Bowral Primary School wins Sydney Morning Herald

'The School I'd Like' competition

Students from the Bowral Rudolf Steiner School are extremely excited at being selected as the primary school winner in a statewide competition entitled “The School I’d Like.”

The competition, (instigated by the Sydney Morning Herald), called upon NSW school children to use their imaginations to paint an honest picture of what they thought school should be like. As the debates continue about where education should or shouldn’t be heading, children were given the opportunity to say what they want from their 13 odd years of school.

The submission from Year 5 students at BRSS was selected out of over 1000 entries. In the format of a picture book, their entry was obviously inspired by their own experiences of school, and was praised for its vibrancy and optimism. The children felt that an ideal school would have a strong connection to its local community through an event such as a community market; should have its own Biodynamic garden to inspire respect for nature and the environment; must provide a beautiful, fun environment with lots of grass and trees and no concrete jungles; and above all must have excellent teachers.

Sydney Morning Herald June 4-5 2005

Childern travelling in the light

Welcome to a school steeped in nature, where children sow plants in vegetable gardens, study one subject intensively for three weeks and are taught that feeling good about yourself is just as important as being good at maths.

The students have cows and chickens but they still miss Stumpy, the recently departed school cat. They wear comfortable casual clothes instead of uniforms and they call teachers by their first names.

They are about to study the democratic traditions of ancient Greece but there's always time to learn knitting, to work on a class building project or help make vegetable soup with produce from the biodynamic garden.

The dream school exists for the 21 class 5 students at Bowral Rudolf Steiner School. About the only aspects that the 10 and 11 year olds would change is to have some lessons by the beach.

Their picture book, which won first prize in the porimary school category of "The School I'd Like" competition, has the smiling teachers holding flowers and emphasises the open space the children play and learn in The sun sets behind idyllic rural scenes, contrasting the concrete playgrounds of city schools with their hectares of grass and trees.

The students worked in pairs to draw individual scenes that were workshopped by the class. Steiner school students have the same teacher for most of their primary years making their class feel "like one big family", they said.

Academic June Factor, one of the competition judges, said she was attracted by the book's serenity and space and the sense of security portrayed. "It's as if the children are travelling in the light," she said.

The author Andy Griffiths, a former teacher, said the holistic picture created by the Bowral students confirmed his belief that "we have to attend to the soulful side" of students.

Linda Doherty

Charlotte Butler, a staff member from the school, said the children were very proud of their achievement, and were keen to share with everyone not just the beauty of their own school, but also the possibilities that come with going to a Steiner school in the country.