Gold Coast mother Sarah Richards sets up Evergreen Steiner School at historical Beechmont school pending planning approval by Scenic Rim Council
A new Steiner school is due to open on the Gold Coast offering an alternative to mainstream schooling. EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW >>>
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A NEW Steiner school is due to open on the Gold Coast in 2022 after a mother of three decided to “be the change rather than wait for the education system to change”.
After stumbling upon the old, unused and historic school at Beechmont, Tallai teacher Sarah Richards said she set out on a mission to create a school that “truly nurtures the kingdom of childhood”.
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Due to open in 2022 for students from prep to year 3, Evergreen Steiner School is planned to be located in the hinterland suburb of Beechmont, with enrolments during the first year likely to be capped at 20.
“In a fast-paced world that at times can feel like a busy blur, Evergreen Steiner School is preparing to offer students an unhurried, nurturing, creative approach to learning,” said the 35-year-old.
“While is approach is by now means new, it is literally a much needed breath of fresh air for families of the Gold Coast and Scenic Rim communities.”
A teacher of 10 years before she had her children, aged 2, 4 and 7, Ms Richards said after her eldest started prep at a non-Steiner school she realised there were “limitations” within the traditional schooling system.
“Using my teaching background and love for children I wanted to open a school that was genuinely made for children, so the focus is on the children not the school,” she said.
Families from as far away as Bryon Bay have expressed interested at moving to the Gold Coast to attend.
“It’s an incredible spot, and while the planning permissions are still going through the Scenic Rim Council, the owners of the site, I’m also working with some key stakeholders in the area,” she said.
“I found the school one day as I was driving and searching for a venue, I knew one of the main hurdles with a new school is a venue because they can be extremely expensive.
“But it’s not often you come across a school that’s been sitting there unused for 20 years.”
Built in the 1930s, the school’s headmasters quarters is transformed into The Headmasters Cafe on the weekends but the rest of the school’s building remains unused.
With only two classrooms, Ms Richards said as Evergreen grew to a prep to year 12 school, she would search for land nearby to build an upper primary and senior school campus.
“We’ve had a lot of expressions of interest and we know already that we can’t enrol everybody, so the plan is to limit our first year to about 20 students. But we plan to be as inclusive as possible.”
Ms Richards said as a new independent school, it didn’t receive any form of government funding and could not apply for grants until midway through 2022.
“We believe we can keep individual student school fees under $1000 per school term and will be doing our very best to provide this independent schooling opportunity at the lowest cost
possible,” she said.
“However, we believe that you can’t place a price on a child’s education. To see the change in education, we have to become the change. For our children.”
Ms Richards said she knew Evergreen would be “swamped” because the closest Steiner schools to the Gold Coast were in Byron Bay and north Brisbane.
“Our initial hope is to reduce our carbon footprint by offering a commuter van service, to provide ease of transport for families from areas such as Gilston, Nerang and Lower Beechmont.”
Already local teachers, artists and those who believe in the school’s ethos have volunteered to help run the school, with Ms Richards likely to also teach but focus on growing and developing the school.
“Now that it’s happening I feel a sense of combined relief and hope and excitement because I’ve been wanting this to happen for the sake of my children's childhood and for the sake of Gold Coast families who deserve the opportunity to embrace a Steiner school and that type of education.
“It feel like everything I’ve done in my adult life has been building towards this, I’m just loving it.”
Ms Richards said the entire Beechmont community would benefit from the school, with lease fees going towards helping to further maintain and restore the historical buildings.
Evergreen Steiner School’s open day is on August 7 at 2pm for families interested in learning more, the chairperson of Steiner Education Australia Chris Jack will speak at the information session. The address is 1835 Beechmont Road.
For details visit evergreenSteinerSchool.org or email info@evergreenschool.com.au. The school also has social media accounts, @evergreensteinerschool
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