July 2012 - Waldorf School Windhoek
July 2012 - Waldorf School Windhoek
July 2012 - Waldorf School Windhoek
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
w-mail<br />
Newsletter <strong>Waldorf</strong> <strong>School</strong> <strong>Windhoek</strong>, www.waldorf-namibia.org<br />
<strong>July</strong> <strong>2012</strong><br />
Winner of <strong>School</strong> Award <strong>2012</strong> //<br />
Hit the Beat back from Germany<br />
Tour // Trimester Festival // Thanks<br />
a lot to Simone de Picciotto //<br />
Kidz Fun Fair 4.+5. August <strong>2012</strong><br />
H. E. Neville Gertze, Ambassador of the Republic of Namibia (middle)<br />
Hit the Beat – Choir and Friends<br />
Tour <strong>2012</strong> Germany: Inspired<br />
2500 People and Standing Ovations<br />
Greeting of the Ambassador of the Republic of Namibia, H. E. Neville<br />
Gertze, on the occasion of the concert of the <strong>Waldorf</strong> <strong>School</strong> <strong>Windhoek</strong><br />
Choir at the Freie <strong>Waldorf</strong>schule Berlin Südost on 9 June <strong>2012</strong>:<br />
© Mario Seydel<br />
Best improved pass rate (+ 43 rank points) in Khomas Region in the external<br />
Namibian Senior Secondary Certificate (Higher) 2011 and Best improved pass rate<br />
(+ 32 rank points) in Khomas Region in the external NSSC (Ordinary) 2011 (below)<br />
Winner of the Khomas Region<br />
<strong>School</strong> Award <strong>2012</strong><br />
Every year the Khomas Region<br />
awards schools and teachers for<br />
excellence and improvement in<br />
examination performance. This<br />
year our school received two<br />
awards in recognition of our improved<br />
pass rate, both in the higher<br />
and ordinary levels of the 2011<br />
NSSC examinations. Each award<br />
included prize money of N$1500<br />
and this money will go to the high<br />
school book fund for additional<br />
materials for preparing for these<br />
examinations. This class did exceptionally<br />
well in German (First<br />
Language and Foreign Language).<br />
We are very proud to receive this<br />
recognition and attribute this not<br />
only to the Grade 13 teachers but<br />
also all teachers who taught them<br />
through the years. Kathi Damon<br />
Dear teachers of the Freie <strong>Waldorf</strong>schule<br />
Berlin-Südost, dear<br />
choir members from Namibia,<br />
dear learners of the Freie <strong>Waldorf</strong>schule<br />
Berlin-Südost, dear guests<br />
and friends of Namibia, I am very<br />
pleased to greet you as guests of a<br />
wonderful Namibian evening. I feel<br />
very honoured to celebrate today’s<br />
choir concert with Namibian music<br />
and the good German-Namibian<br />
partnership between the two<br />
schools <strong>Waldorf</strong> <strong>School</strong> <strong>Windhoek</strong><br />
and Freie <strong>Waldorf</strong>schule Berlin-<br />
Südost. The concert “Hit the Beat”<br />
presents a lovely opportunity to<br />
reflect the special relationship of<br />
both these schools.<br />
We are all aware of the social<br />
and cultural differences between<br />
our two countries. But music is a<br />
language in which all people in this<br />
world can communicate with each<br />
other. Since our approach to the<br />
school partnerships is based on<br />
friendship, honesty, and equality,<br />
the event tonight provides us with<br />
another chance to bring people<br />
together and exchange ideas. From<br />
that, the students but also their<br />
families and friends will definitely<br />
benefit.<br />
Namibia has a variety of choirs<br />
singing traditional but also<br />
contemporary songs. Many choirs<br />
tour around the world, take part in<br />
international choir competitions<br />
and become an important cultural<br />
export product of Namibia.<br />
The choir of the <strong>Waldorf</strong> <strong>School</strong><br />
<strong>Windhoek</strong> can also be regarded as<br />
a kind of cultural Ambassador for<br />
our country which promotes mutual<br />
understanding, friendship and a<br />
long-term partnership between<br />
Namibia and Germany.<br />
The “Hit the Beat” project began<br />
14 years ago and was inspired ><br />
Hit the Beat in Worms<br />
© Norbert Seilheimer
© Norbert Seilheimer<br />
© Melanie Pfnuer<br />
© Norbert Seilheimer<br />
Simone de Picciotto in her element:<br />
