Photo Of The Week

Posted on October 29, 2020 by Newsletter Editor

IMG_1787

Posted in Photo of the week | Comments Off

My Time at Currambena by Arin

Posted on October 29, 2020 by wendyp

My time at Currambena started in Preschool, and I admit, the first day wasn’t so promising for me but as I started coming here every day I gradually became more and more confident. There were some days where I would cling on to my mum’s leg, not wanting to let go, but Sue, Michael and Nicola were always there, greeting me and coaxing me into the classroom. Soon after I settled in I met my first friend, Charlie and a bit after that, Hannah. Then I met Zoe, who is one of my closest friends to this day. It was the three of us, as I remember. Me, Zoe and Charlie. It was like that in Kindy as well.

Kindy was one of my favourite years in all my years of Currambena. Sue came up with all of us and was kind and reassuring. She helped us through problems and taught us so many things in a fun way. By then I had become firm friends with Tess. I was having so much fun in Kindy, and suddenly, it was Year 1, Blake’s class.

Blake was definitely one of my favourite teachers. I have never forgotten his class. At this time, I was slowly drifting away from some of my older friends (not Zoe) and was becoming friendly, but not close, with Freya.

The next class I transferred to was Sarah’s class. She was a great teacher, always listening and helping with my problems. There I stayed there for two years. I met Alice, Alexa, Hazel and Dani.
The second year was quite different. Other people came up into our class and I became a year 3! I first went to Mowbray Park camp and it was the best time I had.

Louise’s class was GREAT. End of story. There was Muffin and Honey and I started becoming friends with Sienna. The end of the year then was sad. Louise left to travel the world and Leesa came to Currambena once I was in Year 5!

Year 5.
I became friends with many other people that year like Elke and the three camps we went on were… how do I say it? AMAZING. Little River, the flying fox was so fun. Canberra, the hotel! And Sienna and Zoe wrestling and falling off the bed Canberra, the hotel! And Sienna and Zoe wrestling and falling off the bed.
And finally Jervis Bay, the hole in the wall, the beach and the tents were so cool. Thank you Wendy, for all your hard work!

I’m now in Year 6 and I’ve loved every moment of my time in Currambena.
It has been awesome!
Goodbye Currambena! I’ll miss you!
Arinxxx

Posted in Wendy's Class | Comments Off

Julianna Term 4 Week 3

Posted on October 29, 2020 by juliannam

Hi Everyone,

Thank-you, thank-you to Greg and Jackie for running the live stream for our Book Parade last Friday. The kids looked great and it was so good to have a first  run at doing a videoed event. This will really help the kids for when we come to do the videoing for the concert.

Thank-you to all those who have been working up in the library. It is looking fabulous, all your tidying and sorting is much appreciated by everyone.

AN END OF TERM SOCIAL EVENT – Do we have anyone that could help organise this? Perhaps a picnic? Tambourine Bay came to mind as a possible option. This could possibly happen on a Saturday or Sunday or it could be a Twilight Picnic the last Friday of term. Weather would be a factor so there might need to be a couple of dates as a backup option. If anyone has other ideas, we would love to hear them. If you are thinking of being the organiser or creating a team, please let me know.

Thank-you to everyone for the continued support managing our drop off and pickup processes. I hope this is working well for you

Many thanks for everyone’s support take care

Julianna xx

Posted in Coordinator's news | Comments Off

Preschool News Term 4 Week 3

Posted on October 29, 2020 by katrinaa

Hello everyone,

It’s been great to see the rain in preschool this week. It’s led to lots of busy robust play inside and an opportunity to mix things up a little. Painting and creating were moved from the veranda inside, group times were held in different nooks and crannies, and play in the cubby house became a tad more exciting as the children made a quick dash from the back of the preschool to the cubby through the rain!

As a preschool we’ve been coming together as a group to make lots of important decisions of late. As we can’t have our end of year school concert at Norths Leagues Club this year like we have done in previously years, we can have it at school though we can’t have parents on site though we are able to extend the preschool licence for the day and have children return in the evening for the performance. After explaining all this to the children we ran a vote over a number of days. They could either vote to come back to preschool for an hour in the evening though their parents couldn’t come with them or we could pre record the concert and they could watch it at home with their parents. They vote was an resounding majority to pre record it and watch it at home on the night with their families while the rest of the school performed live. Now we have to finish voting on what songs we’ll be performing!

Last Thursday we had an author visit in preschool as part of our book week celebrations. Beth McDonald, author and illustrator and also most importantly Pepper’s Aunty, came and explained as well as being able to physical show the children the process of illustrating one of the books she had previous published as well as reading her most current children’s book “The Hole Idea” Beth very generously gave everyone who wanted one, a copy of her book too! The book parade concluded our book week celebrations on Friday and also allowed us to have a practice run at live streaming a school event to families.

In craft the children have begun working on clay imprinting that we’re using to make plaster tiles, they’ve also been making sculptures with the clay. We’ve got a few more exciting craft experiences for the children to participate in this term.

