March 2012 - Waldorf School Windhoek

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Newsletter Waldorf School Windhoek, www.waldorf-namibia.org
March 2012
NSSC Results // Grade 3 renovated
their Classroom // Rudolf
Steiner – Founder of Waldorf Education
// Why Waldorf Education
works // Welcome new Colleagues
NSSC Results 2011
We are very happy to announce
that this year all learner of grade 13
passed their NSSC exams. To be
sucessful in examinations it is very
important to understand where a
learner is really standing academically
to enter her/him at an appropriate
level. It is not our aim to push
all learners to the highest mark on
the scale but the highest mark they
can achieve. The waldorf curriculum
also enables learners to reach
Renovated classroom
NSSC examination that would not
have been allowed to continue in
another school. Therefore a 3 or C
may be quite an achievement for
someone that comes from a background
that didn’t support education
in the best manner.
We are especially proud of our
DAF learners where we had 3 A+.
The complete examination results
will be displayed in the front office.
Simone de Picciotto
Thanks a lot to all grade 3 parents for your big help.
Learners and parents join hands
to renovate their classroom
Before the grade 3 learners came
back to school after the summer
holidays, their teacher, Erich
Kunderer – with the support of
Elias and Ricardo – renovated their
classroom. The roof beams are
now white; there is a new carpet
(financed with the help of the
parents) and some new furniture
(built by Erich Kunderer himself),
such as a storage cupboard, a
“4-seasons cupboard”, and a
clothes rack, which are the main
features of the classroom. The
learners helped diligently with the
sanding of the wood.
Another activity which the children
tackled with much joy and
commitment was the renovation of
their tables and chairs. Elias and
Erich repaired them where as the
learners sanded and oiled them
during the lessons. The parents
also joined in on two Saturdays,
grinding, oiling and painting.
Erich Kunderer remarked with joy:
“Since the children are back in
their classroom, they handle the
furniture much better than before!”
Erich Kunderer, Classteacher grade 3
The grade 3 curriculum of Waldorf
pedagogy is all about the creation
of the world (Genesis). This age
group deals with the crafts such as
farming, building and baking. The
children learn to create their own
world. In the developmental phase
of children from grades 3–5, the
teaching methods are most effective
by active participation and
stimulating the senses of the
child. This is different in grades 1
and 2, when the children learn by
imitation and repetition, in that
now they have reached a new
phase of observation, where they
ask questions and start working
independently.
Katharina Wyss

Happy Birthday Rudolf Steiner,
founder of Waldorf Education
27 February 1861 – 30 March 1925
“My meeting with Rudolf Steiner led me to
occupy myself with him from that time forth
and to remain always aware of his significance.
We both felt the same obligation to lead man
once again to true inner culture. I have rejoiced
at the achievements his great personality and
his profound humanity have brought about in
the world.” Albert Schweitzer
One morning at our schoolground: Classteacher Nawala Weber-Trianus and grade 2
are practizing fluet during their mainlesson
Why Waldorf is so attractive
Philadelphia School Goes “Unplugged“
Want to know a secret? Some of
the tech world‘s biggest gurus are
sending their own kids to schools
with no computers. They‘re called
Waldorf Schools, and they are
unplugged on purpose. Karen Hepp
visited a Waldorf in our area where
they think children should explore
without a tablet in their hands.
Philadelphia‘s Waldorf school is in
Mount Airy, the philosophy isn‘t
just low tech, it‘s no tech no computers,
no batteries, nothing that
beeps – it‘s totally unplugged. One
of the most obvious differences
toys, no electronics, no beeps, felt,
real wood, pinecones, nature table,
play station, marble roll, balance
beam, arrange furniture hang out
in. The absence of media, not even
technology kids are relentlessly
marketed to from the time born,
supermarket, movies on yogurt,
this school had none of that.
The Waldorf philosophy is to
let the natural world be the playground
to explore and create and
imagine put the good stuff in get
the good stuff out literally. Waldorf
is becoming especially popular in
tech savvy communities. The parents
aren‘t haters, they just think
young children learn best without
all the bells and whistles. (published
3.2.2012 Philadelphia News:
http://www.myfoxphilly.com)
Beginning at the end of the 19th
century, a relatively unknown
Austrian philosopher and teacher
began to sow the seeds of what he
hoped would blossom into a new
culture. The seeds were his ideas,
which he sowed through extensive
writings, lectures and countless
private consultations. The seeds
germinated and took root in the
hearts and minds of his students,
among whom were individuals who
would later become some of the
best known and most influential
figures of the 20th century. Since
the teacher‘s death in 1925, a quiet
but steadily growing movement,
unknown and unseen by most
people, has been spreading over
the world, bringing practical solutions
to the problems of our global,
technological civilisation. The
seeds are now coming to flower in
the form of thousands of projects
infused with human values. The
teacher, called by some “the best
kept secret of the 20th century”,
was Rudolf Steiner.
