A local woman’s house and a once derelict pioneer hall in a Riwaka sheep paddock have provided bases for Motueka’s Steiner education during its 40-year history in the town.
Jubilations were held last week to mark four decades since a group of parents formed a committee to assign to Motueka the Rudolf Steiner education philosophy, which believes that young children learn with their heads, hearts, and hands.
The results saw the opening of Motueka Steiner Kindergarten in 1984, and Motueka Steiner School followed in 2002.
One of the school’s inaugural teachers Avril Nicoll says once the committee for this new educational approach in Motueka was formed in late 1983, one of its members, Yvonne Vincent stepped in to be one of the founding teachers.
The following year, the Motueka Rudolf Steiner School Trust deed was signed, and the first preschoolers entered the inaugural Motueka Steiner Kindergarten site at her Riverside Community abode.
“It was quite inspiring, a little group there with no money really, and thought ‘I guess we’ll start a kindergarten’,” Avril says.
“The Rudolf Steiner education allows children to develop slowly, and it’s something that once parents understood they became quite passionate about it, and that’s what inspired them to work to create it.
“Many of those people in the early years had incredible dedication, kindergarten teachers that worked more than 17 years, and this provided an enormous stability.”
Avril says in 1985, the founders discovered a pioneer hall sitting in a Riwaka sheep paddock and after negotiating with its trustees to rent it, they set about renovating it with doors, a garden, and a “delightful little kitchen”.
Twelve students attended the kindergarten upon opening at the hall site, and it began to run three sessions weekly.
Six years later, the roll growth provoked a larger site and, in 1991, the kindergarten’s Wallace St site opened.
The kindergarten opened a second site at a former vet clinic building on the same street in 2009.
Avril says the founders also had a penchant for creating a primary school, which came to fruition in 2002 when Motueka Steiner School opened on Tudor St before moving to High St two years later. In 2015, Robinson Rd farmland in Lower Moutere was purchased for an integrated facility so both institutions could be closer together. It opened in 2021, and 31 kindergartners and 100 school pupils are currently enrolled.
Celebrations to mark the 40th anniversary were held at the school grounds on 5 June with preschoolers, students and staff, and a second celebration was held at the Riverside Hall on 8 June for parents, and former staff and preschoolers.
Avril says she also coordinated a book for the occasion, titled, Growing a School, which tells the different stories of those who had been involved in Motueka’s Steiner education.
“I felt that these early parents planted a tiny seed which slowly grew, and it’s looking pretty good now.”
