From the Principal

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Hello everyone and welcome back to Term 4,

Last term ended in a flurry of excitement and activity with our wonderful Spring Fair and the very moving Year 12 Graduation Ceremony. Both of these events were a real celebration of our students and the school community which supports them.

Each year, I give an address to our graduating class and below you can find the text of this year’s address. I am very proud of our students and wish them all the very best as they complete their final exams this term.

I would like to begin by acknowledging that we are privileged to be on the traditional lands of the Arakwal people of the Bundjalung Nation and I would like to honour and pay my deepest respect to Elders, both past and present. Australia’s aboriginal people are amongst the oldest known civilisations in the world. They undertook the first great sea journeys of exploration and developed a culture of deep knowledge and connection with the land that has endured longer than almost any other in the world’s history. We are all held in the cradle of this knowledge and connection and it is in the spirit of this that I make my final address to you today.

Over the last 13 years of your schooling, you have learned a lot of things. You have developed skills and learned about the world and yourself. Now, as you stand on the threshold of a new beginning, I want to take a moment to reflect on the things that really matter.

We live in a time of great change, a time where change is happening so quickly that it is hard to even imagine what the world will look like in a few years. 60% of the jobs that exist today will not exist in 10 years. Political and social boundaries are quickly changing and environmental change is happening so quickly now that it is hard to understand what our planet will look like in the near future. The task of imagining the future is now yours and you are already in the process of shaping it.

Whilst I hope the skills we have taught you will be useful to you in this changing world, I believe that it isn’t what you know that truly matters now, it is who you are and who you are going to be in the world.

We live in a time where it is easy to draw apart, to polarise and to find the differences between us and to reinforce these. I want to encourage you not to follow this path. Have the courage to stop and listen to those whose views are different to your own. You do not need to agree, and certainly it is important to stand up for what you truly believe is right, but please take the time to at least try to understand the other view; see and understand our differences and then search for the things that draw us together. You are all developing a strong moral compass; use it to make good choices but also have the empathy, courage and insight to understand those who do not. The hope for the future is in finding our common humanity and forging a path we can walk together.

Our school vision is to enable each individual to realise their potential to be self aware, resourceful and resilient with the empathy, skills and initiative to make a positive contribution to the world. I want you to know that, right at this turning point in your lives, as you are about to finish your school education, you are exactly who you should be.

I look at you and I am filled with so much hope for the future. You are creative, caring, empathetic, thoughtful, insightful, gentle, humorous, determined, imaginative, analytical, hopeful and courageous. You are exactly who you need to be to step out into the world and fulfill your own life destinies. You will be the lovers, the carers, the decision makers, the inventors, the collaborators and the healers. You will be the artists, poets, musicians, strategists, scientists, engineers and farmers who will shape and change the new world.

So now, go out there and ask questions. Stand up for what you believe in. Make strong, ethical choices. Care for others, even if you don’t understand their lives or their choices. Actively care for this magnificent planet and speak up when others don’t. Find happiness in the small things. Draw pictures, make music, plant gardens, write poems – be a creator in the world. Accept that you are not perfect and sometimes you will get it wrong. Make mistakes – and then learn from them. Be prepared to wait and work for the things you want. Look for the music and the beauty around you (it is always there).

I want you to know that your teachers, your family and your school community, are so very proud of you. I am very proud of you. Almost 100 years ago, Rudolf Steiner said “Receive children in reverence, educate them in love, and let them go forth in freedom.” We received you with reverence, we have educated you with so much love, and now it is time for you to go forth in freedom.

Your education at Cape Byron Rudolf Steiner School has finished, my wish for you all is that you can go on to fulfil the highest, truest expression of yourselves as the wonderful human beings you are.

Peace
Nerrida
(You may enjoy this photo of the ‘alternative me’ …. our Year 12 students had a lot of fun dressing up as school staff in their last week with us)

Please welcome our new Students

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We warmly welcome the following students and their families to our School Community this term.

Louella Trotz joins Year 10

Angelique Cohan joins Year 9

Message from Mullumbimby Bus Service

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Our Left Bank Road Service BUS number 3 ( bus driver LOUIE) will start and finish at Fraser’s Road until further notice. This is due to a 2.5 tonne limit on causeway
We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience this has caused.
Regards
Gary Hughes

Year 12 2017 Graduation

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Congratulations and Farewell to the graduating Year 12 students for 2017. Thank you for all the laughs and making us so proud. Many blessings to you all for a bright and happy future, we will miss you!

Quiet I bear within me.
I bear within myself
forces to make me strong.
Now will I be imbued
with their glowing warmth.
Now will I fill myself
with my own will’s resolve
and I will feel the quiet
pouring through all my being
When, by my steadfast striving,
I become strong
to find within myself
the source of strength
The strength of inner quiet.

