Celebrating 25 Years
25 years is a major milestone in the Erasmus School history. Throughout the year we will share stories, photos and events to celebrate this moment in our Erasmus story..
The Beginning…
Erasmus School opened its doors on Monday, February 5 1996. It all started when several parents from the School of Philosophy realised that their children needed to develop wisdom if they were going to have the best chance of happiness in their lives. They saw that the children’s primary education was about establishing the foundations – the ‘primary’ elements that lead to good character, care for others, and the development of the principal virtues within.
Where does the school get its name?
Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam was one of Europe’s most famous and influential scholars. A man of great intellect who rose from meagre beginnings to become one of Europe’s greatest thinkers, he defined the humanist movement in Northern Europe. His translation to Greek of the New Testament brought on a theological revolution, and his views on the Reformation tempered its more radical elements.
Artist of the week – An outstanding observation of Mr MacLaren – Year Prep student
A brief look into Leon MacLaren, recognised founder of the school.
Leon MacLaren was born in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1910. His father Andrew MacLaren was a Member of Parliament and taught his son from a young age to value truth and justice. Leon trained as a barrister and was admitted to the Bar in 1938.
He believed natural law and universal principles were paramount and that the best way to share his knowledge, thinking and practice was to start a school of philosophy for adults, which he did during World War II in London. He subsequently founded a number of schools for adults around the world, which were flooded with enthusiastic students, each decade seeing interest and numbers growing.
Over the years, Mr MacLaren met great thinkers, educators and spiritual teachers from Britain, Europe and the East. He and his students were challenged and inspired by the commonality of principles and theories shared by East and West. He constantly challenged his adult students to transcend their limitations, to lay aside their ideas and opinions, and to search for and apply natural law and universal principles. In the mid-1960s Mr MacLaren met Sri Shantananda Sarasvati who taught him about Vedantic knowledge and meditation as practised in India. By combining study and meditation, Mr MacLaren realised that a student could move from theory to deep understanding. Sri Shantananda Sarasvati and Mr MacLaren met regularly over a period of thirty years, during which time much knowledge was communicated about education.
Mr MacLaren dedicated his working life to exploring a broad range of subjects including philosophy, economics, law, calligraphy, education, science, art, architecture, language, renaissance music, theatre and dance. Many of the adult schools which he founded have gone on to establish day schools for children. Subjects offered today for adults and children continue to emphasise, magnify and instil a love of fineness and purity of both mind and action.
We are so excited that tickets for our much-anticipated Dr Craig Hassed talk are now available through TryBooking!
Grab your tickets and spread the word to family and friends.
Event details:
How often are you fully present in the moment? Do you find parenting challenging with modern day distractions? How often are you truly connecting with those around you?Erasmus Primary school is hosting a talk exploring these challenges and providing practical tools to support a more mindful and present life. Join Dr Craig Hassed OAM and examine why “…the true scarce commodity is increasingly human attention” and what we can do about it – for our children and ourselves.
Dr Craig Hassed is an internationally recognised mindfulness expert. He has been working within the Faculty of Medicine at Monash University since 1989. He developed andintegrated the world-first mindfulness-based healthy lifestyle course into the Monash medical curriculum, has authored over 100 peer reviewed papers and was the founding president of Meditation Australia.
Erasmus Primary School Tuesday 30 March 2021, 7.00–8.30pm Refreshments & conversation post talk Tickets on sale from 2 March 2021 via trybooking.com/BOZOI
Erasmus Primary School opened its doors on Monday, February 5, 1996. Here are the first teachers, at the school, in its first year.
In Term 2 Week 6 of 2021, we celebrated the retirement of one of the first and finest teachers; the wonderful, creative and ever wise, Mrs Karen Jorgensen-Lade.
I can’t believe that I’ve spent the last 25 years teaching at Erasmus. Time has moved like a flash of lightning. What an incredibly blessed journey I’ve had.
The beginning of my journey began when I first heard the whisper that The School of Philosophy was starting up a day school. That was when I decided (or rather this was more of a calling) that I was going to teach Art at this new school. How this was going to transpire I had no idea, I trusted that it would, and it must have been completely right for it fell into place beautifully.
25 years down the track I can say that I have had the most excellent privilege of teaching many children art and working alongside exemplary teachers and guides for which I am absolutely indebted to. Through them and with years of self work I have discovered that teaching children art comes with great responsibility. It’s not just about teaching new information, techniques, or getting good results, it’s about unconditional love for the students and acceptance of whatever they are able to create. I don’t consider teaching Art as work, it is an act of love and Erasmus has been the perfect environment for this love to flourish.
It is rare in this day and age to be able to connect spiritually with children, and is effortless when the teacher and the child are working with love. If I ask a child to put love into their work they understand what I am asking.
I cherish the recitation of Sanskrit prayers and the pause at the beginning of each lesson, as this is where the stillness emerges. This is an excellent place to start a lesson
I love the way the children trust my judgement, I can present them anything, and at times it may seem to be way beyond their ability but they rise up to meet the challenge with no limitations, this is so heartwarming.
Talking about heart warming, I can’t count the number of times the heart has melted in all the years I have spent at Erasmus, these special moments are precious and will be treasured as they are imprinted on my heart.
I am grateful that my work at Erasmus hasn’t been empty of purpose. I count my blessings that I have had the most extraordinary career and met extraordinary souls along the way.
And now that my life will be exempt from public haunt, it is time to find tongues in trees, books in running brooks, Sermons in stones, and good in everything.
A deep bow to Mr. Maclaren for his dedication to the truth and Mr.Jepsen for his continual love & support of Erasmus.
