory, coordination and reverence. This special time fosters a sense of connection as we greet the day together.

Our days follow a gentle, predictable daily rhythm. After Morning Circle, the children engage in their Main Lesson, where storytelling is at the heart of learning. The Year 1’s, have begun their journey with Ancient World Tales, hearing and retelling traditional stories, illustrating scenes and writing simple sentences. The Year 2’s, students have been learning to read as well as write texts using punctuation such as commas and speech marks.

In Mathematics, both classes are developing number sense through movement, games and practical activities. Year 1’s are counting, exploring the qualities of numbers and practising addition facts to 10. Year 2’s are extending their understanding of place value and number patterns through rhythmic counting, skip counting and using hands-on materials such as play-dough.

Our gardening and STEM lessons have been a hive of activity — caring for our worm farm, harvesting from our garden and investigating natural phenomena through stories like ‘The Eagle and the Turtle’ and ‘The Wolf and the Fire’. The children loved exploring the wonder of feathers in flight.

In class arts and crafts, we’ve delved into wet-on-wet painting, created collages and made art inspired by Dreaming Stories in preparation for Reconciliation Week.

We’ve also enjoyed cooking together, making bread, apple pies and pasta pesto, learning kitchen skills and sharing meals around our tables.

Our Protective Behaviours program has guided valuable discussions on safe people, secrets, persistence, and personal space. Through stories and conversations, the children are learning the importance of personal safety and respectful relationships.

The sunny sunflower’s look forward to sharing many more adventures with you in the weeks ahead!

Kind Regards,

Ally & Jasmah

Seabreeze Room Class 3

Dear Parents and Friends, 

It has been a busy and exciting term in Seabreeze! Our main lesson focus has been on exploring shelters from around the world. The students are very eager and enthusiastic as they work on creating 3D models of their own chosen shelters, which has been a wonderful hands-on learning experience.

In our garden, we have planted a wheat crop, preparing for our upcoming main lesson on farming. The children are looking forward to learning more about how crops grow and the importance of agriculture.

In mathematics, we've been concentrating on Australian currency. The students have been practicing counting money and giving accurate change, building essential skills for real-life situations.

At the end of Term 1, we had the pleasure of visiting Queens Park Theatre to watch "A Little Bit of Blue," a fascinating story about a bowerbird. It was a wonderful outing that sparked lots of discussion and imagination among the students.

Overall, it’s been a productive and enjoyable time in Seabreeze. We look forward to more exciting activities and learning adventures ahead!

Warm regards, 

Leisl Forsyth & Claire Mooney

Rivergum Room Class 4

Rivergum News

We’ve had a wonderful few weeks in Class 4, filled with creativity, curiosity, and hands-on learning!

At the end of last term, the children thoroughly enjoyed making dragon clay sculptures for our whole-school Michaelmas Festival. Their imaginative creations brought a fiery and festive spirit to the celebration!

This term, we’ve dived into the captivating world of Norse Mythology. The children are loving the tales of Loki’s clever tricks, Thor’s mighty strength, and Odin’s deep wisdom. Inspired by these stories, they’ve been crafting their own imaginative narratives—brimming with drama, magic, and mischief!

We’re now about to begin creating clay sculptures inspired by Norse gods and mythical creatures—an exciting opportunity to bring these legendary figures to life through art. We'll also be painting Viking longboats, adding a bold and colourful touch to our classroom walls.

In mathematics, we’re mastering the 8 times tables through clapping, rhythm, and song—it’s lively, noisy, and wonderfully effective!

The class is also hard at work preparing poems and stories for the upcoming Randolph Stow Writing Competition, with some truly thoughtful and creative pieces beginning to emerge.

Each morning, the children tend their individual garden beds, eagerly watching their plants grow and learning valuable lessons about nature along the way.

