Kia ora koutou,

My journey with Raphael House began way back in 1981 and what an amazing journey it has been.

Initially I didn’t read the books by Rudolf Steiner, just trusted the words of my dear sister Helen Williamson who said, “this is great stuff”. I’m not sure how she knew, certainly not from ploughing her way through Steiner’s lecturers!

Through my whanau, Steiner’s philosophy and Raphael House became entwined into my being. I watched the young of the Williamson and Orme families grow and shine, with one or two bumps along the way.

When my own babies were ready to go to school, I was then a trained teacher and it seemed a natural progression to join the staff. Originally, I worked in learning support with Gail, a dedicated teacher, who served many years supporting those that needed it most. Then I moved to our sister school Te Ra as a class teacher for five years, journeying with a wonderful group of tamariki who taught me much and challenged me to grow.

I became fascinated and inspired by the Steiner Curriculum and its intrinsic links that played out in front of me, especially Rudolf Steiner’s stages of developmental insights. The seed was planted to know more. This learning, I came to understand, was impossible unless experienced alongside the on-going challenges of my own personal growth. I developed the courage to jump off a few cliffs and through those leaps the realization dawned, that I needed to nurture my own humility.

In 2015 I came back to Raphael House kindergarten. From 13-year-olds at Te Ra to 4 and 5-year old’s here… Steiner said somewhere that all teachers should experience working in kindergarten. It sure does lay your bones bare and, if you’re lucky, all at the same time sprinkles them in gold.

I am deeply grateful for many opportunities for teaching growth brought to me by our tamariki and also grateful, for similar opportunities as a parent, as my own children, Finnbarr and Mahina journeyed through their school years. Just wish I knew then what I know now, ha ha!

In the last little while my mantra has become ‘feel the fear and do it anyway’. So here I am digging up my roots from the last 20 years and moving to Byron Bay where I will be working once again in learning support, something I have felt calling me back.

I leave you with this wee gem - I’ve heard it more than once from a wise person and I strive to remember it:

‘Thou shall not judge others’

A simple philosophy but not easy to hold to. Time and time again I’m reminded that we all make mistakes, and we are all doing our very best with what we have in the moment. Unconditional acceptance is a taonga for us all.

Anyway, I’m off now. If you happen to find yourself at the gates of Cape Byron Steiner School come and say hello!

With much aroha,

Trudi