Chairpersons Newsletter_June2023

Chairpersons Newsletter

Dear Parents

What a joyful year it has been so far. We  have now moved through term 1 and 2 with ease and its time for our children to enjoy a holiday break.

The board of managers has been hard at work to create a more streamlined flow of information and a big focus has been placed on the Imhoff Waldorf Website to bring it up to date in terms of technology updates as well as updating of information as more and more prospective parents are reverting to gathering of information about our school via online channels.  See the updated look and feel here: www.imhoffwaldorf.org. We are still in the process with updating of photographs and news sections which as you can imagine does take some time to populate.

You may also have noticed more Facebook postings and a drive to hold more open days during school hours so that prospective parents can get a good sense of the schools’ inner workings and see the teachers in action, an area that we pride ourselves in, the depth and width of knowledge and the way the curriculum is shared with students. If you are not yet following our social media channels you can do so here: www.facebook.com/imhoffwaldorf and https://www.instagram.com/imhoff_waldorf_school

Imhoff Waldorf is truly a unique Waldorf School and I felt it important to highlight this aspect to you today so that you can share our vision for the future and understand why we are so passionate to increase our numbers.

Our sponsorship program is one of the most significant and life changing aspects of our school as we offer children from our local communities the opportunity to attend the school at a reduced or sponsored cost where they can receive a world-class education. These children are able to become valuable and contributing members of society based on their development at a Waldorf School. Our school currently operates on a ratio of paying to sponsored children and have managed to maintain a consistent average of 20% of our students coming in as sponsored children. We have had over 60 children coming through our classrooms who would never normally have the means to attend a school such as Imhoff Waldorf. We are at the maximum level at which we can sustain sponsorships without detriment to the cash flow situation of the school. Currently sponsorships and donations towards this program has waned since the worldwide pandemic and current economic upheaval both abroad and here in South Africa.

We have been receiving funds from private donors and De Freunde in Germany and are enormously grateful for the flow of support for our sponsored children. We have created a new portal to be able to receive donations and sponsorship to further support the program and to help us make up the reduced sponsorship income we have been experiencing since 2020.

We invite you to share this portal with anyone you feel will have the heart and resonance to support this worthy Imhoff Waldorf endeavour. Simply follow this link to take you to our new online store (yes a shop in the making which is also exciting!) and the donations section here:  https://www.imhoffwaldorf.org/shop/

As our school grows, so does our capacity to take on more sponsored children. Grow school grow, so that our children benefit from the diversity, culture and joy that our wonderful blend of children can bring to each other.

Kind regards

Liza King

Chairperson of The Board of Managers

Imhoff Waldorf School Director