Warm regards,
Tara, Penny and Ann-Marie

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Lighthouse Room Class 5/6

Lighthouse Classroom News – Week 4 Term 2 2025

The Lighthouse class has made a strong and enthusiastic start to Term 2, diving into a range of new learning experiences across subjects.

Our current Main Lesson block explores a significant chapter in Australian history, focusing on the time period between colonisation and federation. We have been learning about historical context, key events, people, and ideas that helped shape the foundations of modern Australia. Through stories, discussion, mapping, and creative responses, we’re developing a deeper understanding of this formative era and its impact on our nation.

We have been reading Thomas Appleby, a powerful historical novel by Jackie French, as our class serial story. Set in the grimy streets of 18th-century London, the story follows the life of a young chimney sweep boy and paints a vivid picture of the harsh and horrifying conditions faced by children at the time. As we journey with Thomas and discuss the story, students gain insight into the struggles of the past and the social systems that shaped the early colonial world. Stories like this help our modern-day children connect with history on a human level and reflect on how far society has come — and the importance of building a fairer, more compassionate future.

In Mathematics, we’ve taken on some big concepts. Students have been learning about long division and order of operations (BIMDAS), while also tackling the challenge of simplifying fractions. There has been a strong focus on improving fluency with times tables, as confident recall underpins many of the mathematical processes we are working with. It’s been encouraging to see students rise to these challenges with persistence and a positive attitude.

In Science, our focus this term is on geology. We’ve been learning about different types of rock formation and exploring the unique features of Australian geology. The students have shown great enthusiasm for this topic, bringing in an impressive collection of rocks from home to add to our classroom display. Their curiosity and keen observation skills have led to some fantastic discussions and questions about the natural world beneath our feet.

We were also delighted to welcome two new students into the Lighthouse class community this term. The class has done a wonderful job of making them feel included and supported as they settle into new routines and learning experiences.

We look forward to the continued growth, learning, and connection that the rest of the term will bring!

Warm regards

Kelly, Peta and Paul.

Voyager Room Class 7/8

     “The world needs men and women

who cannot be bought;

whose word is their bond;

who put character above wealth;

who will make no compromise with wrong;

whose ambitions are not confined to their own selfish desires;

who are true to their friends through good and bad,

who are not ashamed or afraid to stand for the truth”

By Charles Swindoll, Living Above the Level of Mediocrity, pp. 107-8

Welcome to an auspicious Autumn,

We applauded the cooler weather and the dubbing of our recent Ladies and Sirs at the annual Knighting Ceremony. The class 7 leaders were gifted with their virtue for the year. The virtues received were; harmony, creativity, purposefulness, reliability, kindness, loyalty, imagination, honesty, honor and authenticity. May these virtues be displayed with reverence and diligence and be a shining example to the people of our school.

As promised, we have a few photos of the Class 7 Camp to Perth and the Michaelmas Festival to show you. These frames only capture a fraction of what was an exhilarating and exciting time in our class calendar. The Class 7 students ventured to Perth via Three Springs and stayed in the Swan Valley for four nights. We kayaked, ziplined, bounced, rock climbed, traversed high ropes and walked through floors and floors of galleries and museums. I still don’t know how some students were still awake until midnight! Some highlights included a visit to AQWA and eating gelato at Elizabeth Quay.

When we returned the wind was strong and suitable for kite flying just in time for our Michaelmas festival. We sang “Michaelmas Time’ and summoned the dragon with the drumming of good vs evil. We ate our dragon bread with pride and watched a fabulous Michaelmas play performed by the Lighthouse Class. Thank you to everyone for their stellar support and for making our festivals so special.

Sincerely Susan

Prospect Room Class 8/9

Prospects News

It was all about appreciating the Mother figures in our lives to start with this term. Cards with flowers made out of hearts, words of gratitude and string art hearts to gift. The seeds we planted on the last day of Term 1 had mostly sprouted, some were huge. There were some losses in transplanting, with extra hot days making survival tough. We have done some re-seeding and are starting to see progress in our little garden beds, including some volunteer mushrooms.

