School NewsletterTerm 2 Week 5, 2015

IMPORTANT DATESPlease also remember the online calendar

TERM 2Thu 7 May IB Music Recitals | 5.30 - 7.30pmTue 12 May PFA Meeting | 7 - 8.30pm Tue 12 May - Thu 14 May NAPLAN testingFri 15 May Curriculum Day (No School P-12)Thu 21 May Class 7 PerformanceWed 27 May Secondary School Information Eve & Mindful Living Sustainability EveMon 8 Jun Queens Birthday (No School P-12)

TERM 3

Fri 28 Aug Vic Steiner School PD day (No School) Please note date change

Term 2 Week 5, 2015 www.sophiamundi.vic.edu.au

Dear all,

The Autumnal weather with its typical chilly mornings and sunny afternoons, only to be followed by showers and some hail, brings a new consciousness and way of being within and between us.

On a purely practical note, please do check that children (especially the younger ones) have appropriate layers and footwear for all weather occasions.

A few weeks ago now, our dear receptionist Ella informed us that she has decided to leave Australia and head back to the beautiful UK to be with family at the end of July. I’m aware that this has not been an easy decision for her as she has grown to love us all. Thanks for your vivacious personality and work Ella- we will miss you.

Last weekend I attended the GLaM (governance, leadership and management) meeting at Shearwater Steiner Steiner School in NSW. The theme this year was ‘From an alternative to first choice: Recognising the potential of Steiner education’ – it was a provocative theme in which the keynote speaker Dr Stephen Sagarin challenged many of the myths but more importantly gave a generational picture of Steiner education over the last 100 years. The discussions were of a threefold nature (we used the lemniscate as a picture) to view the past, to be in the present and to be courageous looking to what is coming towards us. I hope to use a number of the discussions as a springboard for Sophia Mundi staff to look at our pedagogy with a different coloured lens. Sophia Mundi is already searching for new ways of being. Looking out to the educational world I feel a strong sense that we are moving towards the future.

The next few weeks are very full with class plays, music and senior performances and presentations. The community are warmly invited to attend any of the performances. I highly recommend trying to attend one of the Year 12 IB instrumental music performances. Our senior students are also organising a sustainability evening for the community on the same evening as the

Next newsletter admissions deadline: Wed 20 May

Secondary Information evening – I encourage you to support their initiatives.

NEPALESE EARTHQUAKE

At the GLaM, Thomas Proctor from the Christchurch Steiner School, NZ, read out a letter he had received from the Tashi Waldorf School in Nepal. It was heart-wrenching to hear of the devastation from such a personal account and donations were collected at the conference which SEA will send to the school. If classes would like to raise funds, we can collect the funds and send via the SEA so we save on the International exchange. The PFA have arranged to run a sausage sizzle here next Thursday to raise funds.

Thank you,

Fiona

Class 2 boys taking a moment of reflection before class!!

Term 2 Week 5, 2015 www.sophiamundi.vic.edu.au

Wednesday 20 MAY

Class 9 5:30 - 6:30pm

Class 10 6:30 - 7:30pm

Tuesday 26 MAY

Class 7 5.30-6.30pm

Class 8 6.30-8.00pm

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Tuesday 2 JUNE

Class 3 5.30-6.30pm

Class 4 6.30-7.30pm

Wednesday 3 JUNE

Class 5 5.30-6.30pm

Class 6 6.30-7.30pm

Term 2 2015

Class Music Concerts

NAPLAN

If you have requested to withdraw your child from NAPLAN, please ensure you have signed a withdrawal form at Reception by the end of the week.

BIKE USERS

The reminder for this week is that bikes should not be ridden inside the pedestrian only zone within the convent precinct. We have many young children walking into school, so please observe this.

The concrete tank just outside the school gate is out of bounds. Please ask your children not to play on or inside this structure.

PFA NEPALESE EARTHQUAKE SAUSAGE SIZZLE

Dear School Community,

A few interested parents are looking to hold a sausage sizzle & veggie option, lunchtime next week (Thursday 14 May) to raise funds to support the aid effort for the Nepalese Earthquake disaster, in particular the effected Steiner schools. If you are in a position to help with set up, cooking or serving during lunchtime, please email pfa@sophiamundi.gsi.gov.au

Don’t forget to purchase something from the stall!

