Crafers Primary School

Newsletter 16 December 2022

From the Principal

Dear Parents and Caregivers

What a week! What a term! What a year! Happiness and gratitude both spring to mind as I look back on the time from yesterday to the beginning of the year. We have certainly achieved a lot in 2022, much has been ‘done’ and the positive busyness has seemed a constant. Our best accomplishment, however, has been best described by the youngest people in our community. As I read the children’s reports, there were student reflections on learning challenges, change challenges and social challenges. I am pleased to say these were accompanied by descriptions of persistence, effort and determination and then summed up with satisfaction and happiness. It seems our students have had yet another great year. They have engaged, participated and succeeded in a great range of endeavours too numerous to write here. As a Principal, I could not ask for more. It’s reassuring to know that alongside the happiness is the motivation and capability for another year like this in 2023.

In 2023 we will see some staffing changes. Mr Sam Bowman has embarked on a wonderful adventure, moving his family to Europe, right this minute on their way to a Paris Christmas. We wish Sam the best of luck  - I’m sure it will be incredible. As we do so, we also welcome Ms Katie Hesketh-Smith. Katie is an experienced PE and classroom teacher. She has been working for many years at Woodside Primary School. Katie is utterly dedicated to Physical Education and we are sure to benefit from her expertise and commitment.

Ms Kim Atkinson will extend her leave through Term 1 next year and return to us for the beginning of Term 2. Our 4/5 class will be taught by familiar faces  - albeit as they undertake different roles here at Crafers. Ms Anu Sharma and Ms Lyndal Chittleborough will take on the role of classroom teachers and we look forward to working with them in this capacity also.

A departure of a different kind is also imminent. In 2023, Ms Amelia Hurren will step down as Chairperson of Governing Council. I have had the great pleasure of working with Amelia since I started at Crafers. Amelia has been excellent in her role as Chair leading the Council in their work that helps to drive the school. Personally, it has been a delight working so closely with Amelia. Our focus has been to be positive and progressive and whilst doing this we have laughed, solved problems and made plans. I do feel very sad to be losing Amelia in this role but understand it is time to share this commitment with someone new. On behalf of Crafers I want to thank Amelia for all she has contributed; we are most grateful!

I would like to thank our staff for their excellence and their constant efforts – how lucky our students are to have them! I would also like to thank you, the Community for your generosity, support and commitment to Crafers – we too are lucky to have you! To the families who are finishing their time with Crafers and moving on to the secondary years of schooling, I wish you and your children every success and hope the children grasp every opportunity as they have during their years here.

So, as I conclude my final newsletter article for the year, I wish you all happy holidays; I hope you enjoy the time you have together over the break.

Kind regards

Chan

Farewell from Amelia

Governing Council is such an important volunteer role at the School. I have been on Council for 5 years, three as Chair. The last 5 years has been quite challenging for the school – we have had 4 different Principals, significant changes with year 7’s going to High School, and of course the Pandemic to contend with. 

But with now Chan at the helm, our amazing team of dedicated and skilled teachers, excellent reception enrolments in 2023, and the strong community spirit, I feel exceptionally positive about the school going forward, which is why I will be handing over the reigns of Chair next year.

With only 2 years left at the school it’s important for families to be involved in Council who have many years of involvement with the school ahead of them. The new Council will be appointed at the AGM in week 4 of Term 1, and I encourage Junior Primary families in particular to get involved. 

Thanks to the Governing Council team for working together so effectively and for your dedication to the CPS community. 

Amelia Hurren

Minister's Volunteer Award 2022

This year the award for volunteering goes to two people. This dynamic duo have been going above and beyond in their volunteer efforts for the last decade. Whenever and where-ever volunteers are needed, this pair is always at the scene. From Managing Pedal Prix to attending working bees, from running the Uniform Shop to sitting on Governing Council. They will leave very big shoes and we will all miss their incredible dedication to the school community. Congratulations Greg Collings and Wendy Stubbs for winning this award.

Stirling Pageant - Pedal Prix & Crafers Band

An update from Ebony

This time of year brings many mixed emotions for children and adults alike. For our children, the end of year is tiring, sad, exciting, overwhelming and scary. Children say goodbye to their friends for 6 weeks and face the anxious wait to find out how their new friendships will form, what their teacher will be like and how they will go in the next year level. Of course, amongst that, there is excitement around Christmas, holidays, fun family adventures and the new year too.

Something I love to do when faced with big emotions around new and uncertain experiences is to list 5 things I am grateful for. These can range from a particular friendship, to a beautiful sunset, to having a roof over my head. Pausing for a grateful moment requires reflection and looking to the future and fosters positive emotions.

Why not pause as a family for a grateful moment in amongst the busyness of the end of year period? Gratitude within your family:

  • You could build this in as a daily or weekly practice throughout the holidays. This could be at a meal time or bed time.
  • Build gratefulness into your family by creating a ‘gratitude jar’ or a ‘gratitude wall’ for family members to contribute to and reflect on (have little ones draw pictures of what they are grateful for).
  • When you find that emotions are rising, why not pause and take time to find something you are each grateful for?

Enjoy the break and I look forward to seeing all your smiley faces in 2023.

 

Order Your 2022 Year Book

Our 2022 Year Book will be available early in Term 1. Please complete your eForm order by the end of January 2023 to secure your copy.

Digital Technology - Coding

Over the course of the year all classes have explored the world of coding through unplugged, online and hands on tasks, reviewing and growing their vocabulary as they went.  The junior primary worked with some of our cuter and simpler robots such as Beebot, Botley and Cubetto, exploring the abilities and limitations of the different bots and how this affected the way they could be used. 

Middle years students looked closely at the idea of giving choice to a user within code by exploring the concept of ‘conditionals’ which are coding commands which allows a program to have more than one outcome.

The year 4/5 class delved deeply into the world of digital games by exploring the features of successful games and using this knowledge to design characters, backgrounds and game play. They then challenged themselves to use the program ‘Scratch’ to write the code for their games which they then shared with other members of the class.

The 5/6 classes worked with the Sphero robots. They explored how time, speed and distance are interrelated and looked at how the robots could be adapted to suit a real-world need. Finally, they designed an addition for the Sphero and created it from Knex. They had great fun in racing their creations to see which designs were more successful.


Mount Barker Show 2023

We are inviting all the schools in the immediate area and beyond to come and celebrate with us and participate in many of the competition sections organised by the Show. We have gathered the competition information appropriate to children into a special booklet, complete with the colouring competition pictures and entry forms.

We hope that the children can find something of interest, especially to work on over the summer holidays.

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Crafers Primary School