Willunga Waldorf School

We had an awful experience with Willunga Waldorf school. We were applying mid-year and were repeatedly told they would likely have space for our 2 kids but they refused to commit to whether or not they had space until we submitted applications and paid the fee. Once we paid the application fees the school completely stopped responding to us and we never heard from them again. It very much felt like they led us on to get our money. Ultimately we found an honest school that's much better fit for our family.

As a parent of two children going to this school I highly recommend it. We started our journey here with playgroup and are now up to year 6 with another child in year 1. The teachers are all warm and caring and the curriculum seems to suit our kids very well (both ASD and ADHD). There is excellent support for them also. When we were having family issues once the class banded together and made meals for us as they did when we had our second child so the community spirit is amazing. Now my only few gripes. The car park is muddy in winter and dusty in summer being unsealed. Also many of the parents can't understand what one way means or indeed park within an allocated spot. That however is not a reflection on the school. Overall I love this school and could not see my kids going anywhere else. We have regular camps out of school with other families and it's such a welcoming group.

Its a small school, the teachers are nice and have a good relationship with the students. The work is pretty easy, with not much homework, however they are highly limited in resources for anything science or technology related. Students are not required to bring their own laptop, however there are never enough laptops available for use by more than 2 classes at once. Music is a big part of the school, and in the primary and middle school, you are required to play an instrument. In the high-school, there is an optional "orchestra" you can join, but it only has about 10-20 people in it and is ran outside of school hours. In the high school, all the classes gather in the main hall each day for "morning circle" where you are required to sing songs for 15 minutes. If you are even so much as 1 minute late, you have to wait outside for morning circle to finish, often in the freezing cold during winter or the heat in the summer. Despite he heavy music focus with frequent performances and community events, they are highly under-resourced with any recording and audio-visual equipment, and the teachers are not tech savvy at all. If you like art, they have lots of art resources available. The student population is not very diverse, but that probably says more about the surrounding area than the school itself. The carpark is confusing and very poorly designed. It's not sealed, so there are potholes everywhere and mud pits in the winter where you are at risk of getting bogged if you don't have a 4x4. This as been an ongoing problem that they refuse to fix, despite having a fairly simple solution. Don't be surprised to find that a lot of the teachers and parents are antivaxxer, anti-5G, anti-technology conspiracy theorists. Some of the teachers post absolutely ridiculous claims about this stuff on social media outside of school. There is a canteen meal every Tuesday and for just 6 bucks, you get a great meal. There used to be canteen on Wednesdays too, but the great exodus of all the antivaxxer teachers has brought this to an end due to South Australia's vaccine mandate laws, resulting in the main cook leaving and not enough volunteers interested to help. Every class has 2 compulsory camps each year, usually lasting 7 days. The longest one is in year 11 and goes for 12. You will get to go to some amazing places around South Australia, often several hours up north in the Flinders and Gammon ranges. For me, the camps are one of the best things about the school. Often, the camps require a fair bit of walking and hiking so if you are not in good shape or don't have the right gear, they may be challenging. Unfortunately, stuff like tents, sleeping bags, etc. aren't usually supplied, and often some meals are required that you bring yourself. The school doesn't have very good security and vandalism from randos outside of school hours is common, so if you don't bring a lock for your locker, don't put any valubles in your it as they will get rifled through by during the weekends and holidays. Overall, if you are interested in music and the arts, this school could be for you. They have a broad-based curriculum, so you don't really get to focus on subjects you are passionate about like other schools. The fees are quite expensive and it's surprising to see how under-resourced some areas are, despite these high fees.

It’s a good school , a bit loose on rules and very music oriented but all in all a great school