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This week’s newsletter
There has been 1 confirmed case of whooping cough at school and we expect more to follow. Please refer to Juliana’s section of the newsletter for further information.
For the next two weeks we are focusing on Indigenous peoples and cultures of Australia and incorporating this into as many different curriculum areas as we can. On Monday Lexodius Dadd came to school and taught our classes about aboriginal tools and technology of his people. On Tuesday we explored how Indigenous people used nature as a calendar and about the six seasons of Australia. In craft, both classes have been exploring the local bush and experimenting with making string from a variety of plants. If you have any knowledge or expertise about Aboriginal culture and heritage we would really appreciate if you could come and share it with us.
In Mathematics the K class have been learning about the different times of day and seasons. The year 1 have been learning about the Months of the year and calendars.
In English the K class have been learning about N and O The year 1 class have been practicing their 3rd person story writing skills while creating their own dreamtime stories.
On Monday we will be going bush walking over lunchtime so children will need to bring packed lunches (we won’t be back in time for canteen), shoes and appropriate clothing.
Have a great weekend
From Blake, Fran and Nicola
Posted in Fran and Blake's Class
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Hello Currambena,
Another case of whooping cough has been confirmed in Blake’s class as of yesterday 15 May. We are now waiting for a directive from the Health Department. Meanwhile please be vigilant about any flu like symptoms.
Sending group emails – if you are sending a group email to the whole school, the CLC, your class etc can you please remember to put the addresses in the Bcc line. When you do this then the individual address of the receiver is the only address that they will see.
Today Thursday 16th is the deadline to have your nomination in for our school Council.
Dates to remember….
Thursday May 23rd
We have Dr Martin joining us at 6.30pm to give us suggestions and strategies for building RESILIENCY. A $2.50 toasted Sambo supper will be available.
Our Annual General Meeting will follow directly after. This will run for about 45 minutes, if that. The Treasurer, the Chair and the Coordinator will give short reports on the financials, educational and general well being of Currambena over the last twelve months. We will also nominate our new council members. We really appreciate your support and on a practical note we need a percentage of our community to be present for the meeting to be viable.
All fees for school & CASP are due also next week.
Saturday 22nd June
A night not to be missed! Raid your kid’s dress-up box, engage a babysitter, book a cab and be here! Check your emails today for your invite.
CANTEEN
We have been working on our Canteen Work Health and Safety procedures. We now have an updated list of requirements which are up in the kitchen to keep us informed. Lane Cove Council is sending their Health officer on Monday for our annual routine inspection.
Love Julianna
“The first thing you should do when you get up in the morning is to go and see other people” – Female elder in a Baoule village
Posted in Coordinator's news
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There is a roster for weekend chicken care up on the preschool window near the sign-on table. Please write your name on the roster of you can help.
We also need a kind person to buy some lucerne hay for their coop this weekend. We use lucerne hay instead of straw as it breaks down into the compost more easily. Please email me at sueg@currambena.nsw.edu.au if you can do this.
Thanks
Sue
Posted in General
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Hello Everyone
We went on a crystal hunt to the jungle below the bomb park on Monday morning. There was lots of digging, exploring, sliding down rocks, finding sticks for our fire, picking pods from the ‘bean tree’ and having fruit for morning tea. Not many crystals were found but everyone liked being out in the jungle!
We enjoyed Lex’s visit on Monday. He talked about the various tools that Aboriginal people make for daily living, showed us how to make rope out of bark, told stories of when he was a young child and also told a story about a bat who wanted to join the birds and the animals for a party.
Lex will be returning next Wednesday 22nd May to paint our big boards that form the mural an the side of the main building. In preparation for that we have been talking about the animals that live at school. This will be a whole school project. Lex’s time with preschool will be from 10.15 – 10.45am. If your child does not attend preschool on a Wednesday you are most welcome to bring them to the session. The cost for this is $5.00 per child.
On Tuesday we made a fire in the fire pit. Before starting we made fire agreements together. We used all the sticks we had collected plus others that we been saving from the garden. We built the fire and then lit it. When it was ready we toasted bread and butter and marshmallows. Our buddies joined us at buddy time and helped with the toasting. When the fire remains were cool charcoal was gathered and drawn with and made into potions. At group time we talked about the sequence of events in making the fire and the importance of fire to Aboriginal people. We also did some fire drawings and collages.
Next week author and long-time Currambena friend, Monty “Boori” Pryor, will be visiting on Tuesday 21st May. Preschool will have a session with him (time to be advised). The cost for this is $6.00 per child. You are most welcome to bring your child if Tuesday is not their preschool day.
The talk on Resilience by Dr Fiona Martin is on Thursday 23rd May at 6.30pm. This will be followed by the Currambena AGM at 8.00pm. Please come to both these interesting events!