Karen Jorgesen-Lade - Art Teacher at Erasmus from 1996-2021
Erasmus Primary School is thrilled to be hosting Hugh Mackay, in person, to launch his latest book. Leave your desk and screen behind, and join us for a memorable night out with friends!
Absorbing, wise and inspiring, The Kindness Revolution captures the essence of Mackay’s life’s work as social psychologist and researcher. Written for our times, this truly remarkable book shows how crises and catastrophes often turn out to be the making of us and explains why radical kindness is the key to healing. To quote from the book’s opening chapter: ‘To be kind – always and to everyone – is to be fully, gloriously human, and every act of kindness is one more step towards a better society.’
Copies of The Kindness Revolution, The Inner Self, Beyond Belief and The Good Life will be available for purchase and signing on the night.
Hugh Mackay is a social psychologist, and the author of twenty-two books covering: social analysis, psychology, communication and ethics. He has had a sixty-year career in social research and was also a weekly newspaper columnist for twenty-five years. He is a Fellow of the Australian Psychological Society and of the Royal Society of New South Wales and has been awarded honorary doctorates by five Australian universities. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2015 and is currently an honorary professor in the Research School of Psychology at the Australian National University. He lives in Canberra.
An Erasmus Free Event Friday 14 May 2021, 7.30–8.30pm Book signing, refreshments & conversation post talk Reserve your seat via trybooking.com/BQJAY
Erasmus was recently fortunate to have a visit from Hugh Mackay to discuss his latest publication, The Kindness Revolution.
While Mackay has a grand call to action, his message is based on the practical expressions of kindness; how we relate to one another, to those we know and importantly, to those we do not know. Mackay reminds us that our capacity for kindness to strangers is at the very heart of our humanity.
A year filled with Bushfires and the pandemic is Mackay’s muse, he weaves through many examples of kindness; the rejuvenation of the neighbourhoods, people reaching out despite distances and the many individual sacrifices made for the greater good. The sudden increased expressions of kindness don’t have to be fleeting, Mackay proposes that instead of being the “lucky” country, we strive to become the loving country.
To harness the momentum of kindness, Mackay has created a practical C-A-R-E model; Connect to each person you interact with, Accept your fellow humans as they are regardless of the differences, Respect should always be exchanged because of our interconnectedness, it cannot be given selectively, Engage with your neighbourhood and your communities.
Ultimately Mackay’s message is optimistic; if we all choose kindness, we can create the country we want and need. The substantial attendance of attentive listeners on a very cold Friday night was itself an expression of hope for a kinder world.
Thank you to one of the attendees for this eloquent review, and thanks to all who ventured out last Friday night, making this another wonderful event as part of our 25 year celebrations.
I moved to Melbourne for the second time in 1996. My partner lived here and was trying to entice me to stay. He suggested a Philosophy course which was advertised in the weekend papers (back when they were a thing!).
I thought I would be learning about, and studying famous philosophies, and philosophers; but it was learning about myself. I met interesting people, it was in the city and there were bars and restaurants to explore!
I continued classes for 12 years and will be forever grateful for the wisdom of the teachings I received. During this time, I became a mother. I had heard of the Erasmus school at my philosophy classes. My husband, David, and I, attended a school tour with the then principal, Mr Tickner. I was interested in making a thorough examination of all available schools but after the tour my husband said, "Why would you look anywhere else?"
My eldest son Tanum, started in 2003. My youngest, Vasunta, was a 6-month-old baby at the time. I pledged in the kitchen from the beginning, where Vasunta started in a pouch on my front and graduated to a backpack. (Not sure what the council would say about that now?!). David was able to commit to a fortnightly stint in the kitchen which he really enjoyed. We met so many beautiful families and two of the mothers are still my best friends now, I see them at least once a week. Erasmus is a generous, sharing, and incredibly supportive community.
Vasunta always knew he was coming to Erasmus. He would learn some of Tanum’s recitations and impress Miss Pope, (Tanum’s teacher from Yr. 1 to Yr. 4) with them! He began at Erasmus in 2007 and during his time at school I took on the role I have now, of Kitchen Manager.
I struggled with finding a high school which was anything like Erasmus. Both our boys changed from the schools which we had chosen for them; Tanum knew he wanted to go to Melbourne High School from Yr. 9, and Vasunta followed. I had never heard of it but they both thrived there. Erasmus gave them a good education and a very firm grounding in life skills. They are both independent, loving and know what they want. They have both struggled at different times, but I trust them and rest in the knowledge that they are well equipped for the journey ahead.
Wendy Rundle - Kitchen Manager
Can education lead to freedom and happiness for the individual and for society? Plato would say most definitely ‘Yes!’
Which is better? To be taught what to think? Or to be taught how to think? To cultivate the ego? Or to cultivate truth and virtue within the soul? From childhood through to old age, human beings have the capacity to learn, to enquire, to examine fixed ideas and to grow, all the while leading a cultured and refined life.
On Saturday 31 July 2021 at 1:00pm to 5:00pm
Registration: trybooking.com/BSKJL
In celebration of our 25th anniversary year, Erasmus Primary School has great pleasure in announcing the publication of a very beautiful Australian indigenous picture storybook – The Sun Goddess Brings Life to the World – a collaboration of our Philosophy and Art Departments. Students from Yrs 3 – 6 in 2020 created all the artwork to go with this ancient aboriginal creation story, appealing especially to the younger classes. It is stunning. Truly a collector’s item!
Publication of a second indigenous storybook is coming sometime in the next few months, entitled The Blue Fish and the Moon.