Middle School

Class 7, 8 & 9: The Awakening of the Intellect

As students transition into adolescence, their capacity for abstract reasoning expands, prompting a more academically rigorous curriculum. The material is presented to students through real-world scenarios and creatively enriched methods. Our middle school curriculum emphasises both practical knowledge and creativity, ensuring that graduates are adept at synthesising information, rather than merely memorising isolated facts. They become flexible, creative thinkers, eager to take intellectual risks.

Whether studying and performing a Shakespearean play, tending to a garden, lifting a car with the power of pulleys, learning to operate a sewing machine, walking with camels, or hiking along the Larapinta Trail, students engage in a holistic education designed to stretch their abilities and challenge them in various ways.

Each middle school year level is supported by a Class Guardian, who provides security and continuity of care. The Class Guardian begins and ends each day with activities such as bush walks, games, or movement and music, fostering a sense of community and well-being. Throughout the day, subjects are taught by specialists who are passionate about their fields of expertise.

We are pleased to announce the completion of Stage 1 of our new Middle School building block. Our middle school now boasts a purpose-built classroom and facilities on our existing campus. This building includes a dedicated classroom and an outdoor handwork space. Stage 2, which will be completed by the end of 2025, includes a science lab, art room, and ablution block. Students in Central Australia will now have access to high-quality middle school Steiner education in exceptional facilities. This development will further enhance our holistic learning environment, fostering the human spirit, social consciousness, and citizenship in young adults.

The Main Lesson

The Main Lesson is a unique element in Steiner education. Each morning for 3-5 weeks, every year level in the middle school learns about one ‘big idea’. In this block of time, teachers and students explore in great depth one large topic, ranging from Shakespeare to Optics & Electricity.

Our Main Lessons tell the story of humanity and our journey over epochs from the ancient consciousness of legends to how we think in the contemporary world. The Main Lessons give every student a connection with the narrative that is Our Story, the human story, locating each student in a living tradition.

Physical Education

We provide a range of physical education activities for students. We offer a variety of sporting activities, both team sports and individual sports. Sport is played for exercise, health, agility and enjoyment – the competitive element is not particularly stressed. Our students participate in the NT Central Region Sport Program were they learn skills in sports such as netball, golf, basketball, AFL, volley ball and they participate in events such as cross-country, athletics and swimming.

Technology and media

The teaching of Information Technology (computers) commences in Class 7 as students develop the capacity to understand both the operational aspects of technological devices and how to properly manage the various demands that technology places upon us in our modern lives.

Students start by learning about mechanical aspects of how a computer works and develop skills such as touch typing and desktop publishing. Later, students learn about the current digital revolution and how it is reshaping our lives, as well as how to evaluate a source for validity and the importance of curating our personal online spaces when utilising social media.

Our students learn to appreciate and utilise technology as a useful tool, while remaining mindful of its capacity to dominate our lives.

The Middle School Curriculum

Class 7

The students are becoming accustomed to a whole new way of learning in middle school, with new teachers, in a new space and sometimes new peers. It is a time of great transformation as they grapple with changing and developing mindsets and maturing bodies. It is a time that requires courage and a willingness to venture forth and try new things. Camps explore areas of local beauty and encourage students to surpass their own expectations. Maths and sciences engage the students with activities that get them to observe and quantify the world around them.

Class 8

Traditionally the year students turned 14 was important, as it was a time when apprenticeships began. And it’s important to mark this time with a number of milestones and challenges to overcome in the student’s journey towards adulthood. It is also a time of grappling with concepts of self-identity. In response to these inner developments, the curriculum offers the students the chance to perform in a Shakespearean production, - working as a team to achieve something that can seem quite daunting from the outset. Another such milestone is the Class 8 Project where students pursue an interest they are passionate about and then share what they learnt with their peers and school community.

Class 9

Is a time of great energy, strong emotions and strong opinions. In response to this students are presented with the world in a plethora of different ways. The students engage in a number of camps to be out in the natural world. Complex concepts such as the refugee crisis are explored and examined, and questions of morality, freedom, justice and equality are studied through the lens of 20th Century History. It is a time of profound change and dramatic upheaval.