Learning Phases
Quick Pages
Quick Links
Contact Us
Quick Links
Kindergarten
At Newcastle Waldorf School, our Kindergarten is a haven for our youngest students, centred around nature, play, and purposeful activities. With strong daily rhythms and routines, children interact seamlessly with the broader school community, creating a holistic and nurturing environment.
Children typically spend two enriching years in our Kindergarten, affectionately known as Little Kindy and Big Kindy. Beginning around the age of 5, children may ease into Little Kindy with shorter weeks, allowing for a smoother transition into school life. By the second year, Big Kindy, students fully embrace the rhythm of school and attend full time.
Throughout their Kindergarten journey, students are surrounded by beauty, creativity, and consistent rhythms under the guidance of dedicated Kindy teachers and assistants. The Kindergarten day is filled with diverse activities such as indoor and outdoor free play, painting, modelling with wax or clay, storytelling, quiet resting time, singing, movement, Eurythmy, and cooking. Through these activities, children develop foundational literacy and numeracy skills, fine and gross motor abilities, and a deep sense of belonging within their class and the entire school community.
If you are curious to learn more, we warmly invite you to contact us, experience our school firsthand and meet our welcoming staff.
Primary Years
The Primary years at Newcastle Waldorf School, from Class 1 to Class 6, continue to build on the strong foundation laid in Kindergarten. However, there is a unique difference to our student’s Primary journey – at the beginning of Class 1, they are joined by their class teacher who will accompany them throughout their six-year Primary education. This continuity fosters deep and meaningful relationships between the teacher, students, and families, creating cohesive class communities that support individual student learning. Our Primary curriculum is infused with a love for the natural world and its beauty.
Students participate in seasonal festivals, excursions, camps, and outdoor lessons, which are integral to their educational experience. Daily rhythms and routines are maintained, with each class following a specific timetable that aligns with the broader school community. Every day begins with singing, music, and spoken verse that is often related to their learning themes. Early Primary students play recorders as an ensemble, progressing to lyres, violins, and ultimately their own individual instruments in Class 5 and 6, culminating in a class orchestra.
Main lessons are conducted through block learning, where one subject is explored in depth over a four-week period – click here to learn more. This immersive approach draws on stories delivered by the teacher. Class 1 begin with fables and fairy tales with a focus on Indigenous story, while later years progress to stories from world mythology, ancient histories and biographies.
All subjects are linked and connected thematically throughout the Primary curriculum. Mathematics is explored creatively and practically with connection to stories, and often linked with History and Science subjects. The English block is strongly tied to learnings in History, Geography and Science subjects.
Our student’s learning experience is enhanced through engagement in practical and physical tasks, with a strong emphasis on artistic and cultural activities. Weekly activities include woodwork, handcrafts, drawing, painting, gardening, caring for school animals (currently chickens and sheep), clay or beeswax work, drama, class plays, Eurythmy, and movement, alongside daily music experiences. If you are curious to learn more, we warmly invite you to contact us, experience our school firsthand and meet our welcoming staff.
High School
Our High School curriculum is designed to meet the needs of the changing adolescent. Students undergo a dramatic transformation between the early years and final years of high school. A stronger sense of their own personality is dawning, and they are curious to test out new and exciting experiences. To assist students in this transition from Primary school, each class year is allocated two guardians who focus on the needs of the cohort.
Class Guardians and High School teachers continually collaborate in their care of students, and are available to liaise with families throughout the whole high school journey. The curriculum provides many opportunities for students to balance their own sense of personality and engage in the wider world. Within each subject there are increasingly more opportunities for students to take on individual projects and research, as well as excursions and site studies. The camp program expands each year, and students undertake work experience in Class 10 at an organisation of their own choosing. In Classes 11 and 12, students choose from a set of over 15 subjects, guided by their interests.
Our High School teachers ensure that the curriculum is delivered in both an artistic and practical manner. Teachers incorporate hands-on activities, group tasks, exploratory discussion, outdoor learning, visual communication skills, and a wide range of cultural heritages to support breadth of understanding of the content. Subjects are offered to cultivate an appreciation for the arts while offering academic rigour. Stories and autobiographies from a range of cultures and time-periods help bring topics to life, and visual texts and diagrams that involve colour and symbolism support engagement and communication for a range of learners.
Each academic year, students engage in Main Lesson blocks that collectively encompass the curriculum for their respective class and stage. Subjects for classes 7- 10 include English, Mathematics, Science, History, Geography, Music, Visual Art, Design and Technology, Health and Development, and P.E. Languages are mandatory for Stage 4 (Classes 7 and 8), but can also be incorporated in other years.
A typical High School day begins with a warm group welcome and Acknowledgement of Country. The entire High School then unites for a musical experience; teachers and students harmonise in choir or practise together with their musical instruments. Students then engage in three lessons:
- The first is the academic subject or Main Lesson – such as English, Mathematics, Science, History, Geography, or Language
- The middle lesson is either an academic or ‘enthusiast’ subject – such as Design and Technology, Music, Art, or PDHPE, and
- The final, shorter, lesson is generally an artistic or practical subject – such as Music, Art, or PDHPE.
If you are curious to learn more, we warmly invite you to contact us, experience our school firsthand and meet our welcoming staff.
Year 11 & 12
Newcastle Waldorf School aims to offer a healthy, balanced Steiner Education while giving students options to complete their HSC and gain an ATAR score. The overall aim is to support students to gain self-knowledge, and confidence in their abilities as well-rounded learners in a non-stressful environment, while also validating their areas of interest. Our goal is to help prepare the young adult to find purpose and meaning in their own path in life.
Newcastle Waldorf School individualises the range of HSC subjects offered depending on the interests of each class group. Over the last five years, the following HSC subjects have been offered by the school:
- English Standard, English Advanced, English Extension (English Standard is compulsory, but Advanced or Extension may be selected by the cohort)
- Mathematics Standard 2, Mathematics, Extension 1, Extension 2
- Music 1
- Philosophy (compulsory for all Class 11 students; optional for Class 12)
- Visual Arts
- Drama
- Biology
- Investigating Science
- Physics
- Design & Technology
- Sport Lifestyle & Recreation
Other subjects studied via Distance Education or TAFE-delivered Vocational Education and Training (TVET) courses can supplement these school offerings where it suits individual students.
If you are curious to learn more, we warmly invite you to contact us, experience our school firsthand and meet our welcoming staff.
Join Our School
To express an interest in joining our wonderful school, please follow the link