Community Voices
What Brought You to Steiner Education?
Each of us carries our own story of how we came to Steiner education. These stories help us understand the vibrant experiences in our community and what makes our school – and Steiner Education - so special.
By sharing our stories we strengthen our community, offer warmth, insight and reflection, and help to shape a shared understanding of our differing perspectives and experiences. These stories give life to our school’s identity and values.
We have started collecting these stories - our Community Voices - and would like to share them with you. If you would like to contribute your story, please reach out to enquiries@sophiamundi.vic.edu.au
Steiner Alumni
Franky
When I walk through the gates of Sophia Mundi, it feels like coming home. The laughter and connection in the courtyard, the gentle hum of creativity in the classrooms, they’re familiar, and I see the same warmth that shaped my own school years now embracing my children.
Keep reading Franky's story here: A reflection on my Steiner Journey (as a Sophia Mundi Alumni and now parent)
Anita
A lot of people have the misconception that Steiner schools are only good for “creative/arty” people. As a lawyer, I would hardly call myself arty and people are often surprised to hear I went to Steiner. I think it’s important for people to understand that a Steiner education can support you in whatever direction you want to go.
Read more of Anita's story here: Steiner education can support you in whatever direction you want to go.
Jeremy
I am glad the well-rounded education at Sophia Mundi has led to me having interests in many different areas.
Read Jeremy's reflection here: A well-rounded education has made me a well-rounded human
Emrys
An education with meaning and purpose
...These stories, but most importantly the striving of my teachers to bring them alive in me, have given me access as an adult to deep and powerful truths about the human being and our world. These are truths that cannot be captured in a formula and cannot be tested to see whether a child has grasped them. Rather, they come to fruition as a reality in a life well lived.
Read Emrys's story here: An education with meaning and purpose
Lucy
A Tapestry of Connections
My path to teaching within Steiner education is one woven from many threads, family, chance, and a feeling of long-standing familiarity. It is less a story of a single decision and more one of gradually finding my way to a natural home...
Read more of Lucy's story here: A tapestry of connections
Inger
From blackberries to the Birrarung
I started my journey with Steiner Education in an old Hall in Hope Forest in South Australia in 1991. Willunga Waldorf School was just beginning. Our play equipment was a giant fallen tree, and we picked blackberries and made nests out of pine needles. It was magical! ...
I have two children, and from the beginning, I knew I wanted them to experience the richness, imagination and depth of Steiner education. I want them to enjoy the wonder of childhood, nurtured by the themes of goodness, beauty and truth, and a valuing of gentleness.
Read more of Inger's story here: From blackberries to the Birrarung
Veronika
Steiner education was the world I was born into
Growing up in Germany, not far from Stuttgart where the very first Waldorf school opened, Steiner education was not something I “found.” It was the world I was born into. I attended the local Steiner kindergarten and later the Steiner school, following a family line immersed in Anthroposophy for more than a century....
Yet I only fully understood the treasure of my Steiner schooling when, as a teenager, I tried to leave it behind. ...I felt frustrated with what I perceived as the “artsy” and “not academic enough” nature of my school. I trialled three mainstream schools - and was deeply shocked. What I found lacking was not academics, but humanity: warmth, genuine interest, and the sense of being truly seen. I returned to my Steiner school with profound gratitude.
Read more of Veronika's story here: Steiner Education was the world I was born into
Cherry
Read more of Cherry's reflection here: An education that fosters enduring friendships
Angelique
An Introduction, and a Farewell
One of the biggest joys that my thirteen years of Steiner education gave me was a love of learning. A common criticism is that children do not start reading or writing early enough; I believe this delay is a bonus. This education gives children their childhood, in full, with all the love and support, and plenty of time and space before they have to enter the adult world. The effect I've seen in my children is the same one I experienced: Formal, academic education is held back with such a protection of childhood that by the time reading and writing is introduced we felt like horses chomping at the bit, so eager to get going. The love of learning, infused with the wonder of the world, has lifelong merit. I have continued to love learning and am about to begin my fourth degree, having achieved an award of top of the cohort, so this delay to reading and writing and technology is not an impediment but a gift. As children we knew we were special simply for being children and that brings a deep sense of magic and purpose, as well as the desire to give back so that other children can also enjoy this incredible journey...
