On Wednesday 31st August, Montessori Schools and Centres Australia (MSCA) hosted their annual webinar in honour of Maria Montessori’s birthday.  Maggie Dent was the guest speaker presenting a session on "From the Sandpit to Adulthood: Helping Today's Children Thrive".  Thirty of our staff; teachers and assistants attended along with 120 participants from around Australia.  Ten of our school parents also attended the session.

The session was packed full of common sense and inspiration for educators, parents and communities raising children throughout their childhoods and adolescence. Maggie explored the 10 keys to supporting children to grow well.  Maggie is very pragmatic and down to earth and acknowledged there is no ‘perfect’ way to parent and raise children but reassured us that challenge, adversity and failure can actually help our children and young people to grow stronger and smarter.

This weekend all of our teaching staff will be attending the national Montessori conference hosted by MSCA in Adelaide.  The two days will be a great opportunity to share and network with other Montessori educators from around Australia as well as learn from the various speakers presenting and the workshops on offer.

It is imperative that our staff are provided with the resources to access quality professional development each year.  In particular it is important to be able to access Montessori professional development opportunities so that staff can refine their skills and knowledge which, in turn, have positive benefits for student learning outcomes. 

I thank the staff for giving up their weekend to attend the conference and for their commitment to their professional learning and for the passion they all continue to show for life long learning.                                                                                                                           

Cathy France 

Principal

This week we appreciate the generosity, time and energy that goes into fundraising. 

Our annual Quiz Night, which was held on September 10, was highly successful with over $8,200 raised. However, there are many contributors, donors and volunteers that give in different ways, to make the night happen.  

We appreciate the Fundraising committee chaired by volunteer parent, Georgia Richmond. Year-after-year the committee pull together an incredible event which engages not only with our school community, but connects us with many generous local businesses, individuals and organisations outside of our school. 

We appreciate the parents who catered for the evening, in particular Amanda Prance and Paul Evangelista. We appreciate Rebecca Zahra and her team that setup and ran the Gin Saloon on the night. We appreciate the bakers who donated cakes for our Silent Auction, the families who donated wine for the Wine Wall, and we appreciate all those organisations, families and individuals, many from the Adelaide Hills, who generously donated prizes for the Silent Auction, winners’ bags and general prizes. 

We are incredibly grateful for your time, energy and support, it is much APPRECIATED!

Our annual Quiz Night was a fantastic night out, a hugely successful fundraiser and a brilliant school community event as the 'Country & Western' theme kicked into overdrive on Saturday 10th September.

We're grateful to the individuals and organisations who donated their time, products, vouchers and to those who attended on the night and gave generously. Thanks to you we raised $8,283.86!

Big thanks to Pete Monaghan who once again did a flawless job as MC and host. Special thanks to Georgia Richmond and the Fundraising committee for the time and effort in organising the event.

We'd also like to thank the below individuals, families and organisations for their donations:

Angler in Stirling, Silver Brewing Co, Fair Fish SA, FRED Eatery in Aldgate, Crowies Paints in Aldgate, Mini Dreamers, Gumtree Wines, Fitness Life Studio in Aldgate, One Elk Living in Aldgate, Pure Wine Co, Ride Union Bike Co in Aldgate, CIBO in Stirling, Hokey Pokey Icrecream in Stirling, Ecolateral, Frydays at Coromandel Valley, Ted Cacao Chocolatier, Heidelberg Cakes, Matilda Bookshop in Stirling, Aldgate Pump Hotel, The Aldgate Chip Shop, Windmill Theatre Company, Mark Baryczka, House of Hair in Stirling, Espressoholics in Aldgate, Pete Monaghan, Georgia Richmond, Nicole Killey, Sasha Ferguson, Rebecca Zahra, Anthea Hagar, Henry Moulding, Jade Crathern, Vanessa Baryczka, Ellie Ross, Nicole Stewart, Sanjay Taverna, Attila Nandori, Prance Family, Rooney Family, Kupniewski Family, Evangelista Family, Bolt Family, Zahra Family, McHenry Family, Richmond Family, Bray Family, Vogues-Standing Family. 👏👏👏

Congratulations to Cycle 3 student Hester, who recently competed in the South Australian State Gymnastics Championships. We asked Hester to tell us about her experience:

On the 11th of September, I competed at the 2022 Gymnastics State Championships. I won a gold medal for Vault and a bronze medal for Floor. I placed seventh overall. 

