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In the mid 1980s, 52 acres of farm and rainforest land was purchased by a group of like-minded individuals keen to establish a community housing cooperative. The yellow house, current classroom to our Lillypilly (Yr 1) class, is the original farmhouse and communal living space that was fondly referred to as the “pink house”.
Initially the land was known as the Maleny Land Community and a number of the original shareholders still reside on the community land above the School, now known as the Prout Community Settlement Cooperative. Many of the original residents identified as Ananda Marga, hence the Sanskrit name for the land – Ananda (bliss, happiness) Kamala (lotus).
Once the community of residents were settled they began thinking about schooling options for their children and possible service projects. Some Maleny locals had heard about the Ananda Marga community in their town and drawn by the Neohumanist philosophy of love and caring for all, decided to befriend their town’s newest residents.
It wasn’t long before the vision of creating a Neohumanist school as a service project on the land gathered momentum. A preschool run by Prabha (Pepa Demasson) was the first step towards a school. Often held at the creek, this preschool was attended by Ananda Marga children and other local families. It was these children that came up with the name The Wet and Wild River School that was later amended to the Ananda Marga River School.
In 1995, the 25 acres of land set aside for the school received the stamp of approval by the Department of Education. The school began with 23 students of mixed ages learning as one family in the little pink house. Dada Ratnaprakash (whom many knew as Dada Ratnadevananda) was appointed Principal in October 1995, and remained in that position until December 2010. Prabha was appointed Administrator and spent eighteen dedicated years, including three of those years in the Principal position, developing, nurturing and building the heart and love that is the River School. In mid 2013, Jenny Oakley took over the helm as Principal, and in 2017, Ann Donoghoe, a staff member of the River School since 1997, was appointed Principal.
The first River School teacher was Trudi Cauley who remembers “… the way everyone loved and cared for each other. All the children played and learned together. The younger children adored the older children. They would create games together, a favourite being a make-believe world in which they made up rules, teams and characters.”
Today that same magical sense of fun and love is captured in games at lunch times, buddy classes, service projects, yoga and meditation, the Arts and a dedicated staff team committed to achieving the objectives of the Australian Curriculum while creating a learning environment that ensures our young people are safe, happy and free to learn.
Over time the School has witnessed many changes as a result of its physical and social growth, however the one constant has been our commitment to Neohumanist Education.
“Neohumanism takes the inner spirit of humanism (love of humanity) and expands it to also embrace plants, animals and indeed the entire universe. Neohumanism recognises diversity but also emphasises the interconnectedness of all things. A Neohumanist education seeks to cultivate in children their already innate capacity for love and compassion. In the words of Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar who first propounded the philosophy and who founded a global network of Neohumanist schools:
“When the love of the human heart extends its embrace to the entire living and non-living worlds, this is Neohumanism.”
Today our beautiful River School and Early Childcare Centre is a thriving, loving community providing multi-dimensional learning to close to 200 young people and their families. We are grateful to the many adults, including our Dada’s and Didi’s, the children and events that have shaped and will continue to shape the River School way. It is with great enthusiasm we move into The River School future firmly wearing our Neohumanist lenses with the love and care that embodies the heart of our School.