Conducting “We are the world, we are the<br />
children”, with Hit the Beat and three other<br />
choirs (200 singers) in the Aula of the Freien<br />
Schule Anne-Sophie in Künzelsau (left).<br />
Short visit at Dome in Worms (right).<br />
> by a student’s idea. A young<br />
German 12-grader developed the<br />
idea to do a drum project. His<br />
teacher, Ms Simone de Picciotto,<br />
supported that project and began<br />
to attend drumming workshops<br />
herself. Soon the first drums had<br />
been bought and the first drumming<br />
group founded. Since then, Simone<br />
has been regularly drumming and<br />
singing with children in schools.<br />
Seven years later, Ms de Picciotto<br />
came to Namibia to teach music<br />
at the <strong>Waldorf</strong> <strong>School</strong> in <strong>Windhoek</strong><br />
where she continued to work<br />
Donations received<br />
during the tour<br />
Total: 16.095 E<br />
Concert donations 11.475 E<br />
Namibia Tour Shop 4.620 E<br />
Donation being handed over to Ilse Lang,<br />
long-serving active supporter of the <strong>Waldorf</strong><br />
<strong>School</strong> <strong>Windhoek</strong>. The cheque valued at<br />
3500 Euros is being handed over by Sascha<br />
Kaiser. (f.l.t.r) Ilse Lang (Founder of the<br />
ALISA Trust), Sascha Kaiser (Sales and Financial<br />
Manageress of the Culture and Events<br />
GmbH), Uwe Mandler (Pedagogical Head of<br />
the ALISA Centre) and Heike Müller (Project<br />
leader Culture and Events GmbH).<br />
together with her students on the<br />
music project. Tonight, we will<br />
be able to enjoy the fruits of this<br />
intense work, the programme “HIT<br />
THE BEAT”, which is already quite<br />
known in Namibia. Please, enjoy<br />
with me, and be inspired by the<br />
rhythm of a young and ambitious<br />
choir from Namibia. Thank you!<br />
H. E. Neville Gertze, Ambassador<br />
of the Republic of Namibia<br />
....................................................<br />
Voices of pupils<br />
Staying with guest families in<br />
Berlin: We arrived on the 9th of<br />
June at the <strong>Waldorf</strong>schule in Berlin.<br />
We unpacked our suitcases and one<br />
of the teachers there announced<br />
our guest families who welcomed<br />
us nicely and we then drove home<br />
and had dinner with the family.<br />
Some of us went out that night to<br />
see the city. It was a good weekend,<br />
Berlin is amazing and very big, for<br />
some of us it took hours to get back<br />
to the house.<br />
I stayed with Samantha at a girl‘s<br />
house that we knew before, which<br />
was really nice and made everything<br />
easier. Our guest father<br />
took time to show us the city and at<br />
night Lisa (the girl we stayed with)<br />
took us out to Kreuzberg and to the<br />
Alexanderplatz, we enjoyed that<br />
very much. Nikita Kinder<br />
The Performance in Stuttgart<br />
<strong>Waldorf</strong>schule Uhlandshöhe:<br />
To start off it was a great experience<br />
to have such an opportunity. To be<br />
in Germany was a gift I simply appreciate<br />
with so much love and joy.<br />
Well the performance we had in the<br />
first <strong>Waldorf</strong> school was amazing.<br />
We had a hall with great sound, felt<br />
warm and welcoming. We met up<br />
with Mrs Storm and the Spitta family.<br />
The view and the great audience<br />
we had made it all the worth while,<br />
we were so lucky to have a standing<br />
ovation in each performance.<br />
Nade Farmer<br />
....................................................<br />
Voices of guests<br />
Concert in the Mozart Hall in the<br />
Wormser Cultural Centre:<br />
I have never seen a school performance<br />
with so many talented people<br />
before… and I have experienced<br />
many!!! There is so much we could<br />
learn from them. The children of the<br />
<strong>Waldorf</strong> <strong>School</strong> have such a good<br />
stage presence, no matter where<br />
one focusses on the stage – even<br />
up to the last row – one could sense<br />
that each and every child carried<br />
the rhythm from within. Even the<br />
teachers impressed me – the connection<br />
between the conductors<br />
and the learners was fascinating<br />
– attentiveness, discipline and<br />
despite this ease! They all radiated<br />
