Primary School
Prep
In Steiner Schools, Prep is held within the Early Childhood area, aligning with the 5-6-year-old child’s developmental stage. The Prep year provides a joyful and nurturing environment in which young children can develop a strong foundation in physical coordination and independence; social skills such as cooperation, empathy, and communication; and emotional wellbeing, under the caring guidance of their teacher.
These skills are seen as prerequisites for later academic success. Pre-literacy and pre-numeracy skills develop through their creative play, stories, and the arts.
Classes 1-6
At each class level, the strong rhythm of the day’s activities is guided by the developmental stages of children, who thrive within a predictable and structured routine.
The children’s school day begins with ‘morning circle’, a repeated sequence made up of singing, reciting, movement or mathematical patterns that prepares the children for learning, and the social setting of the class. Morning circle helps to create a positive and supportive class atmosphere, where everyone is valued and included.
Morning circle is followed by ‘main lesson’, a distinctive feature of Steiner education. Main lessons immerse students in exploration of a particular topic over several weeks, allowing for a deeper and more meaningful understanding of the material. Both academic and creative skills are developed through the main lesson theme. For example, the Class 5 Ancient Egypt main lesson might include researching the engineering of the pyramids through clay modelling, and learning the myths and legends through performing a play. This integrated approach nourishes the children’s imaginations and fosters a sense of curiosity and enthusiasm for learning.
After the focussed classroom work of the morning, the children engage in the ‘Specialist subjects’. These subjects broaden children’s knowledge of the world and their own gifts. Craft, Music, and Japanese, are timetabled weekly.
Woodwork, claywork, drama, excursions, camps and outdoor education, cooking, farming and gardening, sustainability, library, digital curriculum, games and physical skills, sport activities, festivals, and community events all form part of the student’s holistic school and community experience.
Art, Craft, Woodwork and Sculpture
Art is woven into most areas of the curriculum. Painting, modelling with beeswax and clay, form drawing, and functional handcrafts such as knitting, weaving, sewing and woodwork are integrated into every other subject taught. The premise is that there must be a beauty to all things the child creates, including work with mathematics and language. This complements and enhances the intellectual aspects of the class work with the practice of art educating the feelings of the child, calling for skill, form and style.
With handwork, the children develop judgement and a sense of form and space, as well as the deep satisfaction of completing a beautiful item for everyday use. The training through art in school is not for the purpose of producing artists; the aim is to encourage ability and confidence while instilling a reverence for beauty in creation.
Music
Singing is integrated into the daily routine for every child from playgroup to Class 6. The love of music, singing and playing instruments, unites our school community.
From Class 1 children learn recorder and later learn either violin or cello, play in ensemble and sing in the Choir.
Music generates a wealth of growth in the children; it is truly holistic being a physical, social, intellectual, creative, and spiritual activity.
Languages
The languages we grow up with form the way we view the world. Learning additional languages helps us develop the possibility of viewing the world from different cultural perspectives.
At FWCSS students learn Japanese. This is introduced informally in Prep, and from Class 1 students receive twice weekly Japanese lessons. In the lower Primary School the students learn by imitating and experiencing the language through songs and rhymes with bodily gestures, games, stories and other guided activities. The students are introduced to the Japanese script gradually, and in the upper Primary School learning of sentence patterns and vocabulary becomes more conscious. Throughout the program the emphasis is on learning the language through experiencing it (as opposed to learning by ‘head’), and through this the students have opportunities to touch Japanese culture, such as festivals, stories, arts, music, and food.
Contact with other languages such as Hebrew, Sanskrit and Latin is made through the Main lessons. Wadawurrung language is introduced during the Indigenous Main lessons and in day-to-day school life through our commitment to Reconciliation.