A big thank you to the washing fairies that have returned to help us with the preschool washing. We REALLY appreciate it. Thank you also to Gina, Louie and Evie’s Mum for the donation of a floor puzzle. Thank you also to everyone that was involved in tidying the school library, it’s currently looking fantastic.

That’s it for this week!

Love Katrina, Michael, Hannah and Cee

Posted in Preschool news | Comments Off

From Jess Term 4 Week 3

Posted on October 29, 2020 by Jess

Dear Parents,
This week has just flown by!

Concert practice negotiations, script writing and practice has dominated our world. This week was the final week of deliberations about character choices and there were some hard decisions had to be made – but I think that everybody is happy, despite some need for compromise.

We’ve also been doing some work on Friendship. I asked ‘What do friends do?’ and after many fabulous contributions about playing, sharing, caring and helping we all agreed that sometimes friends argue too. With this in mind, we agreed that friends also make mistakes and need to say sorry sometimes.

The children in my class have also had a number of mini lessons from teachers who have applied for a position at Currambena next year. I have been very proud of the respect and positivity the children have shown these teachers and their ability adapt to different teaching styles.

Our silkworm eggs have hatched! I really did not hold out much hope as the eggs had spent a whole year in the staffroom fridge. But life is persistent and determined and we now have a couple of shoeboxes full of the tiniest little black larvae. I’m a little bit worried that their life cycle is longer than our term and that I might be caring for moths at home over Christmas, but let’s see how we go…

The has been a terrible bug going around the classroom and some children have had to have many days off school in order for their symptoms to resolve. One child has had a positive result for Rhinovirus which can make children quite sick for over a week. I know this is a long time and it can be tempting to send your child back to school after a day or two, but in this current climate it’s important your child is symptom free and thus not contagious at school. I also know that our policy of needing a negative COVID19 test is terribly inconvenient and so I thank everyone who has been vigilant and considerate in keeping their child at home when they are sick.

Jess x

Posted in Jess's Class | Comments Off

Charles’ Class Term 4 Week 3

Posted on October 29, 2020 by Newsletter Editor

Hello Everyone,

I hope you have all had a great week

This Tuesday the children had a wonderful time at Lane Cove Aquatic Centre, just beating the wet weather. Despite their time away from the pool for some time, the children have good developing skills.

The personal interest projects have been coming along great, with some fresh new interests the children have been eager to research and present ranging from spiders, super cars, and owls.

In Maths this week we have continued looking at chance and how we use it in our everyday lives including predicting when it is going to rain, using heads and tails to settle disagreements and using dice to record data.

In Science we are continuing with our Earth and Space unit, looking at the Earth’s Natural resources and this week looking at mining, specifically coal mining. Using cookies and toothpicks, the children are going to investigate the tools use to extract coal from the surface of the earth and the impact it can have on the environment.

Reminder

  • As it gets hotter this term, please send your child with a hat for the walk up to the swimming pool.

That’s all for this week, have a wonderful weekend.

Charles

Posted in Charles's Class | Comments Off

Sarah’s Class Week 3 Term 4

Posted on October 29, 2020 by sarahm

Hello everyone!

I hope you have all had a good week – wet maybe but good.

What a fabulous book parade we had last Friday! I hope you have all had a chance to see the video Mikee uploaded. Thankyou Mikee! It was a gorgeous morning filled with lots of excitement and joy. It was so nice to feel a sense of (some) normality in our little community. However, missing parents of course. Thankyou so much to Greg and Jackie Chan for coming in to film this event and post on You Tube.

Given Book Week’s theme last week being “Curious Creatures and Wild Minds” and that we have been reading a series (at the end of each day) called “Polly & Buster” which is about both creatures and wild minds – I thought it would be good to run with this idea. So, we finish our year writing stories and poetry under this umbrella theme. We had a lovely afternoon on Tuesday designing crazy creatures which will be the inspiration for our writing tasks. These will adorn our classroom wall and once they are there I will, of course, post photos in our newsletter. All the children seemed quite excited by this idea and I am looking forward to what will be our final writing journey together, as a whole group.

The children’s ideas for our concert piece are all done and dusted and we are now practicing from script. Characters are being found, discovered, explored and rehearsed. We have decided on our musical numbers and are working on a dance sequence. Costumes and props have been discussed with Crafty and we have a date for his friend Zio to come and help with the sewing. And that is all the information you will get from me, apart from saying that I am having a gorgeous time giggling, as I watch them rehearse. Each time we practice their are more little stars that shine!

In our exploration on Fractions we have covered proper, equivalent and mixed fractions. We will also be looking at improper fractions and some (who are ready) will be introduced to decimals. The children are really grasping these concepts and progressing at a rapid pace.

The elders had their first meeting and discussion about camp on Monday. So the  anticipation and excitement for this group is building. It is a wonderful opportunity and experience when they reach this stage of readiness. We had a whole class discussion about why the younger group doesn’t get to go too. We talked about stages of development and that at each stage (of growth) their are opportunities, privilege’s, challenges and responsibilities presented. As children move through the classes, each year and each class does something which is different from the last. So there are things to work towards and look forward to. This all seemed to make sense to them. It didn’t ease the disappointment for some but they got it!