Rudolf Steiner

 

Spring Fair 2018 Success

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The Class 3 Spring Fair team would like to say a special thank you to all our parents, teachers and students, for your wonderful assistance and participation in this years Spring Fair. The day was a wonderful success!
It was such a joy for us to see all of the amazing performances and poetry, the stalls and activities in full swing and the children enjoying the gorgeous day. We couldn’t have done it without you all and we are very grateful for your contributions. Thank you.

Emma – Spring Fair Coordinator

We would like to give a big thanks to the Head of Science Faculty James Hagger and assistant Shanti Virgona and the Year 8 students who set up the Science Lab’s fabulous experiments at the Spring Fair.

Thanks also to Petra Chaloupka and the students and parents who helped with the vision of the decorations at the Spring Fair. Class 3

 

 

Spring Fair Slam Poetry competition

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Winning Entry By Mia Leilani Green

Our Home

Planets circle her,
Spinning, whirring, purring.

Galaxies and universes collide,
They are never ending, limitless, forevers.
That human eyes have not yet spied.

One small planet contains life,
It is filled with hope and strife.

Sounds of hustle and a bustle
Sickness and health.
Crying and laughter
Lives of poverty and wealth.

Many cities and oceans,
Raging fire and rain.
Visions and memories,
Pleasure and pain.

Earth’s oceans are rising,
Her icebergs are melting.
Days will get hotter,
Then will rain come a pelting.

Her resources are precious,
She is running out fast.
We must understand,
Her boat’s led by our mast.

Our Earth,
A nurturing place.
Our home, our space.
Which our hands are destroying,
And our hands they must mend,
Or else it will be our end.

Our Earth,
A living breathing planet,
We are her threat.
We breathe in her air,
We recreate and bear.

Love and Hate,
Chance and fate.
Wild and tame,
Forgive and blame.
Sad and happy,
Captive and free.

Act now,
We have to vow,
That we will,
Not fight and kill
Using our power and will.

She is our world,
Sensitive and unfurled.

Our Earth,
Our Responsibility,

Our Home…

Class Six Creative Writing

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Dylan Thomas Couplets

Did you ever see a baby calf?
Fluffy white, big nose, rough tongue.

Did you ever see hail fall?
Ice cold, rock solid, heavy fall.

Did you ever see a horse?
Brown, black or white, big or small, fun to ride

Chloe

Prayer

Lord,
Why don’t I have a tail?
Instead you gave me a round little tummy,
an unshapely nose, floppy ears and four little feet.
I run around eating grass all day
and never get to chase my tail.
Lord,
if somewhere in the world there is a nice field of lettuces,
let me know
and I will come running.
Amen

Questions to a Donkey

On a scale of one to ten, how good looking do you think you are?
Why are you bad at singing?
Who is better; the horse or the goat?
Who’s a good donkey?
What’s your name?
Can you dance?

Roman

Things that Startle

A scream in the dead of night.
Someone placing their hand on your shoulder in a busy square.
A ball hitting you in the back of the head.
Old women with too much make-up on.
Iron bark trees smashing through the roof of your house.
Your parents suddenly weaving around an animal on the road.

Jarrah

Congratulations Romany Miller

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Romany Miller from Year 9 made us proud when she was recently awarded the best actors award at the [REC] Ya Shorts Youth Film Festival. Romany acted in the short film PERDU by Tallulah Remond-Stephen.

First HS assembly for Term 4

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A number of students were congratulated and celebrated at the first HS assembly this term.

Naidoc T-shirt winners

Maths competition winners

The Black Oysters

Year 9 Netball team

P & F Fundraiser

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Looking for a Steiner inspired gift or toy?

Art Makes Sense!

A beautiful array of quality art and craft supplies as well as Steiner based toys are available online
at Mercurius’s Art Makes Sense http://www.art-makes-sense.com.au

Enter the promotional code: FRIENDCBRSS and 15% of the sale will also go towards P&F fundraising!

Our highest endeavour…

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Our highest endeavour must be to develop individuals who are able out of their own initiative to impart purpose & direction to their lives. – Rudolf Steiner

Silver smithing Term 4

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#doitinadress donation raffle Alice and Lily Harrison

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Lily Harrison (class 10) was chosen as the 2017 One Girl ambassador for the Northern Rivers; she has formed a team – dreamers in dresses – they have set a target to educate 10 girls ($3000). Her little sister Alice (class 2) has joined her team and to help her raise donations for the team I have made a doll for her to raffle. The following blurb explains –

Can you run like a girl? dance like a girl? Skip, swim, read or sew like a girl? Can you support, achieve, believe, motivate, and change the world like a girl? My daughters can, and to help them achieve their dream to educate 10 girls, I have made this beautiful mermaid doll. She is 25cm tall (45 with fins) and made from all new cotton tricot, cotton velour and sheep wool. Every $5 (or multiple of) donation will buy you one ticket – leave a comment on the one girl site when you donate which includes your name so I can contact you – follow this link http://www.doitinadress.com/alice-harrison (winner announced 31/10/17 open to Aus residents only – she is also advertised on multiple social media sites).

Thank you

Shannon