Steiner, a truly “Renaissance
man”, developed a way of thinking
that he applied to different aspects
of what it means to be human. Over
a period of 40 years, he formulated
and taught a path of inner
development or spiritual research
he called, “anthroposophy”. From
what he learned, he gave practical
indications for nearly every field
of human endeavour. Art, architecture,
drama, science, education,
agriculture, medicine, economics,
religion, care of the dying, social
organisation - there is almost no
field he did not touch.
Today, wherever there is a human
need you‘ll find groups of people
working out of Steiner‘s ideas. There
are an estimated ten thousand
Waldorf School Uhlandshöhe in Stuttgart,
founded in 1919. Since that time more than
1000 schools worldwide are established.
initiatives worldwide – the movement
is a hotbed of entrepreneurial
activity, social and political activism,
artistic expression, scientific
research, and community building.
Contemporary manifestations of
Steiner‘s influence include Waldorf
Education, Biodynamic farming and
gardening, and the Camphill Movement
for the support of people with
disabilities.
© www.whywaldorfworks.org
The workforce of the Waldorf Astoria
cigarette factory with Emil Molt
(arrow) in Stuttgart, arround 1920.
The Molt couple; founders of the
Waldorf foundation.
Grade 4 (2011)

World Hunger and Food
Das Soziale Hauptgesetz
“No one with an open mind will maintain that
we should blame Nature for the appalling state
the world is in. The cause is to be found in
the way humans use what Nature gives them. It
lies in the way people relate to each other. And
this relationsship, of course, emanates from
the way people feel. Ultimately, the way people
work for each other will depend on how they
experience the world in the depths of their
soul.“
Fundamental Social Law
”The well-being of a community working together will be greater,
the less the individual claims the proceeds of his work for
himself, i.e. the more of these proceeds he hands over to his
fellow-workers, and the more his own needs are satisfied, not out
of his own work but out of the work done by others. Every arrangement
in a community that is contrary to this law will inevitably
engender distress and want somewhere.“ Rudolf Steiner, Berlin 1917
Das Soziale Hauptgesetz
„Das Heil einer Gesamtheit von zusammen arbeitenden Menschen
ist um so grösser, je weniger der Einzelne die Erträgnisse seiner
Leistungen für sich beansprucht, das heisst, je mehr er von
diesen Erträgnissen an seine Mitarbeiter abgibt, und je mehr
seine eigenen Bedürfnisse nicht aus seinen Leistungen, sondern
aus den Leistungen der anderen befriedigt werden.
Alle Einrichtungen innerhalb einer Gesamtheit von Menschen,
welche diesem Gesetz widersprechen, müssen bei längerer Dauer
irgendwo Elend und Not erzeugen.“ Rudolf Steiner, Berlin 1917
This fundamental law applies to social life with a validitiy and
necessity more absolute than any law of nature.
“It is clear that this law states nothing less than: human wellbeing
is inversely proportional to egotism. To work for oneself is inevitably
to fall prey to egotism. Only through working for others can
one gradually become an unegotistic worker.”
Rudolf Steiner, Berlin/Dornach 1917
We labour nowadays under the unconscious assumption – originating with Adam Smith – that
SELF INTEREST, as the basis of all human well-being, is a fixed law of nature. The “general
wellbeing“ this results in, as can be seen on all sides today, is restricted to ever smaller groups
of people, until of necessity it will apply only to individuals. That only in this way do we CAUSE
hunger and poverty is something that we will not understand until we learn to perceive our
own contribution to them. This is the hard lesson of Rudolf Steiner‘s fundamental social law.
Design: Katharina Wyss
Travelling Exhibition “Focus on man – Rudolf Steiner and Anthroposophy in Namibia“, Poster 6 > For more information visit our blog (in german language) www.wsw-connect.de

The Magic Flute, 23.3.
Friday, 23 March 2012, 19:00
The story and selected songs from The Magic
Flute by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart performed
by grade 7.
