Our Story
Welcome to Leaning Tree Steiner School
We are an independent, non-denominational, Steiner School offering a unique educational choice in Geraldton, Western Australia. We meet the needs of our Kindergarten to Class 9 students with small class sizes and a quality Steiner educational program designed and implemented by dedicated, skilled teachers and support staff. Rainbow Playgroup caters to children aged 0-4 and their families.
Our Ethos
Nurturing the Whole Child
Our Vision
We believe in nurturing the individual spirit, strengths and gifts of each child.
We are purposefully working towards awakening children’s creative capacities and fostering academic potential.
Our Mission
We deliver a distinct and contextual Steiner education to nurture and develop the whole child. We guide and empower our students to create happy, healthy and meaningful relationships with their world. We provide a rich and diverse environment to enable children to fulfill their potential in all learning areas.
Our Values
Love of Learning
Students are engaged, diligent and willingly involved in the pursuit of knowledge and understanding.
Integrity
We are genuine and consistent in our actions and words, aligned with our values.
Community
We share, participate and contribute to community, place and planet.
Nurturing
We provide a caring environment that supports and nourishes with insight and acceptance.
A Whole Child Approach
We deliver a balanced school curriculum underpinned by the Steiner educational curriculum and encompassing all developmental domains: social/emotional, cognitive, physical, language and creative.
The Virtues Project™
Leaning Tree Steiner School is a part of the global initiative The Virtues Project™. The Virtues Project™ nurtures our children in the skills and qualities they need to reach their potential in school and in life. Although virtues are the oldest practices in the world, they are essential to the true goal of education – intelligence plus character. The project outlines 52 gifts of character, which guide our social-emotional curriculum as well as our behaviour management approach. Explicit teaching of the virtues assists in creating a positive and harmonious school environment.
There are various localised First Nation language groups in the region which are collectively known as the Yamatji, who have a strong connection to the place that they know as Jambinu (Geraldton).
Leaning Tree Steiner School respectfully acknowledges the First Nation peoples as the first inhabitants and the traditional custodians of the lands where we live, learn and work. We extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and the Elders, past, present and future for they hold the memories, traditions, culture and hopes of all First Nation peoples.
On June 8th, 2016, our community visited the site in which the future LTSS was to be built; this is known as “Our Day on the Land”. Elder Graham Taylor, an Amangu People representative, spoke to the children and school community about the ongoing spiritual and cultural custodianship of local Indigenous groups to Jambinu country. He conveyed to the children and school community that the land, under our guardianship, would be a place of learning, with a view toward reconciliation. Marika Laudehr, assisted by the school community, facilitated the creation of a sand mural onsite which told the story of all parties coming together in friendship, with an eye to the future.
Please click on the underlined live link to access the LTSS Reconciliation Plan.
What’s in a name?
The iconic Leaning Tree began life as a tiny seed in the fertile soil of the Greenough Flats.
Pure winter rains and the bright Geraldton sunshine fed and warmed the seed.
Soon the seed emerged as a vigorous seedling amongst the wheat and wildflowers.
The seedling grew into a sturdy sapling whose roots ventured deep into the earth, drawing sustenance and anchoring the flourishing plant.
The tree adapted its form, hugging the earth, as it was buffeted by the salty southerly winds.
It grew to be a wise and much loved tree, home to many creatures and a little different to other trees in the Mid West.
The Leaning Tree is a living symbol of virtues such as persistence, uniqueness, flexibility, humility, idealism, steadfastness and purposefulness.