Gumnut Bulletin 6, 2024
Community Manager
Community News
Hello everyone,
It certainly has been a very active term and we have had many wonderful experiences for the students. As usual, book week did not disappoint and there were many creative costumes on parade. This led us into the Book Fair which was a successful event and raised some funds for us to purchase some new books for our library and classrooms.
Our inaugural Nadhua Spring Festival ran smoothly and from reports, the children loved doing all the activities, except for weeding!! This is another chance to instil into our children the importance of nurturing nature and guardianship of our land. Thank you to all the teachers for all your hard work prepping for the festival. The food was excellent and everyone was nourished in all ways, head, heart and hands.
The Open Day was a great success, we had many new families through the gate with prospective enrolments for the future. The rooms were beautifully presented and the work displayed was outstanding. A true picture of the learning that happens at our school and the depth that our curriculum goes. The maypole dance was perfect and our raffles were drawn. Thank you once again for all those that contributed to this.
Family Fun Day was also a great success, the spirit and sportsmanship between the children was fantastic, seriously I had tears welling up when I spy the older children helping the younger ones. This is what it is all about, we can learn a lot from children and their human spirit. The smiles, the display of jubilancy when someone wins, or the cheering for someone who is lagging getting bombarded with encouragement. It makes me proud to be a part of this community and these children’s lives.
Our llama for the Chapman Valley Show was a hit. This was a collaboration with the Class 1-6 students, who all had a turn at creating in some fashion. We still do not have a name for it, but as it is so bright and cheery, I’ve been told if you are feeling down, just go and give the llama a hug, it really can cheer you up. Thanks Brad (our incredible gardener).
Currently our Class 6 students from the Lighthouse room are on camp at the Charles Darwin Reserve, a Bush Heritage property. They are engaging in real-life, hands-on land management, conservation and environmental science work, whilst helping with the day to day running of the large property. Children will observe different ecosystems throughout the property, engage in some survival skills and cubby building! These visits foster a real relationship and connection with the land which is invaluable.
Every year we have a ‘Learning Journey’ in the last week Term 3. For our new families, this is a chance for parents to visit the classrooms and observe their children’s work and build connections with the class teacher and other parents. This is on Tuesday 17th September 5pm – 6.30pm. We hope to see you there.
Spring blessings
Lisa Scamporlino
Relief Community Manager
Starflower Kindergarten/Pre-primary
“Thankyou for the world so sweet,
Thankyou for the food we eat,
Thankyou for the birds that sing,
Thankyou Earth for everything.”
Dear Starflower families,
Term 3 is flying past us like the birds in our blessing and spring is definitely in the air. As we prepare for our early childhood Spring Festival, the Starflower children have been very busy harvesting goodies from the garden and cooking up some tasty treats to share with our parents on :-
Thursday 12th September, 10am-12 noon.
We have been squeezing lemons for lemonade and lemon curd tarts; chopping and slicing veges from the garden for tasty vegan sausage rolls; and creating some tasty spinach and cheese mini quiches! I feel hungry just writing about them all!
One small sadness this term has been saying goodbye to Bush Kindy for the year. As the warm weather approaches, our reptile friends enjoy playing in the bush too, so we have said farewell until next autumn and winter. Much fun has been had as we have immersed ourselves in Mother Nature, building cubbies; climbing trees; swinging on the log swing and in the hammock; collecting twigs and sticks to build the damper fire; and then eating tasty damper dripping with golden syrup.
It doesn’t get much better than that... but wait did I hear Beach Kindy calling us to the Drummond Cove seashore? I think there might be more fun awaiting the Starflower Kinders and Preppies in Term 4! Stay tuned for more about upcoming Beach Kindy excursions.
Warm Spring wishes to you all,
Kathy and Nina
Sunflower Room Class 1
“The wattle trees are blossoming too.
Beneath a sky of blue.
Birds so sweetly sing.
Through the garden they ring.”