Next week, we have another Summer Hill day happening on Wednesday. Another little something more to look forward to.

I think that’s us for another week.

Stay safe! Stay well!!

Love, Sarah

Posted in Sarah's Class | Comments Off

Leesa’s Class Term 4 Week 3

Posted on October 29, 2020 by leesaj

Hi Everyone,

This week we have looked at free verse poetry, had free choice writing and reading time and continued our Science topic on Forces. We are progressing well with our play and should have a script by the end of this week.

On Monday, we had a camp meeting and discussed where we’re going for camp. This year we will be attending Mowbray Park Farm Stay near Picton from Wednesday 2nd December to Friday 4th December. Some of the children that attended camp last year spoke about their experiences and the fun activities available at the farm. If you would like to volunteer to be a driver to or from the farm for camp could you, please email me. All drivers must have a Working with Children Check and this needs to be emailed through to the office. The process for completing a Working with Children Check is to apply online through Service NSW (make sure you click volunteer so that it’s free) and then you need to attend a Service NSW centre to verify your identity. You will receive an email with your number once this is processed. Once completed please email through your full name, Working with Children Check number and date of birth.

During our Science session this week we worked in groups to construct a marble run out of classroom resources. Lots of fun was had with exploring gravity, friction and how much force to use to start the marble. The children used trial and error to make adjustments to their run throughout the process.

Today we’ve revised water safety in and around the pool and our swimming agreements. The children were given six scenarios involving swimming in a pool and needed to explain what the person should have done to follow the agreements. Lots of discussions occurred and our swimming agreements have been printed and are on display in our classroom for the children to refer to.

Important Dates:

  • Every Tuesday is Swimming – Please remind your child to bring everything they need including a hat.
  • Wednesday 4th November – Summer Hill Day
  • Wednesday 2nd December to Friday 4th December – Mowbray Park Farm Stay Camp

That’s it for this week. Have a wonderful weekend.

Leesa x

Posted in Leesa's Class | Comments Off

Wendy’s Group Week 3 Term 4

Posted on October 29, 2020 by wendyp

Thank you so much to Greg and Jackie for filming and live streaming our Book Week Parade last Friday. I hope many of you were able to watch it live and enjoy the mix of characters on display. It was fun to watch it later too and good practice for us for the concert in Week 7. Congratulations to all the children who dressed up for this! It was great fun to see.

In class this week our focus has been on writing our play. We have a very long script already which will have to be seriously edited before real rehearsals begin. Hopefully we’ll be done by Friday but we’ve had some people away this week so it has not been possible to finalise their lines just yet!

In Maths we have been completing an activity involving planning a Theme Park timetable in 24 hour time. We’ve also been practising times tables, “excellenting” Unit 25 and completing Unit 26 in textbooks.

In English we’ve been reading, play writing and learning spelling words is our usual weekly lists. Our shared book is getting very dramatic and everyone is well engaged with the story.

NEXT MONDAY CAMP MEETING
Bendalong Point has confirmed our booking for camp from Monday 7th December to Friday 11th and I have these parents offering to come and help: Louise, Shona, Charlie and Penny. I have two others, Bron and Christie, interested in coming to the Thursday night ceremony. At least one or two more people staying over would be good so please let me know if you can help. I want to hold a meeting NEXT MONDAY AT 6:30 HERE AT SCHOOL FOR THE PARENTS COMING TO STAY. THIS IS ESSENTIAL IF YOU ARE STAYING OVERNIGHT WITH US. I will run through some of the safety issues and discuss the best ways you can help. Please get in touch immediately if you cannot make next Monday evening. Council has given approval for me to have this meeting in person.

Thank you!
I think some lovely people have been coming in and sweeping, tidying the library and doing other jobs around the place. Thank you so much to you all! I really miss having parents around and catching a quick chat… but seeing evidence of your caring is just gorgeous.

Next Wednesday, we have a Summerhill Day! Everyone enjoys these days. I will be running a session about the school, Summerhill, in England on which Currambena was loosely modelled. They have their 100th anniversary next year and are planning a Festival of Childhood. Their website has details!

I think that’s all for this week.

Love,
Wendy

Posted in Wendy's Class | Comments Off

Minutes of School Meeting, Friday 23rd October

Posted on October 29, 2020 by leesaj

Chaired by Peregrine and Jana

Toilets by Evie and Phoebe

A reminder to please leave the toilets clean.

PE Equipment by Wendy

A reminder to put away the PE equipment after use into the Sports Shed.

New Plants near Slide by Wendy

Please be extra careful around the new plants near the slide.

Ice blocks by Wendy

The shop was out of the normal ice blocks and so others were purchased.

Book Week Parade by Wendy

At 10:30am we will live stream the Book Week Parade. Meet at the steps just before this time.

Meeting adjourned. Sustaining Currambena.

Posted in School Meeting | Comments Off