BEGA’S Mumbulla School for Rudolf Steiner Education has been ranked as the fourth leading primary school in NSW, based on results recently published on the federal Government’s My School website.
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The ranking takes into account students’ performance in Year 5 National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAP-LAN) testing and is a clear indication that the school’s alternative approach to education is working.
Mumbulla’s educational administrator Mahamati said while national testing was just one tool for measuring student growth, the school was happy with the results.
“These are pleasing results, but as a Steiner school we do not place a great emphasis on the assessment from NAPLAN.
“We feel that national testing is not an adequate representation of how our children are doing, choosing to concentrate instead on the overall development of each child.
“However, these results do indicate that while our curriculum is delivered at a different pace, by Year 5 our students have caught up with their peers in other mainstream schools.”
Mahamati said the school attributed much of its NAPLAN success to strong parental support and a “low-tech approach” to schooling.
“We have perhaps an old-fashioned approach to teaching, placing great importance on the development of human relationships first.
“In the early years, we offer strong foundational work including an emphasis on oral language and pre-literacy skills rather than computer skills.”
Year 5 teacher Karin Champagne said the school believed in the “age-appropriate” introduction of computers.
“We know that 99 per cent of our students use computers at home, and we certainly don’t discourage that, but computers are not a focus at school in the younger years.
“In the younger grades we try to hold dear what childhood is: concentrating on goodness and encouraging a sense of wonder and awe about what human beings can do.
“By the time our students use computers regularly, they feel comfortable working on them in groups and they know that computers are one of a range of tools that we can use to help humanity.”
Ms Champagne said the different pacing of education was one of the reasons Mumbulla students did not sit NAPLAN tests in Year 3, but these recent results showed how quickly students in Years 4 and 5 could develop academic skills.
“Our Year 5 students pick up computer skills extremely quickly.
“Also, we don’t focus on measurement or time until the middle years, but by this time the children are able to gain a deeper understanding of these concepts and their limitations.
“These NAPLAN results show that we are fulfilling the requirements of the Board of Studies while preparing our students to interact as humans in the world.”