The Sunflowers have been singing everyday rehearsing for our Spring Festival. They sing like little songbirds with a soft and gentle soothing sound. All around the wattle trees are flowering in our gardens. The grevilleas are blooming in shades of yellow, orange, pink and red. The hakeas are lifting their heads and growing taller each day. Spring is upon us, and the bees are buzzing. The Jilinbiri (Class 2) children treated us to an extra tasty Lunch Service this term. They cooked using the fresh produce straight from their edible garden a vegetable pasta dish that was delicious and a beautiful beetroot muffin. The Sunflowers and their teacher could not believe the colours, flavours and flowers on their plates.
Our Spring Festival was celebrated by making flower crowns, paper petal pinwheels and hammered flower petal cards. We played parachute games and watched the maypole dance with delight. Together we had a shared lunch of home-made or class-made pastries, quiches, sandwiches, cupcakes, scones, and lemonade. We listened to fairytales such as the Frog Prince and Queen Bee leading up to the festival. Sunflowers have also drawn some fabulous pictures; I am so proud of their creativity and increasing attention to detail.
We spotted our first snake for the season last week. This means bush play is no longer. Children will have a chance to clean-up and say farewell to their tree and cubby play until next year. We need to make sure our beautiful bush and woodland areas are looked after during the warmer weather. Sunflowers also spotted a baby bobtail while on the verandah of their classroom. Our school provides a wonderful habitat for our bushland friends. Sunflowers also witnessed a swarm of bees searching for a new hive. It is safe to say that Spring has Sprung in the Midwest. The wildflowers are in full bloom and loving all the light showers the rainbows bring.
Blessings of the season,
Susan
Jilinbiri Room Class 2
Dear Families,
The past four weeks in Jilinbiri have been incredibly busy and filled with exciting learning experiences!
In mathematics, we have embarked on our new main lesson focused on place value, where students are exploring its significance in understanding numbers. Our math activities have included skip counting and honing our multiplication skills, which are all progressing wonderfully!
In science, our gardening project continues to thrive as we maintain our garden and enjoy cooking with the beautiful produce we've grown. It has been a joy to see students connect with nature and learn about the importance of sustainability.
In HASS we’ve taken a fascinating journey into traditional Celtic culture. We have explored their clothing and lifestyles, particularly focusing on how they lived in yurts. As a hands-on activity, we are excited to be building our own yurt.
In celebration of Father’s Day, the students showcased their creativity by crafting their own baskets and designing badges. Their cleverness and ingenuity truly shone through!
Overall, it has been a fabulous four weeks filled with learning, creativity and fun! We are looking forward to more adventures and discoveries in the coming weeks.
Warm regards,
Leisl Forsyth and Ann Marie Widdison
Seabreeze Room Class 3
Seabreeze News
Spring is finally here, and our classroom has been buzzing with excitement and creativity!
Over the past two weeks, the children have been hard at work making special Father’s Day gifts and crafting clay sundials during our STEM lessons. They’ve also taken to the basketball court, drawing chalk number lines to tackle time problems, and even made delicious lemonade for our Spring Festival.
A highlight was the Open Day, where the Seabreeze children delighted everyone with their beautiful maypole dance. It was a truly wonderful sight!
Family Fun Day was another huge success, with stunning weather and plenty of fun for all.
Last week, we had an abundant harvest from our class garden and used it to cook a delicious, healthy pink soup. The children declared it "the best soup ever!"
The children have truly thrived under Ally’s guidance during her 10-week practicum in our class. Her energy and inspiration have breathed new life into our lessons, making the learning experience both exciting and memorable.
Here’s to more exciting times ahead this Spring!
Tara and Claire
Rivergum Room Class 4/5
Dear Parents,
We’ve had a fantastic time in class over the past few weeks, filled with exciting activities and meaningful learning experiences.