Read more of Angelique's story here: An Introduction, and a Farewell
Sophia Mundi Parents
Kate
A parent's journey from prep, to graduation, and beyond...
All our children went through Sophia Mundi Steiner School from Prep to Year 12 (including kinder and playgroup for some) and as our youngest child completed the International Baccalaureate (IB) programme in 2017, we realise how grateful we are to the School and the experiences it has afforded all of us.
Keep reading Kate's story here: A parent's journey from prep, to graduation, and beyond...
Divya
A living education
I first heard about Steiner education in India when my niece attended a Mumbai Steiner school, Tridha, and I was captivated by what I heard. Children engaged in knitting, crochet, watercolour painting, beautiful crafts, colourful pencils and crayons, and woodwork, using materials from nature. These activities touched something within me. They felt full of heart while engaging the hands in meaningful creation.
Keep reading Divya's story here: A living education
Tim
The kind of place I would have loved to have been...
I first heard about Steiner education when I was in Year Nine. A friend told me there was a school where they did art and music all day. To me, it sounded like the most incredible place where I could be free, creative, and expressive. Somewhere I wished I could have been.
Keep reading Tim's story here: The kind of place I would have loved to have been...
Fereshteh
Seven years at Sophia Mundi Steiner School
When we were preparing to welcome our child, I started looking into different education options here in Australia. Since I studied overseas, I wanted to really understand what was available.
What caught my attention most was alternative education, especially Steiner. Its philosophy and the way it’s put into practice really spoke to me. It felt harmonious and true to the values I hold close. I believe that if we want to nurture a generation of caring, conscious individuals, the journey has to begin from the heart.
Keep reading Fereshteh's story here: Seven years at Sophia Mundi
Candy
A pathway into belonging
If you had asked me seven years ago what I wanted most for my daughter as she grew into adulthood, I would have said: A deep connection to herself and her emotions. I hoped she would learn to hold space for others with kindness, feel a sense of belonging in her community, and carry happiness at her core. What I didn’t realise then was how profoundly her schooling would shape that journey, and mine.
Keep reading Candy's story here: A pathway into belonging
Ilja
We chose a smaller school because we wanted our child to have a rounded social and educational experience, one that would give her a strong foundation for life. Steiner education’s principle of Head, Heart, and Hands aligned closely with what we were seeking: Head as logic and intellect; Heart as emotion and creativity; Hands as practical skills and purposeful action. This view of the child as a whole person, and the need for an education that responds to that wholeness, felt like a strong counterpoint to some of the less welcome features of modern life.
Keep reading Ilja's story here: Learning Together
Class 6 Parent
Connection and nature
Our journey at Sophia Mundi and with Steiner education from 18 month-old play group, and kindergarten before then, began with a deep sense of connection - to ourselves, to community, and to nature. From the beginning, we felt that Steiner education aligned with our values: nurturing each child’s unique gifts so they can truly blossom, rather than shaping them into something predetermined.
Keep reading their stroy here: Connection & Nature
Sally
Reflection on a Steiner education
Our journey is an unfolding one where, utterly ignorant of all things Steiner when we began, intuition alone has been our guide to keep going forward with this pedagogy. On the way we have found our family’s values recalibrated again and again to the extraordinary goodness, wisdom and depth of understanding of the human condition that is the Steiner education. As parents we have been taught by Daisy’s teachers as much as Daisy has been taught.
Keep reading Sally's story here: Reflection on a Steiner Education
Rob
Visiting Melbourne from the Netherlands
From Gouda, the Netherlands, Jasmijn contacted Sophia Mundi hoping there was a spot for our children at Sophia Mundi. The website all looked so friendly. Sophia Mundi had to be a very nice and safe place....