Many thanks, Jane and the PFA

DEVASTATING EARTHEQUAKE, 25TH APRIL 2015 REPORT

Before writing anything about the deadly earthquake, first let us inform you that the school is safe. Only the boundaries walls on two sides have been collapsed blocking the entry to the school building. All the teachers and staff of TWS are safe and fine. The earthquake has left us all devastated. We all are living with real palpable fear. It may take some more time to recover from the shock we went through during that dreadful moment.

As the school was having term break many of our students might have gone to their villages or might have been getting ready to come to Kathmandu when the tremor happened. We fear some of them might have the victims of the earthquake. We tried to contact many of our parents but their mobile phones were switched off which apparently means the batteries have gone down and they found no other means to charge as the electricity has also been cut off. Almost all the parents whom we managed to contact said that their houses have been cracked and they are staying in temporary shelters.We called more than hundred parents and could contact with only 9 parents who said that they are safe physically and living with difficulties.

More than 80% of the houses in Kathmandu have been damaged and cracked by the earthquake. It is the same in all the villages hit by the quake. The houses in the villages are mostly made up of clay and brick, thus are destroyed.The two villages in Gorkha and Sindhupalchok districts having about two hundreds households are said to have been vanished by the quake. Now only the remains are seen there.

Because of the narrow streets in Kathmandu, rescue team could not take bulldozer, cranes and excavator to affected areas. As a result of which many dead bodies buried by the debris and wreckages of the destroyed houses could not be taken out as yet. Helicopter could not land in many villages preventing rescue works. No one can really say how many more dead bodies are buried. After shock are still coming. Due to which normalcy is yet to be restored even if people are trying. Everywhere temporary shelters have been erected with tents and plastics which have been their only source to survive. In many places tents have not been enough to make temporary shelter leaving the people to pass their under the sky. The nature has been unkind this time to add salt to injury by pouring untimely rain.

Due to decaying of not cremated dead bodies in Kathamandu and dead bodies and dead livestock in the villages, it is feared that epidemic can break out soon.

Having realized this situation, more than 4 hundred

Term 2 Week 5, 2015 www.sophiamundi.vic.edu.au

thousands have quit Kathmandu and the trend is on the rise.

Kathmandu at present: The entire sparkling Kathmandu city now looks likes cremation area. Shops remain closed, people find it difficult to buy essential commodities to survive. On the other hands, some people are black marketing such commodities. Some thieves have made this situation an opportunity to break into houses and steal.

All hospitals are crowded with the injured persons. Some hospitals are treating injured people outside their premises under the open sky. Many cultural heritages in Kathmandu have been demolished by the cruel quake. Bhimsen Tower that used to stand nearby General Post Office has become history. It is said that there were more than 150 people inside the tower and as many were waiting their turn outside the tower, when the tower collapsed killing more than 200 people. Many dead bodies are yet to be taken out. The whole area has started to stink making the rescue workers more difficult to work. Some has commented rightly that Kathmandu is no more a historical city. A big temple in Patan Durbar Square was destroyed to heap of debris.

Hem Rai and Rajen Syangden, TWS,KTM (forwarded by the SEA)

CHARITY FUNDRAISING PROJECT

Class 6 are very happy to announce that our Term 1 fundraising project raised a total of $1940.55. The money raised is going to two charities of our choice - Guide Dogs Victoria and Muscular Dystrophy Victoria. We would like to thank our school community for supporting our stalls, which included Ice-cream, popcorn, rice pudding, sherbert, fruit smoothies, fruit crumble, a sausage sizzle and several raffles of hampers. Finally we would like to thank our mums and dads for the amazing support you gave us in preparing for our stalls. Thanks to everyone, Elanor Menzel and Katina Kondos For class 6.

WORK EXPERIENCE

In preparation for work experience during the last 3 weeks of Term 3, I have begun a registry of organisations from within our school community who might be interested in our students working with them. If you would like to form part of this registry, or know of a work place that would invite our work experience students, please do be in touch and I can begin to add to this work. We have already had some encouraging involvement from fellow past and present students, helping our current class take the first big step in making contact. Sincerely Raquel

Steiner Education and IB World School

SOPHIA MUNDI STEINER SCHOOL St Mary’s, Abbotsford Convent,

1 St Heliers Street, AbbotsfordT 03 9419 9229

E reception@sophiamundi.vic.edu.au www.sophiamundi.vic.edu.au

Secondary School Information Evening

Discover an education where the academic and the creative are woven into one...