We commenced the term with a Democracy main lesson; discussing symbols of democracy and Australia’s specific system of government which started with Federation in 1901. While our system isn’t perfect, it is certainly better than some of the alternatives. Coming into a federal election or the back of a state election, meant students were seeing and hearing politicians' messages in the community.

An important facet of being a good leader is public speaking skills, along with the ability to unite and persuade. Powerful persuasive speeches in history are being looked at currently, while analysing the techniques used by these influential figures. Can students persuade Lisa to change school rules?

Year 9 students oiled the new recycling hub, as part of their school service. A group attended a session at Batavia Coast Maritime Institute this term, to learn about Aquaculture.

Lisa Keeffe, Paul & Sophie

Design & Technology

We’ve been making the most of this beautiful weather by taking our workshop outdoors. Year 7 students have been constructing wooden mallets from a recently felled tree, and we’re excited to welcome back former D&T teacher, Chris Atkinson, who is leading this engaging project.

Year 8 students are building model Formula One cars from pine—a task that involves intricate design work, precise measuring, and detailed carving. Keep an eye out; you might spot one racing through your neighbourhood!

Year 9 students are continuing work on their major projects. With the design phase now complete, the focus has shifted to measuring and cutting. I’m looking forward to seeing some impressive pieces of furniture take shape in the coming weeks.

Paul & Chris

Visual Arts

Dear Community,

This Semester the Visual Arts space has seen oodles of creativity and fun as students have poured their heart and soul into Ceramics and Form, term one and Mixed Medium pieces in term two. Themes for the student’s artwork have been inspired by the main lessons studied in class. There is just too much to share with you in this forum, but we are planning to incorporate an art exhibition to show case all the students hard work as a part of another event in term 3.

Here is a sneaky peak of some of the ceramic creations.

Warm Autumn blessings

Dani 😊

Photos:

Sunflowers 1 /2- Form Stories and Wishing Stone Hearts

Seabreeze 3 - Creation Stories- Noahs Ark

Rivergum 4 - Animal and Man- Birds, Rabbits and Sheep

Lighthouse 5 /6 - The Ancient World- Scarab Beetles, Cuneiform tablets and Buddha

Voyagers 7- Mythical Creatures

Voyagers/ Prospects 8- The Human Hand

Prospects 9 - The Human Head

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Handcraft

Hi all,

Just as we are getting ready to move into winter, some of the Class 1 children have begun the exciting process of sewing up their French knitted noodle into a beanie, ready to wear on those long winter nights.  Some of the Class 2 children are now ready to sew up their knitting into a bunny that they will then stuff and make a pompom tail for.  The Seabreeze class have finished and are using their felted pencil rolls.  They are now knitting a gnome which involves them learning the purl stitch.   The Rivergum class have finished their embroidery and are now learning to crotchet.  They are making a potholder.  Class 5 continue with their fingerless mittens with a fair isle pattern they designed, and Class 6 continue crocheting their slippers.

Chris and Peta.

Parent & Friend Action Group

Dear Families,

We are excited to announce our upcoming PLANTFOODDANCE event, a celebration of growth, community, and connection! 🌱🌳 Date to be confirmed next week.

Join us as we aim to plant seeds, plant trees, plant community, and plant connections. The newly formed Parent & Staff LTSS Band, The Ospreys, will provide some tunes while we enjoy the Autumn twilight, planting, and sharing supper together.

This event will be a wonderful opportunity to come together, nurture our environment, and strengthen our bonds as a community. We look forward to seeing you there!

The P&F committee is also fizzing with many creative community events. We meet at 2:30 pm under the shade sails for brief meetings. Our next meeting is on Wednesday, 28th May. We would love for you to join us and share your ideas!

Warm regards,

P&F Committee
Leaning Tree Steiner School

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