We started by warming up and then moved on to our first apparatus which was beam, I came away from my beam routine with a score of 8.200. Next up, I had my Floor routine and I scored a 9.050 which put me in third place for that competition. 

 After Floor, we went on ‘rest’ which is where you rest, eat, and watch other people compete. I was waiting for a very long time because I was one of the last gymnasts to compete on Vault. 

 When I finally did Vault, I scored a 9.633 for my first vault and a 9.533 for my second which was the highest score out of every competitor in the 2022 Gymnastics State Championships, for which I won gold! 

Lastly, I competed on the Bars, I scored an 8.050. Overall, it was a very fun experience and I enjoyed it a lot.

The Hills Montessori School Fencing team, hell to epee, played their first tournament on Sunday 11th September at the Lights Sport Centre. A great day of experience & effort by the team - playing 3 rounds and rallied to win their third round by one point! Term four will see them play in smaller weekly tournaments against other local hills schools. En Garde!

Photos: Joe Evangelista, Lachlan Bedson & Hunter Scott

On the 11th of September a small group of Cycle 3’s competed in a fencing tournament at the Lights Community and Sports centre. Joe, Hunter and Lachlan competed against students from other schools, many of whom were much older than us. We finished up in 5th place. We are proud of how far we got in the tournament. We are all looking forward to the next tournament in Term four.

Lachlan Bedson

There are 4 BILLION mobile phones in the world and our Cycle 3 students in Alex and Suzie’s class have been researching the impact these, admittedly handy devices, have on our lives and our planet. In particular, class visits to Monarto this term have inspired students to look at the impact mobile phones have on chimpanzee and gorilla populations in the Congo.

As with most non-renewable resources, the minerals that go into mobile phones (especially coltan) must be mined. Unfortunately, some of the richest coltan deposits in the world are in national parks in the Congo, meaning that mining leads to deforestation and contributes towards the endangered status of the gorilla. 

Secondly, the disposing of mobiles can be problematic. If thrown into landfills, they can produce toxic leachate that ends up in our groundwater. Irresponsible recycling can lead to mobiles being melted in open-air fires in other countries, leading to both pollution of air and water, and serious health problems among workers and residents.

By using the principles of reduce, reuse, and recycle, you can personally have a big impact!  Cycle 3 students are running a collection drive of old mobile phones with collection boxes made available in OSHC and the school office.  All phones donated will either be refurbished and resold by PhoneCycle, or dismantled and recycled by Mobile Muster, the only not for profit Government accredited mobile phone recycling program. These organisations will then donate the money raised to Jane Goodall Institute Australia, which supports the work of Jane Goodall’s conservation programs for chimpanzees and gorillas in Africa.

For more information: Conservation at Monarto Zoo_Mobile Phone recycling

Infant program has welcomed Spring with great enthusiasm!

We have been busy planting, gardening and learning about the life cycles of sunflowers and caterpillars. Many children have proudly shared photos from home of the progress of their very grassy Hungry Caterpillars.

We have enjoyed planting sunflower seeds, both to take home and observe, and in our Infant Program garden to enjoy when they bloom next term. 

Two new spaces have been introduced to the children in our room: a face and nose hygiene station, and an area to practice yoga. 

Preschool students have loved the experience of Wheels Day, which is an introduction to bike and scooter safety and maintenance, run in the Yultiwirra hall. Preschool teachers transformed the hall into magnificent bike tracks, fully equipped with everything required to maintain a bike: bike wash, bike repairs; bike parking and traffic control signs and lights! 

We have also welcomed new pets, four 8-week-old bantam chickens donated to the Preschool by Heidi’s family (our Infant Program coordinator). The chickens have been settled in and students are looking forward to naming them. 

This week Cycle 1 ventured on a tour of Monarto Safari Park. The experience supported our Cultural Studies explorations of The Animals of the Continents and highlighted the children’s growing interest and knowledge of African animals. The animals were met with much excitement, wonder and inquisition.

Noah learnt that chimpanzees are not monkeys, they don’t have a tail. Mila observed: "Most animals at Monarto came from Africa".

Elysia learnt, "You have to be careful not to scream because the animals might get scared”.

Piper said, “It is very important to care for your pets and to look after wild animals as well.”

Alice said, “Did you know that porcupines have black and white spikes that protect them from other animals?”

Corey learnt that Cheetahs came from Africa but there also used to be a kind from Asia that are extinct.

Ayushan shared, “Chimpanzees can be very dangerous and noisy when they are upset”.