happiness and I noted that they<br />
were all SELF conscious – excellent!<br />
In the song with the soloist, tears of<br />
joy rolled down my cheeks. The girl<br />
really moved me. Hats off, especially<br />
with what you have achieved<br />
with this school in Namibia!!! You<br />
....................................................<br />
Trimester Festival<br />
and Get Together<br />
for all Parents<br />
Sat 23 June <strong>2012</strong> at our <strong>School</strong><br />
can really be proud of this and I am<br />
happy that I was able to attend this<br />
performance.<br />
Concert during the open air concert<br />
at Hermersberg:<br />
It was a wonderful evening for me.<br />
It is truly fantastic what the youth<br />
can do, how much joy and enthusiasm<br />
could be felt. And the teachers<br />
and choir leaders’ engagement was<br />
admirable. And it was very good<br />
to briefly meet one of our future<br />
Patron Marion Würth<br />
students, to talk to him. Now he<br />
already knows someone at the<br />
Goethe-Institute in Schwäbisch<br />
Hall. This is often helpful initially<br />
in a new environment. Wonderful<br />
how the Würth family supports<br />
the young people! My absolute<br />
respect!<br />
© Katharina Wyss © Melanie Pfnuer
© Norbert Seilheimer<br />
© Norbert Seilheimer<br />
Dear pupils, dear parents, dear friends,<br />
8 1/2 years ago in May 2004 I was traveling on<br />
the highway in Germany with my husband and he<br />
suggested to me that we apply for a job in Bavaria.<br />
I was in shock and answered spontaneously<br />
that before I ever, ever move to Bavaria I would<br />
prefer to move to Africa. This was without any<br />
substance because I had no connection to Africa<br />
whatsoever.<br />
We arrived at our house a few hours later and<br />
on the table I found a magazine from the Freunde<br />
der Erziehungskunst with an article about the<br />
<strong>Waldorf</strong> <strong>School</strong> <strong>Windhoek</strong>.<br />
To make a long story short: 6 weeks later in June<br />
I visited the school, in August I signed a contract<br />
and began to pack up my house. I January 2005<br />
I started my work here. Had I known about the<br />
many challenges I was to face here, I do not know<br />
if I would have had the courage to do this and yet<br />
I am glad I did for I would have missed some of<br />
the most wonderful years of my life.<br />
The past 7 1/2 years have been a melting pot of<br />
the most intense feelings: joy, surprises, excitement<br />
and also many, many challenges. I do not<br />
regret a single day I spent with the pupils at this<br />
school.<br />
The amazing trips I was allowed to enjoy: going<br />
to Germany twice, to Capetown once, the Canyon<br />
River, the many Parzival hikes, enjoying Namibia’s<br />
amazing landscape.<br />
All the theatre projects and showtime events we<br />
did were always something I enjoyed immensely.<br />
Just before I arrived I was asked to start with<br />
teaching a biology main lesson – this was a totally<br />
new subject to me and I was extremely worried<br />
how I would manage – however always just one<br />
step ahead of the pupils I somehow managed to<br />
go forwards – biology and history becoming my<br />
favourites...<br />
Music has always been my passion and building<br />
up the drumming as well as the choir is something<br />
that meant very, very much to me. I know that<br />
choir work is always a challenge when it is compulsory,<br />
however this last project was so amazing<br />
that I hope it has really planted the seed of future<br />
music in the school. I am extremely grateful, that<br />
I was able to experience something like this at<br />
the end.<br />
“Thank you pupils for sharing these years with<br />
me and enriching my life” Simone de Picciotto<br />
But overall I want to thank the pupils for the<br />
amount of trust and loyalty they showed towards<br />
me – I always felt welcomed by them and I enjoyed<br />
going into almost every lesson I taught in the<br />
past years.<br />
I mentioned at the trimester festival, that I was<br />
very naive when I came here and did not realise<br />
what the situation in Namibia was, growing up in<br />
the USA in the 1970’, when the civil rights movement<br />
had just peaked and integration in schools<br />
