Dear Families,
It has been a very interesting start to Term 3 and despite the lockdown there were some lovely positives to the commencement of term. All classes came together to work with David Booth a local indigenous artist on a collaborative mural for the front of our school. David commenced with his expertise in didgeridoo playing and then followed up talking to students about his cultural connections and the symbols that are meaningful to his work as an artist. We then worked to create a wonderful background representative of the local area and the students added their handprints using a range of layered textures and artistic techniques. David has now taken the mural to overlay essential story elements created by the students using dot painting techniques and we have really celebrated this activity that has brought together our student community for the start of another busy term.
All class teachers were very proud of student accomplishments throughout the online learning period and as sent out previously it was great to see how adaptable and creative our children were in this process. We had all families connect onto the seesaw platform and teachers provided valuable feedback to student learning. They will continue to utilise this platform throughout the year to build continued familiarity and share some of the teaching and learning that is going on in classes. This creates greater classroom visibility and connections for those families that visit the school less frequently due to work commitments. Thank you for the positive messages that were received during this time and we appreciate the supportive way that parents assisted the children to complete learning tasks.
In light of teachers now using seesaw more actively in their classes, we have collectively decided to move to a fortnightly newsletter update on Skoolbag. Each fortnight there will be a classroom focus with teachers sharing with the broader community a positive aspect of their program.
Another positive community connection is reflected below with Sam Cooper inviting families to join a zoom social event. Please find the link below if you would like to participate and connect in with others families whilst restrictions are in place at school.
We are also pleased to announce that Cara Bilstein, a very accomplished music teacher in the hills area is also now available to conduct piano and drums lessons on Thursday afternoons as private music tuition at school. Cara comes with much professional experience and was educated through the conservatorium of music. She brings much energy and passion to music teaching and currently teaches across multiple hills schools with her ensembles playing regularly at school events and the Uraidla Show etc. If you would like to take up this opportunity and participate in private music tuition, please complete the forms attached to the newsletter and return to the front office as soon as possible. Forms are also available in the front office. Have a great weekend.
Kind Regards
Sybila
