Tarremah Steiner School

[EduCativ]

Tarrah Steiner School was initially founded in South Hobart in 1988. After several years the school moved to a new site at Huntingfield, which offered plentiful space, views of both the mountain and the river, and access to a small creek and bush reserve. The school has grown organically from a cluster of small, purpose-built cottages to include state-of-the-art, architecturally designed high school buildings and a multi-purpose Hall and commercial kitchen. The school now offers Steiner education for children from 3-16 years of age.

• Fantail and Pipit mixed-age kindergartens for children aged 3-6.
• Primary school classes 1 to 5 with the same Class Teacher for five years, including specialist teachers for languages, physical education, music, craft, and gardening.
• Secondary school classes 6 to 10 with several subject specialists including maths, English, drama, health, outdoor education, physical education, history, science, and woodwork.
• Learning Support is available for individual students or small groups who need some additional teaching time.

At Tarremah, the unique spirit of each child is recognized and respected. Teachers study and work with the indications given by educational philosopher Rudolf Steiner, guided by the nationally accredited Australian Steiner Curriculum framework.

Teachers work with a broad curriculum to create an environment that addresses the growing individual's developmental changes. Each child's inner life of imagination and creativity is cultivated, along with enthusiasm for academic challenge and enjoyment of the physical activity. Teachers strive for the balanced development of thinking, feeling, and doing. The innate creativity and joyfulness of healthy children are encouraged through an artistic approach to all learning.

Every child is encouraged to excel within a rich social and intellectual environment that promotes attributes such as self-confidence, resilience, resourcefulness, initiative, and social consciousness. Steiner schools strive towards delivering the educational philosophies of Rudolf Steiner while developing their pedagogy.

The Australian Steiner Curriculum Framework guides teachers. The framework has been approved by the Australian Curriculum and Reporting Authority (ACARA), which recognizes that all content from the Australian National Curriculum is delivered. However, Steiner schools often introduce concepts in different years, in line with Steiner's indications of the child's developmental needs.

Children are taught in a creative and lively way allowing children to connect with subject matter whatever their learning style. Concepts are taught through 'Main Lessons,' which allows children a deep immersion in the topic for several weeks. Specialist subjects enhance the primary curriculum. Steiner schools value painting, form drawing, craft, woodwork, gardening, singing and recorder, physical education, German and Japanese. Many of these subjects are taught by specialist teachers. Tarrah is very well regarded for its Outdoor Program, which builds each year from informal bushwalks in kindergarten and early childhood to week-long walks in the Tasmanian wilderness.

View full school