Ghilgai School

Ghilgai School, at the foot of the Dandenong Ranges in the outer eastern suburbs of Melbourne, provides Rudolf Steiner education for children from playgroups through to Class 6. The school’s secluded bush setting is a sanctuary for childhood.

Ghilgai Steiner School reflects the values of Steiner Education. We endeavour to educate the children holistically via a balanced curriculum in a safe and nurturing environment, one which fosters clarity in thinking, depth in feeling and strength of will, so that as adults they will be able to contribute to society as creative, ethical and responsible citizens.

At Ghilgai, we strive to build confidence, initiative and responsibility, seeking to maintain a balance between the growth of the individual and that of the group entity. We actively work towards an accepting and compassionate community which is founded on an harmonious union between school and home.

The Main Lesson forms the core of each day. It is here that Literacy and Numeracy are taught in a rich and deep way, utilizing the first one and a half hours of the day when the children are fresh and alert. The Main Lesson Book that is developed during the block becomes a treasured record of each child’s journey to wondrous lands of learning. The Main Lesson Blocks rotate and gradually, across the school years, new strands are added.

It is the class teacher who daily quickens in the children the joy of learning; he/she moves up with the class and leads them on year by year in the Main Lesson Blocks to ever expanding worlds of discovery. The class teacher has thus a strong ongoing relationship with each student and his/her family. Specialist teachers in Music, Physical Education, Craft and Eurythmy complement and enrich the child’s school week. For more detailed information about Steiner Education at Ghilgai click

1. Solid Foundations: The Kindergarten and Foundation Year Experience
2. Expanding Worlds: via the Main Lesson Block
3. A closer look at Literacy, Numeracy and the Sciences

The curriculum framework given by Rudolf Steiner matches the unfolding development of the child stage by stage and gives him/her time to grow within each stage in order to provide surety for the next. It addresses the head, heart and hands and nourishes the whole person. Artistic and intellectual work complement and enrich each other, many themes are worked in an integrated way. Foundations are solid, broad and deep; strands emerge gradually.