Find out how Steiner Education provides a rich foundation for the International Baccalaureate and further study

Wed 27 May 7:30pm

Mindful Living and Sustainability Evening On Wednesday 27th of May 5pm

Class 12 IB students from Sophia Mundi are running a sustainability evening. There will be speakers from Efficient Initiatives (EI), talking about sustainability in the home; Ceres talking about disposal of electronic waste, and Beyond Zero Emissions (BZE) talking about the current situation of the world's climate. The talks will be located at Sophia Mundi in the Hall. The night will start with the unveiling of the Class 12’s mural which draws influence from the traditional Wurundjeri art work of William Barak and intends to develop a communal understanding and appreciation for the ancient culture of this area and its importance from the past, in the present and for the future. The painting is located in the senior area. This event is free, and everyone is welcome: so come and learn about sustainability. 5:00 unveiling of the mural: in the senior area 5:30 – 7:00 Sustainability talks, starting with Efficient Initiatives, then Ceres and last Beyond Zero Emissions: located in the Hall 7:00 – 7:30 Q and A panel: a great chance to ask the presenters your questions about sustainability.

Rowan Doyle, the Managing Director of Efficient Initiatives (EI), will be speaking about Sustainability in the home or “What can our family do to reduce our impact on the planet, reduce

our costs and improve our quality of life?” Lauren Kaszubski is the Excursions Waste Programs Coordinator at Ceres Community Environment Park. She will be speaking on the pressing topic of electronic waste disposal.

A representative from Beyond Zero Emissions will be talking about the current situation of the world's climate and Beyond Zero Emissions 's vision for the future.

The year 12 IB students are organising this event as part of our Creativity Action and Service subject. This class project is a chance to find out more about what you can do individually to make a difference and to share with our community. All Sophia Mundi parents, friends and students are warmly invited to attend.

Term 2 Week 5, 2015 www.sophiamundi.vic.edu.auThe inclusion of adverts/links do not represent an endorsement of those sites by Sophia Mundi, nor can the School be held responsible or liable for the accuracy, availability or content of the information or services therein.

Kids Yoga & Yoga for Teenagers on again for this term!

Magical Moving Adventures: Yoga for kids aged 6-10 Years Mondays by school term 3.45-4.30pm with Lesley Fox A safe, fun, and nurturing space for children to be their vibrant, adventurous, wonder-filled, generous, inquisitive selves. The sessions are based on a playful and skilful exploration of sensory-motor awareness, yoga postures, breath, sound, imagination, dance, visualisation, partner and group activities and age-appropriate meditation. Yoga for Teenagers: Wednesdays by school term 3.45-4.45pm with Harriet Morgan Build your capacity to feel strong, happy, peaceful & calm

A supportive environment to help young people be more fully themselves. Yoga and meditation practice gives you time to be with your self in a way that nourishes body, heart, mind and spirit. The classes include yoga postures and movement; breathing; mindfulness and meditation; and deep relaxation.

Booking is essential for both classes.

For full details please contact Anahata Giri (Yoga Teacher and Class 2 Mum) anahatagiri@gmail.com 0410 950 606 www.oneheartyoga.com.au

Casual Relief Staff Needed

Little Sophia is an independent not for profit and accredited Rudolf Steiner Kindergarten located in inner-city Melbourne

We are looking for casual relief staff who we can call at short

notice to replace staff when they call in sick.

EXPERIENCED COOK – you will need to have a Food Handling Certificate ASSISTANT TEACHER – you will need to have your Certificate 3 or be working towards Cert 3.

If you are interested in applying for either of these positions,

please contact Rachel in the office at Little Sophia. 35-37 Abbotsford St, Abbotsford, Vic, 3067

(03) 9417 2537 admin@littlesophiakindergarten.org.au

www.littlesophiakindergarten.org.au

Awakening the Sacred Light

Body

Tibetan Yoga, Chanting & Meditation Retreat

Sat 6 - Mon 8 June 2015

(Queen’s Birthday Weekend)

Tibetan Yoga is a powerful way to release the blocked energies or psychic knots from our body and mind. Using movement, breathing techniques (Pranayama), chanting and visualization, a practitioner can re-connect with their subtle energy body: the central wisdom channel and energy centres or Chakras. This retreat is a rare opportunity to learn this practice in a retreat environment from Lama David Christensen.

Tibetan Yoga, Mediation and chanting all set in spectacular hills with

panoramic views of the ocean in Gippsland, Victoria. Delicious vegetarian food, variety of accommodation options.

For more information visit www.odiyanacentre.org

The Community Treehouse is a new space linking up the Steiner Waldorf community worldwide.

Simply go to www.communitytreehouse.com to explore.