Artistic director: Barbara Stauffer, Erich Meier
Venue: Waldorf School Windhoek
Ute Mehnert
Dear school community, most of you will know
me, but for those of you who don‘t I quickly
want to introduce myself here. My name is Ute
Mehnert, I am married to Marc who teaches
German and Drama in High School and is class
guardian. Our daughter Friedja is now grade 8,
our son Bentje attends grade 7. Before we came
to Namibia I had been working at a Waldorf
School in Northern Germany for more than ten
years. We came to Namibia three and a half
years ago looking for new challenges and
willing to learn and grow as human beings. And
challenges in almost every area of life we did
face ... After having taken last year off teaching
in order to work in different areas, I am now
back preparing our grade 13 students for their
NSSC in English. Another challenge that I am
looking forward to. See you around at school
events!
Alpheus Mvuala
Good day to you all. I am the new art teacher
for grade 8 and 9. I like art and as a professional
artist, I focus a lot on sculpturing in marble
and in granite. I’ve exhibited internationally
before, and won the Bank Windhoek Triennale
Award. Currently, my public sculpture is installed
at the National Art Gallery of Namibia as
permanent collection. I am the only artist in the
house project (of the NAGN) and coordinator
of “Art Talk“. My artwork are displayed at my
studio at Soweto, in Claudia Kandovazu Str.
9215. Art is my thing. I appreciate to be here.
Chicken for sale
We have view chicken for sale from our school
ground again. Please don‘t hesitate to contact
Elias 081 233 10 90.
Contact to our W-Mail-Team: Katharina Wyss,
wyss@waldorf-namibia.org · Photos: K. Wyss, E. Meier
Hit the Beat – Choir and
Friends on Facebook
Simone de Picciotto and 65 learners from grade
10, 11 and 12 will fly in June for two weeks to
Germany. The entire High School Choir and
drumming group are working hard every week
to be perfect prepared for their shows with
drumming, singing and traditional dancing too.
Be up to date and visit our
> facebook.com/hitthebeatconcert
Events March 2012
Midtermbreak
5–9 March 2012
Parents Evening Grade 4
Mon 12 March 2012, 19:00
Parents Evening Grade 7
Mon 19 March 2012, 19:00
Independent Day
Wed 21 March 2012
The Magic Flute (Event)
Fri 23 March 2012, 19:00, Hall
Green Market Café
Sat 24 March 2012, Grade 9
Trimester Festival + Open Day
Sat 31 March 2012
Andreas Fellner
Hello Everybody! I am delighted to be back at
school. We are fortunately that we are able to
work together, and this year, I will be able to
do teachers training, on-the-job training and
also possibly provide support to the staff of
the Waldorf School. I am also accompanying
Mr. Junius as the class guardian of grade 8 and
helping with advice for the year projects. So it
is my pleasure to inform you that I am available
to answer any questions you may have about
Waldorf schools and the pedagogical or educational
principles of the school – just let me
know if you have any queries.
Donations Baking Trays
For the future regulary weekly use of our baking
oven we urgently looking for donations such
as: baking trays, “Gugelhupfformen“ and
wood (big or small). We intend to have a regular
weekly baking day, open for all parents.
Keep in Contact:
Waldorf School Windhoek
P.O. Box 90326, Windhoek, Namibia
Andries de Wet Street/Avis
Tel. +264 (0)61 41 52-50, Fax +264 (0)61 41 52-99
office@waldorf-namibia.org
Web: www.waldorf-namibia.org
Blog: www.wsw-connect.org
Namibia
Waldorf School Windhoek
Nedbank Namibia, Hidas Windhoek
Branch-Code 461696, Account: 110 000 826 88
IBAN: 46 16 96 11 00 00 82 688
BIC (Swift-Code): NEDS NANX
Germany
Freunde der Erziehungskunst, GLS Bank
Account: 130 420 10, BLZ 430 609 67
VWZ: 4886 WSW Namibia + Spenderadresse
Die Angabe Ihrer Anschrift im Feld Verwendungszweck ermöglicht
das Ausstellen der Spendenbescheinigung.
Switzerland
Freie Gemeinschaftsbank BCL
Account: EK 115.5
Postcheck der Bank: Basel 40-963-0
Kennwort: WSW Namibia
Netherlands
Triodos Bank NV, Zeist, Account: 21.22.68.872
Kennwort: WSW Namibia