First, we celebrated the Spring Festival with lots of fun activities that brought smiles and joy to everyone. The highlight of the event (for us) was the delicious sandwiches the students made, thanks to the incredible support from our parent volunteers. A big thank you to those amazing parents who helped the students prepare, and a huge thank you to all the families who generously donated ingredients. Your contributions made this activity a delightful success! We also took some time to read and analyse The Root Children by Sibylle von Olfers, a perfect book to celebrate the arrival of Spring.
In our academic work, we’ve just wrapped up our Animal Main Lesson block. The students dived into researching and writing reports on Australian animals, producing some truly fabulous work. It was wonderful to see their enthusiasm and the knowledge they gained about our unique wildlife. In addition, they also explored their creative literacy side by writing diamond poems, which required them to follow a set pattern using a specific number of nouns, adjectives, and verbs.
Our gardening projects are also a source of pride and joy. The students’ garden plots are thriving, with their selection of veggies and flowering plants growing so well. Several students have already begun harvesting and are in the process of replanting, eagerly preparing for the warmer spring weather ahead. It’s inspiring to see their dedication and care for their little gardens.
During our Make and Do sessions, we continued working on our macramé projects and created a nature-based mini wall hanging for Father’s Day. The students also tried something a bit different—we used yarn to make plaited octopus crafts, which turned out seriously cute!
Thank you once again for your ongoing support and involvement in our classroom activities. It’s a pleasure to see how much the students benefit from our strong school community.
Warm regards
Kelly Commisso
Lighthouse Room Class 5/6
Spring greetings to all,
After our annual river walk, we launched into learning about Australia’s biodiversity and the threats to it. We have looked at how feral animals impact our plants and animals, as well as habitat loss from land clearing. Did you know that only 18% of natural vegetation is left in our region, with only 2% of that being protected?
We worked with our gardeners to plant native trees and shrubs to thicken up our border plantings, which ties in nicely to our learning. Year 6’s are also off to camp soon, to Charles Darwin Reserve an ex-station now managed for conservation by Bush Heritage.
We have been harvesting our garden produce, with a giant cauliflower being turned into delicious fried treats. We did more cooking for our spring festival, making spinach and ricotta rolls and carrot/ lentil pastry rolls. They were a great success!
Our class was lucky enough to host the Backroads Ambassador this term. Pro cyclist Tasman Nankervis came, with his bike, to talk to us about cycling and what it is like being an athlete. This was perfect timing, post- Olympics where we had heard a lot about athletes and their struggles to achieve goals.
In the images, you can see some more geometric constructions; a right angle spiral and string forms which they started in woodwork and completed in class.
Our math practice has moved back to number work, while our writing focus has been on persuasive texts. I hope students will apply these skills one day to become active citizens and change-makers in our world!
Lisa Keeffe
Voyager Room Class 7
Hi Voyager families!
We’re in the midst of a positive and eventful Term 3, with the Voyagers having recently immersed themselves in the diverse Indigenous cultures of Australia and around the globe. The students engaged in activities exploring traditional art forms, storytelling, and learning about the deep connection to land and community.
As we move forward, our focus will shift to human biology, where the Voyagers will dive into learning about the human body, its organ systems, and the amazing ways it functions. We’re excited to see the curiosity and enthusiasm continue as we explore these fascinating topics together.
Looking forward to the continued positive energy and growth in our vibrant Voyager class!
