The Principal's Report
YEAR 6 CAMP
I had the pleasure of spending some time with Year 6 at The Great Aussie Bush Camp this week. They were super excited when leaving on Monday and engaged in a full day of physical activity when they arrived at camp. Day 1 on Monday was high ropes, canoeing and trivia night; where students challenged their comfort zone by doing things they may not have tried previously and encouraged each other when the going got tough. There were some funny moments in there too, where they needed to build their team skills to manage different tasks. Tuesday’s activities were raft building, archery, a rainforest walk, sand dunes and a movie night. Wednesday saw students completing crate climb, fencing, giant swing, lost island and night time commando. Finally on Thursday, students packed up ready for the dual flying fox and bushcraft. It was a massive week of fun, activity and challenges with great camp leaders who expertly managed tasks with students and promoted safe fun in the physical challenges. No doubt students were early to bed last night and ready to share lots of great stories with families and friends. Thank you to the Year 6 staff for their organisation beforehand, made possible by the fantastic venue. A big thank you to Laura Hatherly, Kate Mitchell, Holly Hough, Jeannine Ucdereli, Elise Howard and Tarran Marr-Harris for giving up personal and family time to be with our students for this experience. It was enjoyed by all and we hope you enjoy the photos and camp quotes in our #Yr6leaders article of this newsletter.
GLASSHOUSE PERFORMANCE
Our performance is quickly approaching …. only 3 weeks to go! Practices at school continue and we remind families to please carefully check the note that went home for requirements on costumes and props.
We have had some enquiries around securing tickets for the shows, especially as the evening show is highly sought after and tickets sold quickly. Based on feedback from parents, carers and students after our Glasshouse concert last year, we are holding two performances this year in an effort to give all of our families an opportunity to see the concert.
All tickets are purchased directly through The Glasshouse. There are currently tickets still available for the matinee performance. Families who are unable to attend that time slot and missed out on tickets for the evening performance have been advised to contact The Glasshouse Box Office on 6581 8888 to place your name on a waiting list. You will need to also leave a contact number and the number of tickets you hope to obtain. If you find you have tickets you don't require after all for either performance, please contact the Glasshouse Box Office for a refund. They will then be able to on sell these to people on the waiting list.
COLOUR RUN
Now there is only 1 week to go until our Colour Run on 6th September! We are in need of volunteers to set up the obstacle course on the afternoon before and support the organisation on the day. Please register your availabilty via this link https://forms.gle/PUt3yMK82MKsfFqd8 or contact the office Aunties by Tuesday for organisational purposes. Thank you to the parents who have aleady started helping out.
We are pleased to let you know that our aim in raising funds is to purchase new shade tents for our sports houses to be used at school events. Our goal is $12,000 for these resources, help us reach it!
GROWING MINDS GARDEN WORKING BEE
What a beautiful day we were gifted with on Saturday for the work on our Food Forest to commence. Mrs Shannon Kelly has been working for quite some time on the planning and organisation for the garden area, over many hours of her own time. We acknowledge Shannon’s commitment (and that of her family who supported the work leading up to and on the day), as well as the support and creation of the ideas for the space by Lauren O'Reilly from Free Range Change. The Sustainability Team and all of the helpers on the day brought the plans to reality and we are so excited with this achievement. Thank you to all of the staff, parents, children, grandparents and friends who came along to assist us on the day. It will continue to grow as we add to and nurture the area, which currently requires it to be fenced off for a few more weeks. Please feel free to look from the steps of the library building but we ask you not to move into the space until the fencing is removed.
SOCIAL MEDIA and GAMING WORRIES - What can you do?
As you will have read throughout the year, Social Media and Online Gaming are areas of concern for parents and schools, with many children being involved in these with their friends. They can be fun when used correctly, but can turn into sources of negativity when used without supervision. You don’t need to look far to find stories and comments around the negative impact that these can have on children, especially through messaging. We have also experienced times when students are using these away from school, but bring the problems and disagreements to school, which impacts on learning and socialising.
Police Liaison Officer Constable Wendy Hudson visited in Week 4 and was very clear with our students that from the age of 10 there are serious consequences for using the internet in any way as an avenue for intimidating, bullying and harassment. This can be from one nasty comment to a series of taunts designed to upset someone. This shocked our students but unfortunately Constable Wendy was not shocked with how many children in Primary school have social media and gaming accounts which are mostly rated at 13 years and above. As easy as it is for children to sign up, unfortunately, they are not ready for the responsibility.
The only way to truly keep children away from experiencing negative impacts from these online platforms is to not use it until they are ready for the responsibility. Up until the age of 18, parents are responsible for keeping track of their use and when finding things that are of concern, acting on it responsibly. If you find yourself faced with something that concerns you online enough to tell someone, you should report it to the police. Schools are not responsible for what students do at home and parents are accountable to their child’s behaviour and use of their accounts.
Tess Koning
Principal