Constantia Waldorf School

Waldorf Parent Conference 2012!

The 2012 Waldorf Parent Conference will open on Friday, June 1st with an address by Heather Faure, long time Constantia
Waldorf parent and former BOT chairperson, on “The Journey of a Waldorf Parent”, and a performance by the Constantia Waldorf Voice Ensemble.

More information is available on the Current Events page.

3rd February 2012

Welcome back to School 2012!

Once again our matric results were excellent! Constantia Waldorf School started writing WCED exams in 1998 and since then not one matric student has failed. 2011 was no different. 100% pass rate! 25 students sat for their matric exams and 24 passed with a university entrance. 12 of our students achieved A aggregates. The average for our class 13 was 75.9%.

Subject distinctions were as follows:

English 5/25
Afrikaans 8/24
German 1/1
Mathematics 4/18
Math Literacy 4/8
Life Skills 12/25 Physical Science 5/6
History 8/18
Geography 3/9
Biology 8/12
Art 9/10
Design 3/3

Music 3/3
Drama 12/14

Well done Class 13 2011, we are proud of you!

As is tradition at the Constantia Waldorf school, on the first day of school each year the whole school gathers for a big assembly, inviting new parents to join us to welcome our new Class 1 children. Our current Grade 13 students gather outside the hall waiting to meet and greet the new little Grade 1’s. Colourful flower posies are given to each Class 1 child by a Class 13 student who, by the hand, lead our ‘newlings’ into their first assembly. This ceremony was accompanied by the soft sounds of a violin played by our eurythmist, Sarah Freunberg.
Thank you Sarah!

Our new Class 1 teacher, Louise Schipper, introduced each of the new Class 1 children to the parent, teacher and student bodies together with telling a wonderful story to welcome them to their first day of school. This was followed by each Class teacher in turn as they welcomed their individual classes to the new year. Our rich and beautiful curriculum unfolded in snippets within these welcoming messages and parents were able to hear how Waldorf education begins to unfold from Class 1 - Class 13.

It is on this note that I would like to add that we endeavour to do an editorial on each of our classes to give parents an opportunity to look into the classroom though a little window and share in a little of what our children are experiencing daily. I would also like to add on a more serious note, our Grapevine is one of our schools’ largest information vehicles. The Grapevine is published every Friday. A lot of time and energy goes into the preparation of this document with the intention to keep our community as informed as possible. I implore you, skim through the document, take the responsibility of keeping yourself informed and up to date. We are aware there is a lot happening at our school, and the Grapevine is a large document, yet it is the only way we know how to keep everybody up to speed.

At the Constantia Waldorf School, education is the beginning of a lifetime voyage of discovery. Our aim is to provide a modern form of education that is meaningful for the child in these times. Our ideal is to strengthen and nurture each child’s unique individuality, whilst encouraging healthy social responsibility so that they may become pro-active members integrated into their greater communities.

Children in Steiner schools experience a wide panorama of languages and cultures, past and present. Through our emphasis on the development of imagination and compassion, they readily put themselves into other cultural settings.
The integration of intellectual and artistic work stimulates a zest for learning. The positive and proactive attitudes children encounter in Steiner Education make them articulate and communicative. We develop clear thinkers with an ability to generate enthusiasm.

Meeting students at each stage of their development, our Waldorf curriculum fully integrates the fine and practical arts with the sciences, mathematics, literature and the study of our cultural heritage, from its foundations in myth and legend to the study of modern history.

For us teaching is not only a technique but an art. Our teachers are passionate about teaching and committed to making a difference in the lives of children and young adolescents. We teach in such a way that the children feel personally involved and are able to use what they have experienced as a source of strength later in life. It is as much an education of the will and the heart as of the intellect.

Academic excellence is a primary objective in the school, and is achieved largely through our creative approach to learning. This is reflected in the consistent 100% Matric passes – our Matric results are considered to be outstanding.

Our graduates are prepared to ask tough, critical questions about life, but they are also able to discern and appreciate its order and beauty. They find that their education is part of them, transformed into skills they can use to shape a changing world and it is a path toward becoming citizens of the world.

Vision

Children come into the world as individuals. This inborn individuality only gradually unfolds. The Constantia Waldorf School sees itself as a place where this unfolding can be encouraged. Nurturing individuality, together with the social responsibility this implies, is, we believe, the surest path towards the betterment of humanity.

Our idea of the path of individuation is based on Rudolf Steiner’s insights on education and child development. We seek to make our school a practical expression of these insights.

Mission

Our mission at the Constantia Waldorf School is:

To create a learning environment which safeguards childhood, and pays equal attention to the physical, emotional and cognitive needs of the child, in full recognition of the fact that balance among these three will vary according to the child’s stage of development.

To create a context in which artistic activity is accorded as much educational value as science and both are imbued - in the widest possible sense - with religious sensibility.

To cultivate individuals who go out into the world equipped with a feeling for beauty, a sense of truth and a knowledge of responsible action.

To provide schooling based upon a comprehensive curriculum, which avoids early specialisation, caters for mixed abilities and is geared as much towards the cultivation of flexibility, imagination and confidence in practical skills, as towards the pursuance of academic achievement.

To commit, with openness and warmth, to integrate and support diversity of culture, race, religion, gender, abilities and socioeconomic background into our school and within the whole Waldorf community.

To apply the principles of freedom of association and personal initiative in creating a school community in which the teaching body as a whole - in cooperation with parents and administrators - is responsible for management.

Organisational Objectives

To be constantly renewing our understanding of the curriculum and methodology outlined by Rudolf Steiner so that:

Content and method truly match the pupils stage of development and meet the challenge presented by the modern child.

The curriculum can be adapted to local needs and conditions while retaining its universal qualities.

To have established procedures for staff development and evaluation; through mentorship, study, sharing of experience etc.

To have teachers who see themselves as part of such a learning community, who regard working on their own personal development as an integral part of their job.

To be constantly looking for ways to improve the social and organisational skills required for the style of management we seek to practice.

Latest News

Waldorf Parent Conference 2012!

Welcome back to School 2012!

Vision

Mission

Organisational Objectives