was a major theme, it was a surprise to me to<br />
find myself in a similar situation here in Namibia<br />
again.<br />
However it seemed to meet my personality<br />
which has always been to embrace youth and to<br />
encourage every single young person to find his<br />
place in society and to realise the importance<br />
of every single individuality in society and the<br />
impact his little deeds can have.<br />
I explained to the pupils this week how I feel<br />
the highest aim for every human is to become a<br />
hero in his area meaning: A hero is one who gives<br />
himself to something bigger than himself because<br />
he has dreams and can make them reality<br />
and grow beyond himself and thereby really<br />
make a difference in this world.<br />
Thank you pupils for sharing these years with<br />
me and enriching my life – they were the most<br />
© Katharina Wyss<br />
passionate years of my life and I will never forget<br />
them.<br />
I also want to thank all the parents for their<br />
support. Without you this would never have<br />
been possible and I thank you for all the positive<br />
feedback and goodwill you showed to me.<br />
Of course the same goes to my colleagues who<br />
entrusted me to build up the high school and<br />
supported my ideas and tolerated my sometimes<br />
very energetic and decisive approaches.<br />
You are all wonderful people and I am sure the<br />
school is in wonderful hands.<br />
I leave you all to be with my daughters and to<br />
bring a bit of quietness into my life, time to regain<br />
new strength and conquer new fields. I will<br />
be only working part time for the next year, will<br />
commence further education as school mediator<br />
and hope to start various projects with young<br />
people, obviously mainly musical projects. And<br />
maybe I can come back here to help in specific<br />
areas as a guest teacher. I would love that.<br />
Thank you all, you will stay in my heart forever<br />
and dear pupils never forget my main line: let<br />
freedom ring throughout your lives and always<br />
know: you can do whatever you set your heart on.<br />
Simone de Picciotto<br />
www.hit-the-beat.org<br />
www.facebook.com/hitthebeatconcert<br />
www.youtube.com > hit the beat namibia<br />
© Norbert Seilheimer
© Katharina Wyss<br />
© Katharina Wyss<br />
© <strong>School</strong> Archive<br />
Roekija Helm<br />
Freca Menzel<br />
Kidz Fun Fair <strong>2012</strong><br />
Last year in May I read the “Namibian Education<br />
Directory” and discovered the <strong>Waldorf</strong><br />
<strong>School</strong> <strong>Windhoek</strong>. I was involved in the home<br />
schooling topic in South Africa, where I lived<br />
for four years. Back in Namibia I looked for<br />
alternative ways to educate my children. The<br />
philosophy of home schooling is similar to<br />
the Rudolf Steiner pedagogic. So I chose<br />
this school. I have two children in Grade 0 and<br />
Grade 2.<br />
I started working at the <strong>Waldorf</strong> front desk<br />
on 29 May: Administration, enrolments, data<br />
capturing, telephone and many more things<br />
are my field. I feel at home. The atmosphere is<br />
warm and friendly. And this is the main thing<br />
to adapt and to be happy.<br />
Parent’s Ad:<br />
<strong>Waldorf</strong> family urgently looking for 2/3 bedroom<br />
townhouse/apartment close to the school.<br />
Pease call 081-752 18 44.<br />
Events <strong>July</strong> – August <strong>2012</strong><br />
Parents Evening Grade 1, 8<br />
Mon 9 <strong>July</strong> <strong>2012</strong>, 19:00<br />
Parent Association (PA)<br />
Wed 11 <strong>July</strong><strong>2012</strong>, 19:00<br />
Parents Evening Grade 2<br />
Mon 16 <strong>July</strong> <strong>2012</strong>, 19:00<br />
Parents Evening Grade 6<br />
Tue 17 <strong>July</strong> <strong>2012</strong>, 19:00<br />
Parents Evening Grade 3<br />
Mon 23 <strong>July</strong> <strong>2012</strong>, 19:00<br />
Cinema at <strong>Waldorf</strong><br />
Fri 27 <strong>July</strong> <strong>2012</strong>, 19:00<br />
Green Market Café<br />
Sat 28 <strong>July</strong> <strong>2012</strong>, Grade 6<br />
Parents Evening Grade 7<br />
Mon 30 <strong>July</strong> <strong>2012</strong>, 19:00<br />
Kidz Fun Fair at SKW Sportsground<br />
Sat 4 August <strong>2012</strong>, 09:00 – 18:00 (Gates<br />