Warm regards,
David
Prospect Room Class 8/9
Newsletter: By Prospect class
The Prospect Class have provided an outlook on their time at LTSS in this Newsletter. I hope you enjoy what they have to say. Anita
On Friday the 30th of August we had our family fun day. We did several different activities, but my 3 favorite things were cross country, relays, and sprints. I have loved running and sports my whole life. We did the whole school tug- of- war, and that was fun. Unfortunately, we did not get to do the whole school relay but that is ok! I came first in a few things, cross country, and sprints, which I enjoyed. Overall, it was such a fun day, we all had a great time. But my favorite part about the day was dressing up and being able to just have fun all day. By Indiana
My favorite subjects this term would be Woodwork and PE. In Woodwork we made wooden race cars and three-pronged boomerangs. The reason why I like P.E is because we play a bunch of games, and we also get a break from schoolwork. By Deven
On Friday we had a family fun day, and it did live up the to its name. We all had a great time with all the fun activities, like the sack race and egg, and spoon race. Other fun activities we did were long jump, cross country, throws, relays, and sprints. It was such a fun day that I will never forget. By Kaylee
My favorite period is sport because you get to get out of the classroom and play with your mates. My second favorite is woodwork. I love to make stuff with my hands, and they are my two favorite subjects at school. By Lachlan
Family Fun Day- On Friday, our school held its annual sports day, (Aka family fun day). There was cross country, sprints and baton relays, tug of war, egg and spoon race, discus, javelin, shotput, sack race, leader ball, pass ball, and my favorite, long jump. Sports day is a great time for everyone to enjoy, because you can bring your family and friends, participate in fun activities, with loud music playing to set the mood. The day begins when year’s 1-9 gather on the limestone steps, and the 2 teams run separately around the basketball court to wave their colored flag and show off their costumes. Everyone breaks up into groups with years closest to them for the activities and rotate around to participate in all games! The events end at 12:30, and you have the choice to get picked up early or stay at school with your friends! By Emily
On Friday we had a fun family day, and it was so much fun! We did cross country I came second in everything because of Harry, he just beat me every time! Even though I did not win, I still had an amazing day trying to help my team win all the races. Even though we did not win in all the team games we still won some like the sack race and flags. Overall, it was an amazing day I cannot wait till next year. By Xavier
On Friday we had sports day, where we have half a day of just sports like long jump, 50m sprints, cross country, pass ball, leader ball, races, and throws. We did cross country first then we split up into groups. My group did leader ball and pass ball first, blue won for both games. After, we had egg and spoon race, flag races and sack races- where Red won. We had sprints of 50m, then we had a snack. We then got straight into long jump where a swarm of bees came. Then we went around the back of the middle of the school to do discus, shotput, and javelin. For the last activities we had tug of war. By Nevaeh
Family Fun Day- On Friday 30th August, Leaning Tree Steiner School had their Sports carnival for years 1-9. The sports team are split into two color groups red (kangaroos) and blue (emus). The day started off with cross country for year 1-6 they had 1 lap of the school and for the 7–9years they had 2 laps of the school. When the cross-country competitors came back the other year groups had made an archway with their arms for the runners to run to the finish line. The events included cross country, relay races, 100m sprints, throws (javelin, discus and shotput), long jump, pass ball, leader ball and at the end of the day the whole school had a tug of war against parents, teachers and the opposite sports group. My favorite event was probably the tug of war because of everyone joining in and cheering for each other. We also had some special visitors, bees, who suddenly appeared in a huge swarm and flew through the oval. By Ella
On Friday it was the family fun day, we started the day with cross country then separated into multiple groups. My group did leader ball and pass ball first, then we did the egg and spoon and sack race. We then had a snack and did all the relays. After we had recess, we did the long jump, we also got swarmed by some bees. Then we moved onto the throwing; we did tug of war which was lots of fun!
