Waldorf 100 Stellenbosch Waldorf School BIG WALK
Saturday 14th September 2019
The final countdown to our celebration is here! Three weeks to go! We look forward to coming together as a community and marking the occasion of the Waldorf Education movement celebrating 100 years. SWS will hold a school celebration to acknowledge this milestone with the purpose of building our sense of (comm)unity. We celebrate our ideals within the South African Waldorf sphere, and our consciousness of being part of a global Waldorf family. We will join thousands of Waldorf Schools around the world who are celebrating during the very week of our celebration – with a build up to the 19th September which is when the first Waldorf School in Stuttgart opened its doors 100 years ago.
As we come together to reflect on the last 100 years of Waldorf Education, while looking towards the next 100 years, the Stellenbosch Waldorf School will honour the centenary celebration in a variety of ways. The impulse in the global Waldorf School community has been to become more conscious about bees. At SWS we agree that we are inspired by the bee to lead the way, and in our studies and observations during teacher meetings as well as within the classrooms, are discovering that there is so much for us to learn from the bees!
So, on to the plans for our big day…there will be two parts to our celebratory morning:
9am – 11am The Big Walk
Our Annual Big Walk enlivens the day and is a compulsory call to the students, staff and parents within our community to walk the farm, engage with nature and our beautiful surrounds. Thank you to our Class 6’s for organising this event!
Children are asked to please wear comfortable walking shoes, sunhats and sunblock, and arrive in their classrooms by 08h45 to meet their class teachers and guardians. Big Walk sponsorship forms will be collected, where after children will proceed to the assembly point and meet up with parents and family members. The walk will start promptly at 9am, where the groups will be split according to their routes of choice.
Along the 10km route we will have milestone signposts describing the journey of Waldorf Education throughout the 100 years.
It will be a visual delight to see our community sporting our new Waldorf 100 emblem on our colourful golf shirts and sunhats, which will be available for purchase ahead of the event and on the morning of the 14th.
Then, we’re very excited to announce our very first colour run for our High School students (including parents and guardians if they dare 😉). Its going to be fun! More details to follow in next week’s Update, as well as from the Links via the High School Parent WhatsApp groups.
11am – 1:30pm The Celebration at The Shed
Our Links have voted for all to join in a bring and share picnic after The Big Walk. Once everyone finishes the walk, we will come to The Shed through their front door and enjoy a beautiful display of the children’s work prepared by our teachers. Then we’ll enjoy some delicious food from the bring and share food table, while relaxing on the grassed area alongside The Shed. We are honoured that Sunlight Music Studio has generously agreed to share some live music with us. As we are on The Shed’s property, there is no legal restriction for parents who would like to bring their own bottle of wine, or beer if they would like to do that.
Once everyone is back, and refreshed, some of our students will perform something for us to be followed by a short word of thanks. This will mark the official closing of the event; however, The Shed area will remain available for the rest of the afternoon.
Please feel free to get in touch with your Class Link, your Class teacher or Cary-Ann should you have any further questions. Email Cary-Ann on cary@waldorfschool.org.za.
We look forward to seeing you there!