close at 17:00), Sun 5 August <strong>2012</strong><br />
09:00 – 16:00 (Gates close at 15:00)<br />
Green Market Café<br />
Sat 18 August <strong>2012</strong>, Grade 13<br />
Trimester Holiday<br />
Sat 18 August – Fri 7 September <strong>2012</strong><br />
© Katharina Wyss<br />
Dear school-community, at the end of 2011<br />
I received an invitation to teach at the <strong>Waldorf</strong><br />
<strong>School</strong> in Lübeck, in Northern Germany. There<br />
were a number of aspects that made me feel<br />
that I should go and follow this path – the<br />
possibility of growing still deeper into <strong>Waldorf</strong><br />
teaching through an environment of very experienced<br />
colleagues and teacher-trainers, and<br />
the chance of getting close again to family<br />
and dear friends were just the most dominant<br />
ones.<br />
I am looking back on almost five years of<br />
intensive work at the <strong>Waldorf</strong> <strong>School</strong> <strong>Windhoek</strong>,<br />
with many challenges and a lot of joy.<br />
The open-heartedness of the students and the<br />
commitment of colleagues and parents have<br />
been precious to me, and I am very grateful for<br />
having been part of this community.<br />
Yours with best wishes, Freca Menzel<br />
Teacher’s Training Fund<br />
The teachers decided to also do a Green Market<br />
Café to raise funds for their teacher training<br />
fund. This took place on 7 <strong>July</strong> <strong>2012</strong> and they<br />
managed to raise about N$ 2400. This fund<br />
enables us to send delegates to the Nation<br />
Teacher’s Conference in South Africa and to do<br />
further training as a collegiate or individually.<br />
Cinema at <strong>Waldorf</strong><br />
We would like to welcome you to our new event<br />
“Cinema at <strong>Waldorf</strong>”. Once a month we will<br />
show movies and documentaries, and then we<br />
can get together and chat. Starts: Friday, 27th<br />
<strong>July</strong> <strong>2012</strong>, 19:00 “The Challenge of Rudolf Steiner”<br />
Part 1 (1h30min), a documentary film by<br />
Jonathan Stedall. Entrance: free, Food+Drinks:<br />
welcome!<br />
Contact to our W-Mail-Team: Katharina Wyss<br />
wyss@waldorf-namibia.org, Cell +264 (0)81 340 23 79<br />
The annual <strong>Waldorf</strong> <strong>School</strong> <strong>Windhoek</strong> stall at<br />
the Kidz Fun Fair is one of our most important<br />
places to meet new parents and get in touch<br />
with people in <strong>Windhoek</strong>, who are interested<br />
in alternative ways to educate children.<br />
It‘s a great venue to spend a few hours with<br />
your family, to have fun and to enjoy many<br />
activities and, of course, to talk to some of our<br />
teachers.<br />
Dear parents, please feel free to support us<br />
for one or two hours to represent our school<br />
during the 4th August from 09:00 – 18:00 and<br />
5th August from 09:00 – 16:00.<br />
Contact: Katharina Wyss, 081-340 23 79<br />
Kidz Fun Fair at SKW Sportsground<br />
Saturday, 4 August <strong>2012</strong>, 09:00 – 18:00<br />
(Gates close at 17h00), Sunday, 5 August <strong>2012</strong>,<br />
09:00 – 16:00 (Gates close at 15:00)<br />
www.kidz-fun-fair.com<br />
Keep in Contact:<br />
<strong>Waldorf</strong> <strong>School</strong> <strong>Windhoek</strong><br />
P.O. Box 90326, <strong>Windhoek</strong>, Namibia<br />
Andries de Wet Street/Avis<br />
Tel. +264 (0)61 41 52-50, Fax +264 (0)61 41 52-99<br />
office@waldorf-namibia.org<br />
Web: www.waldorf-namibia.org<br />
Blog: www.wsw-connect.org<br />
Namibia<br />
<strong>Waldorf</strong> <strong>School</strong> <strong>Windhoek</strong><br />
Nedbank Namibia, Hidas <strong>Windhoek</strong><br />
Branch-Code 461696, Account: 110 000 826 88<br />
IBAN: 46 16 96 11 00 00 82 688<br />
BIC (Swift-Code): NEDS NANX<br />
Germany<br />
Freunde der Erziehungskunst, GLS Bank<br />
Account: 130 420 10, BLZ 430 609 67<br />
VWZ: 4886 WSW Namibia + Spenderadresse<br />
Die Angabe Ihrer Anschrift im Feld Verwendungszweck ermöglicht<br />
das Ausstellen der Spendenbescheinigung.<br />
Switzerland<br />
Freie Gemeinschaftsbank BCL<br />
Account: EK 115.5<br />
Postcheck der Bank: Basel 40-963-0<br />
Kennwort: WSW Namibia<br />
Netherlands<br />
Triodos Bank NV, Zeist, Account: 21.22.68.872<br />
Kennwort: WSW Namibia