Leader Ball = blue 1 Pass ball = blue 1
Sack race = red 1 Egg race = blue 1
Relays = red 1 Flags = red 1
Long jump = Boys Harry 1, Xavier 2 Girls Kaylee 1, Amelia 2
Discus = Boys Reuben Shot put = Boys Harry) By Kaylee
This term I am doing sewing, and a play called Shakespear with love. In sewing, I am doing upcycling where I reuse clothes and make something different, like making jeans into a dress. In the play I am Titanna the queen of Fairies and my “husband” Oberon ( Mellori ) king of the Fairies. The play is hilarious, and the sewing is fun. I like both subjects and if we're going to do more than 2, I would also do the maze runner booklet, music, reading, and a lot more subjects I like. By Koby
My favorite subjects in school are Math’s and sports. In math, we have been doing a lot of work, such as triangular measurements and other things included in math's. In sports we had been doing things for the fun day that we had done already finished. This included running/ sprints, throwing and our jumping. By Kodey
This term, my favourite subjects were D&T and maths with Paul. In D&T we made boomerangs with most of the class making a successful boomerang except those with bad aim, who’s boomerangs broke in unfortunate places. In maths, many of the class were learning trig with Paul. This was enjoyable since it was a smaller class which made it easier. By Reuben
My two favorite subjects are woodwork and math. In woodwork we are making boomerangs, most of them are coming back and some of us are on to stands. In math we have 4 groups. I'm in the top group and we are learning trigonometry and Pythagorean theorems. In conclusion, Leaning Tree is a great school! By Mellori
Sport family funday - On family fun day the best part was the tug-of-war because I got to watch my team win. There were two teams on the day red and blue. I was on the blue team and got to wear blue clothes for the day, I also wore blue paint on my legs. I really enjoyed getting to do the sack race! Family fun day is something I look forward to because it is a wonderful day surrounded by my friends getting to patriciate in all different types of activities. By Kael
Family fun day- On Friday, my school Leaning Tree, had their annual family fun day. My favorite event of family fun day was tug-of-war because we won against the teachers and parents. Other games I enjoyed were; egg and spoon race and sack race, other than when my foot fell outside the bag. Overall, I had an exciting day and even got to fly paper planes at the end and eat chocolate fudge. By Nate
My favorite subject is sport and textiles. In sport we have been doing things to get ready for the sports carnival like throwing, running, jumping, and ball games. The sports day was last Friday, Xavier and I almost tied in cross country, but I just won. In textiles we are upscaling clothes from the op shop. I'm trying to make some jean shorts. By Harry
On family fun day, I surprised myself and came fifth in cross country out of the boys in my year. In the throwing section I came forth in shotput, first in javelin and I had very bad aim with the discus. My favorite part of the day was doing the sack race, even though I fell over at the end, my team still won. On the day we had two teams, red kangaroo and blue emu’s, I was part of the red kangaroo team. I had fun doing the tug-of-war because we got to verse the parents and teachers and I nearly got thrown. Overall, I had a good day and look forward to it next year! By Tyson
PE News
FAMILY FUN DAY, 2024
Friday the 30th of August started out with showers but ended up with perfect weather. The cross country ran mostly smoothly, with the Sunflowers forgetting the way. Thanks to some Year 8 boys, they got back on track.
There was some fierce competition in Lighthouse and Prospects, but good evidence of sportspersonship. Thank you for all the cheers and some of the guards of honour for the runners coming in to the finish line!
The students worked their way through the running races, flags and relays, the long jump, the throws and team competitions. I loved the parents joining in the running races (no pulled hamstrings, thank goodness) and this made the teams even and a lot of fun trying to win against your child!
Finishing the day off, we did tug-of-war where the seniors won against the parents and teachers, red won against blue in the seniors and blue won against red in the junior tug-of-war.
Thank you to all the teachers and staff for their support, parents for coming and often participating and students for their fantastic participation!
Warm regards
Anita
Family Fun Day
Design & Technology
As promised, here are some pictures of some of our completed projects.
Voyager Class - Fred’s Car
Some outstanding originality was displayed in the construction of these cars.
Prospect Class - Trimerangs
The students carved these three-winged flying objects, based on a boomerang, with some precision flying witnessed during the test phase.
Lighthouse - Geometric Patterns
Examples of the final geometric pattern boards are below.
The Prospect fashionistas are still working on their op shop creations, and I hope to bring you some pictures of the completed items in the next newsletter.
Looking forward, a new and exciting project is on the horizon for the Prospects. They will be crafting a handmade flute from locally grown bamboo. How exciting!
All the best
Paul
Community News
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