On Monday 27th May Peter Lehner will arrive for a week. He will be singing with the whole school and individual classes throughout the week. There will be a Vocal Nosh on Friday 31st May at 6.00pm.
There is an open day at the Gordon, Willoughby and Crows Nest Fire Stations this weekend. See fire.nsw.gov.au for details.
Noah says you can see an picture of “Utopia Ocean Liner” on your computer. It’s a really new ship and it shows it in the sunset of Sydney Harbour! Noah is our resident ocean liner expert.
Thanks to all the people who have done the washing!
Love from
Sue, Chris and Michael.
Posted in Preschool news
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Hi Everyone,
We started off the week with a visit from Lex Dadd – an Aboriginal man from the Blue Mountains. We had a discussion about ways of life, looked at his many tools and learnt how they were used and listened to a story. It was very interesting!
In maths we have been doing lots of measuring and we will be moving onto perimeter and area. The children made sign posts for their model islands showing how many centimetres to each of the landmarks. The islands are looking great! They have been really engaged in the process and have been imaginative with their designs and constructions. This will continue for another few weeks as we give our island a culture and they suffer a natural disaster. In English, we finished our poetry by writing some poems of our own using the skills we had learnt.
The children voted yesterday that we will have PJ day on Friday. This is optional but the children can come in in their pajamas if they wish. Next week we have Boori coming into school for another Aboriginal incursion and Lex is back on Wednesday to organise the painting of the new mural for the wall of the main building. On Friday 24th May, Lisa, Roxy’s mum, will be coming in to do rock felting with the children. They need to bring in a smooth rock no larger than their palm if they would like to do the felting.
Hope you have a good weekend!
Love Louise
Posted in Louise's Class
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Hi Everybody,
As the colder weather is now encroaching upon us, could you please ensure that your child is either wearing or has packed an article of warm clothing that they can access when needed. Thankyou to those parents who have offered to drive us to Reverse Garbage on Friday, 7th June, however I still need 1-2 more helpers to get us there and back. This week, we have been looking at Area in Maths and comparing the space “within” shapes. On Monday, we had Lexodius Dadd come to the school and spend time with each class. He is an Indigenous educator who weaves storytelling into the teaching of his culture. He talked to the children about respect in tribal culture and brought a variety of tools all made from natural sources. He peeled off fine pieces of bark from a trunk and showed the children how to make string. They then all had an opportunity to practice this for themselves. The lesson was a wonderful flow into the introduction to our Science topic for this term where we will be looking at natural and made materials. The children will need to design and make either a structure, device or container, choosing specific materials which will meet the requirements of their design, hence our excursion to Reverse Garbage and our local bush.
For PE this week, Job and Gerben had the children making human towers! They all worked together in small groups, standing on each others shoulders and backs, discussing how they could best support themselves to achieve their goal in acrobatics. Chloe continued teaching structure and language which we use when writing a personal report and review. Everyone then wrote a review on the book we are reading in the afternoon each day: “Ghost Hunters and the Gruesome, Invincible, Lightening Ghost!”. This is the 2nd book in the series that the children have expressed enjoyment in reading.
Next Week: On Monday, we will be going to Lane Cove Library, so please return any books with your child that day. Both Tuesday and Wednesday I will be away at a Professional Development course and Yumi will be taking the class. Thursday at 6.30pm, is the talk on “Resilience” by Dr Fiona Martin, which will be followed by the AGM.
That’s all for this week, keep warm!
Sarah
Posted in Sarah's class
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Hi again everyone. I hope you are all having good weeks. We had a really interesting session with Lex on Monday and some stimulating questions and discussion. He raised our awareness of some of the political issues our Aboriginal people face all the time. We’ll be learning more in this area in the coming few weeks.
Our English topic “Review” is drawing to a close and, in spite of some excellent writing in class, nobody wanted to publish their written reviews of books or films or games! Sorry! We began Spelling Groups this week to supplement our text books…. Unit 13 is due this week.
In Maths we are working on Fractions and some wonderful “ah-ha!” moments have been heard! It’s a complex topic but we are all making great progress!
We’ve had a presentation about the solar eclipse, a trip to Lane Cove Library and some Self-Managed Learning time this week too.
Many thanks to Job and Bergen for the Olympic Week last week.. everyone enjoyed it very much and I think it was a great achievement to construct such an event without an emphasis on competition! Well done!
Next Tuesday we have our dear friend Boori visiting for the day to take us to the next stage of engagement with Aboriginal studies. Six of our group will be attending an activity at Kinma that day so will, unfortunately, miss Boori. On Wednesday, we have Lex coming back to paint the mural with us on the theme of taking care of country. That will be fun!
Have a great week. Love, Wendy
Posted in Wendy's Class
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Phone: +612 9427 0644
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205 Longueville Rd,
Lane Cove NSW 2066
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