The first day of school, our son said he has never felt as much at home as he did in his class. He had found his tribe, and we are thankful he discovered a new version of himself at Sophia Mundi, one that fits who he truly is and he can carry with him into the future.
Keep reading Rob's story here: Visiting Melbourne from the Netherlands
Alex
An education for life
As parents we want our children to be happy now, and we want them to have every chance of happiness as adults. It can be difficult to accept what is not known about the future in which they will grow to adulthood; what will make them unhappy that we can’t imagine, that we might not ever see?
Keep reading Alex's story here: An education for life
Sophia Mundi Students
Year 8 & 9 Students
I chose Steiner education because I went to a public school for a long time and I really wasn't happy. I wanted a gentler school with more interesting subjects and nicer teachers and kids and a fresh start. I wanted somewhere I could thrive as a person...
I feel like this is the happiest I've ever been.
Read more of their reflections here: Year 8 & 9 Reflections
Class 5 Student
What I love about attending Sophia Mundi Steiner School
I really like main lessons – that you have one focus area for a long period of time so that you can learn more, more deeply - instead of jumping between different subjects. You get to finish something after working on it consistently, and understand it better.
Class 6
We asked Class 6 students what they love about their school, and what they think separates it from other schools. Students were eager to share their opinions and loved the idea of having their quotes published!
“I love this school because it's in nature and that it gives you freedom to learn in really amazing ways.”
“This school is educational but they make it fun like drawing not just writing."
“I Like Sophia Mundi Steiner School, because it teaches me new and fascinating things/facts in and out of the classrooms.”
Class 3 Student
What I love about attending Sophia Mundi Steiner School
I love all the different lessons at school because the teachers make learning fun, and we get to do lots of interesting things.
Class 4 Students
The things I love about Sophia Mundi, and what I think makes it different....
Sophia Mundi Staff
Sophia Mundi Staff
Lucy
A Tapestry of Connections
My path to teaching within Steiner education is one woven from many threads, family, chance, and a feeling of long-standing familiarity. It is less a story of a single decision and more one of gradually finding my way to a natural home...
Read more of Lucy's story here: A tapestry of connections
Jess
To me Steiner education is a deeply nourishing curriculum that supports the unfolding of each human being at different stages of life. Everything we do has a purpose. We don’t learn instruments to become musicians we learn them to assist the right and left spheres of the body develop, singing helps with our breathing and lung growth. We are not trying to create artists through drawing and painting and knitting, we are trying to support the brain neuron’s blossom and calm the nervous systems of the children, who like us adults, live in an increasingly busy world full of all kinds of external pressures.
Read more of Jess's story here: A deeply nourishing curriculum
Kirilly
My journey starts with my own school experience. When I was in high school, I was very disengaged... I reflect now and wonder how my life during this time might have looked if I’d had teachers who embodied the Steiner philosophy - teachers who cared deeply about their students and viewed outward behaviours not with judgement, but with curiosity and care. I have one very strong memory of a kind-hearted teacher stopping me after class one day, looking me in the eyes, and asking if I was okay... I have never forgotten her kindness and the difference that a teacher can make in a student’s life...
I wholeheartedly experienced and believed in the famous quote by Rudolf Steiner:
Receive the child in reverence, educate them in love, and send them forth in freedom.
How lucky we are that this educational philosophy exists.
Read more of Kirilly's story here: How I came to Steiner Education
Cheryl
A Steiner approach is both timeless and relevant to today's world
I am so very grateful to be a part of such a social impulse that has a recognised presence enlivening education in Melbourne by adding diverse choices for parents, students and teachers. It is delightful to still be engaged in Steiner education at this phase of my life particularly as I can glean insights through our grandchildren.
Read Chery's story here: A Steiner approach is both timeless and relevant to today's world