The students are becoming accustomed to a whole new way of learning in Secondary School, with new teachers and sometimes new peers. It is a time of great transformation as they grapple with changing and developing mindsets and maturing bodies. It is a time that requires courage and a willingness to venture forth and try new things. In response, the students engage in lessons detailing the rigorous training of chivalrous knights, and the journeys of intrepid explorers. These lessons culminate in a Medieval Banquet complete with dances and food from the era. Camps explore areas of local beauty and encourage students to surpass their own expectations. Maths and sciences engage the students with activities that get them to observe and quantify the world around them.

Traditionally the year students turned 14 was important, as it was a time when apprenticeships began. And it’s important to mark this time with a number of milestones and challenges to overcome in the student’s journey towards adulthood. It is also a time of grappling with concepts of self-identity. In response to these inner developments, the curriculum offers the students the chance to perform in a Shakespearean production, -working as a team to achieve something that can seem quite daunting from the outset. Another such milestone is the Independent Project where students are encouraged to pursue an interest they are passionate about and then share the fruits of that activity with their peers and the whole school.

As their capacities for greater abstract reasoning continue to develop, so too do the academic rigours of the curriculum. With mathematics beginning to look at 3-dimensional geometry. Whilst in the humanities, concepts such as the Industrial Revolution and Imperialism are pursued.

Is a time of great energy, strong emotions and strong opinions. In response to this students are presented with the world in a plethora of different ways. The students engage in a number of camps to be out in the natural world. Students also take part in a Farming and Industry Intensive to see the myriad of ways that primary resources are farmed and processed in their local environment. Complex concepts such as the refugee crisis are explored and examined with visits from asylum seekers, and questions of morality, freedom, justice and equality are studied through the lens of 20th Century History. It is a time of profound change and dramatic upheaval.

Class 10 is the final year at Tarremah. As such it is a time when the students, -now well and truly moving towards young adulthood, take on the role of leaders in the school. Class 10 takes on a number of leadership initiatives, hosting school dances and raising funds, as well as preparing for their move to Senior College. It is a time when self-identity is more fully developed. The students officially bid their childhoods farewell as they consider their time at Tarremah and reflect on their years in the Early Childhood Center, the Primary School, and the Secondary School. They also begin to imagine their new life in College after their graduation. It is a time of summing up and revisiting old content, but now with the sophistication and academic prowess that their growing maturity has allowed.

As children get older, parents want to know if their child will be prepared for the future beyond Tarremah. We believe the best preparation educators can give adolescents for the adult world, is to teach them to become keen learners with a strong sense of curiosity and self-awareness, able to take their place in the times in which they currently live.

Our students on completing their ten years of education at Tarremah, continue their education at a Senior College of their choosing. Hobart College has even created a Steiner-Inspired Home Group for Year 11 and 12 students.  Alternatively, Sophia Mundi Steiner School in Melbourne have scholarships for students who may wish to continue their Steiner education.

There are a number of opportunities for alumni students to still participate in the Tarremah community, whether it is special talks and events for alumni students, or the opportunity to participate in school festivals, fairs and volunteering opportunities.