Indi really liked seeing the Rhinos and Cheetahs.

Finally, Henry shared the very interesting fact that a mouse, human and giraffe all have seven bones in their neck, the bones are just very different in sizes.  🐭🦒🦏🐆

In Week 8, our Cycle 2 students enjoyed an overnight school camp, which involved a sleep over at school combined with excursions during the day. For some students this was their first experience away from home on camp. 

The first day consisted of a visit from ‘Nature Play’ who guided students through cubby building activities in the hall, as well as building shelters for bandicoots. Prior to lunch, students headed down to the Art Gallery of South Australia (AGSA) where they visited both the Archie 100 and Robert Wilson Moving Portraits exhibitions. Students also participated in a facilitator run art session in The Studio at AGSA, where they learnt about South Australian artist Jasmine Crisp and were encouraged to think of those things which they treasure most, and to create their own treasured object. 

Cycle 2 ‘home’ for the night was on campus at Yultiwirra. Although persistent rain dampened the toasting of marshmallows in the firepit, there were still lots of fun to be had with various activities, including outdoor games and quiet time indoors. 

Day 2 saw the group head to Monarto Safari Park and, due to the cooler weather, it was exciting to see so many active animals very close to the bus on the zoo loop tour. Stalking cheetahs, ambushing African painted dogs, playful cubs, protective lionesses, alpha male lions, baby giraffes and so much more. The children participated in a zoo crew program, performing activities a zookeeper would do. They helped by sweeping up and removing the scats in the rock wallaby enclosure as well as receiving guided talks about the meerkats and chimpanzees. 

Camp is always a lot of fun, excitement and palpable energy!

Warm-up exercises are important in any P.E activity. There are many games you can choose for warm up exercises.  One that I almost always use is Chain Chasey. This game provides not only warm up aerobic exercises but also an opportunity for collaboration and communication amongst the class.  It is suitable for all age groups. The game begins with two children linking hands to form a chain.  The other children must run away to escape being tagged.  The chain grows as more children are caught and add themselves to the end of the line.  In order to be successful the group must decide the best tactics to prevent the remaining children from escaping and being caught by the chain.  This can be a matter of impromptu choices but often the children use shouted instructions, quick reflexive responses and clever tactical moves. Chain Chasey is a simple, effective game that is inclusive, provides excellent warm-up for further P.E activities and is fun for all.

As a part of our Cultural Connection submission this week, we sat down with Hina, mum to Ayaan in Cycle 3 and Zohair in Cycle 2, to chat about her background in Pakistan and her favourite recipe.  

Hina, her husband and two boys were originally from the state of Punjab, the largest state by population of Pakistan. The family emigrated to Australia in 2013, after Hina’s husband wanted to pursue his accounting career in Australia.  

They are a food loving family and the boys Ayaan and Zohair love Pakistani cuisine, with Chicken Biryani a favourite. The below recipe was passed on to Hina from her mother, and she said it is  by far the most favourite recipe at home. Biryani is cooked on special occasions in Pakistan and will always be on the top of the list of traditional Pakistani dishes.

You can access Hina's Chicken Biryani recipe here.

A group of Cycle 3 students will be holding a bake stall on Thursday the 29th of September (Week 10) in the courtyard on school grounds. We will be selling baked goods such as fudge, apricot balls, scones, sticky rice balls, choc chip cookies, brownies and honey crackles.

All allergies will be catered to as there will be gluten, dairy and egg free options.

Prices will range from $1.00 to $3.00. If your child/ren would like to purchase these baked goods please bring cash on the day. All money raised will go to the RSPCA Organisation to help injured and/or abandoned animals find a new home. 

A note has been sent home in preparation for our Term 4 Sausage Sizzle which is scheduled for the first Friday in Week 1 (Friday 21st October).  Orders must be in by the last day of THIS term.  Class Parent Reps are organising and hosting this special lunch for the students to celebrate the beginning of Term 4!

Be sure to put ✨Thursday 27th October (Week 2, Term 4) ✨ in your calendar!  Cycle 3 students premiere their much anticipated performance of The Greatest Show across two concerts, a matinee at 1.30pm and an evening performance at 6.30pm. Families will be notified via Skoolbag once tickets go on sale. 

This year our Fundraising committee will be hosting a Colour Run family picnic at Bridgewater Oval on ✨Friday 11 November✨ 

More details will follow about how your family can participate in this fundraiser, but for now lock in the date for what will be a fun afternoon and evening for the whole family!