Earn and Learn

It has been fabulous to see the efforts that the prospective government employees have gone to with regard to our Earn and Learn Program. The Grade 6 children were invited to apply for a variety of government positions including sign writers, Prime Ministerial Secretary, Treasurer, Bank Manager, Resources Minister, Shopping Centre Manager and Homework and Health Insurance Officers. These are very important roles in our Earn and Learn program and, as such, applicants must show their suitability for the position through an interviewing process. These interviews were conducted last week and I have to say that Prime Minister Walters was very impressed with the references provided and the professional approach with which the applicants addressed the questions, and of course, it was great to see the applicants dressed so snazzily.

I look forward to seeing everyone at Three Way Conferences this week. This is a great opportunity for the children to share their learning and feel proud of their achievements with members of their family.

Term 3

Welcome back to Term 3. I hope everyone has had a relaxing holiday and are ready for a busy term ahead.

Term 3 is dominated by the writing and presentation of speeches. The grade 5 children are writing about a famous Australian while the Grade 6 children write about the history of an aspect of the area or of a family member. It was wonderful to see the amount of research that had occured at home over the holidays for these speeches and we really appreciate the support that the children receive during this activity. Plans have been written and the children are working on creative ways to introduce their topic.

Our community garden continues to grow and develop and our newest little members of the garden have settled in. Of course they are our two little guinea pigs Milo and Caramel. Actually they are two very fat guinea pigs who love to eat vegetable scraps. If any of you cooks out there have carrot, pumpkin, celery, bean, cauliflower, cabbage and broccoli scraps these two ravenous little creatures would be very grateful if it could be sent to school. As I type this they are squeaking their thanks!

As usual, if at any time you have any queries, please feel free to give us a ring or pop in for a visit. Three Way Conferences will be held in week 6 to give the children a chance to share their learning with you.

Athletics Sports

Well done to all the children who participated in the athletics day. It was fantastic to see the great sportsmanship displayed by everyone. The enthusiasm amongst the kids was fabulous and I think we set a world record for the longest tunnel ball competition. Of course the relay where the teachers competed against the house captains was also a highlight and all of us teachers who participated (including this sprightly young thing) have all been suffering since.

Congratulations to all of our place getters and a fantastic effort by all.

NAPLAN

Congratulations to all our Grade 5 students who completed their NAPLAN tests today. They can all be very proud of their efforts especially the way they concentrated and worked to capacity throughout each of the tests.

The Grade 6 students are also to be thanked for their consideration and helpful cooperation during our NAPLAN preparations and the testing process.

Even the wild life came to investigate how the tests were going. Well done to you all.

Camp Nillahcootie

Hi everyone,

We have all returned safely from Camp Nillahcootie after having a fabulous time. Despite being a little damp at times the weather was kind to us and we completed all the planned activities including rock climbing, abseiling, canoeing, the team challenge, low ropes and initiatives. The children also had to build a hut that was waterproof and as you can see from the photo above, when a bucket of water was tipped over them, some of the huts were just a little leaky! Of course the night events were loads of fun as well. We had a night of fabulous acts during Red Faces and the children who participated can be so proud of their efforts and of the smile that they kept on their faces during the judging process including some tough comments by our resident "Red Symons". We had some hilarious moments during the night "Find the Teacher" activity where the children had to follow clicker sounds to search out all of us teachers who were hiding around the camp site. When found, a letter was given to them and the first group to match up the letters to make a word were our champions. It was funny to see the teachers actually hiding amongst the various groups of children, travelling with them unnoticed! Hut building was also great fun.

The children's behaviour throughout this camp was fantastic and they can all be very proud of the way they participated with enthusiasm and interest, displaying excellent manners and care for each other. Well done and thankyou everyone.

TERM 2

Welcome back to Term 2 and I hope everyone had a relaxing break. I am constantly surprised by how much everyone grows (except for me) over term breaks. It must be the fabulous food that all you great cooks out there provide.

We have a really busy term ahead of us starting with camp at Lake Nillachootie in week 3. Hopefully the weather will be perfect. The activities are great fun and provide us with lots of exercise and challenges. A reminder to everyone that we need the medical forms back as soon as possible. If there any queries about camp please feel free to contact us.

Excursion and End of Term

Unbelievably Term 1 has come to an end. The term has flown by and the children can be very proud of their efforts. They can also be very proud of their fantastic behaviour on our excursion which proved to be a very interesting day.

USW started the day at the Vegout Community Garden in St Kilda. We were lucky enough to meet with a group of people who were preparing a BBQ for homeless people who live in the neighbouring communities. The children realised that we are indeed very fortunate to have what we all have. We also had a chance to speak to a volunteer who manages the Community Garden and discovered the benefits to the community of the garden.

From the garden we went onto the Triple R Community Radio station. The children had a great opportunity to put on the head phones and experience the feeling of being a radio broadcaster. They absolutely loved this and the broadcasting was very funny at times.

And so the Term comes to an end. I hope you all have a relaxing holiday and stay safe and I look forward to seeing you all in Term 2.

3 Way Conferences

It was wonderful to meet the parents from USW at our recent 3 Way Conferences. The children are to be congratulated for the manner in which they conducted their interviews. They were articulate and very honest about their progress both academically and socially. I look forward to helping them continue with this in the weeks to come. Thanks to the mums and dads who took part.

Congratulations to all the swimmers who took part in the District Sports. It was fantastic to hear their enthusiasm and they should be proud of the way they represented Yarrambat Primary School. Our Interschool sporting teams are also doing well, competing with great sportsmanship. We are encouraging all of our team captains to be really creative when writing their sports reports ready for presentation at our assemblies on Monday mornings.

Leadership Conference

The Grade 6 children were wonderful participants at our recently held Leadership Conference. We were lucky to have two interesting speakers (Senior Sergeant Wayne Spence and Christmas Hills CFA Captain Dianne Simmons) and the children responded to them with interest and enthusiasm. They spoke to the children about qualities that are required to make great leaders. The Grade 6 leaders were also introduced to the new concept of earning 9 badges throughout the year, each of which represent a different quality of leadership. This initiative was met with enthusiasm. The conference was completed with a friendly and relaxed afternoon tea.

The Upper School team of teachers have also had a cartoon drawn individually of themselves and also as a group. Brett Cardwell completed this wonderful feat and they are lots of fun.

Take a peak!

A Great Start

It's great to see that some of you are using our Blog page. Our first week in the Upper School was wonderful. Everyone worked really well and the feeling around the Upper School building was terrific. I have enjoyed getting to know all the new grade 5 children and it has been great to see them beginning to settle into their new home groups. The Grade 6 children have taken up the challenges of the Leadership program extremely successfully. They can all be very proud of their efforts with their Prep buddies. The Preps are settling very well and their teachers have been thrilled with the concientious way in which all of our Grade 6 leaders are looking after them. We can look forward to our Leadership conference this week.

Welcome to USW Blog

Welcome to Upper School for 2010. We can look forward to a fabulous year together with lots of exciting opportunities for great learning. This blog page is something new that we are trying so that we can share information and experiences. I hope that everyone has had a terrific holiday and feels well rested and enthusiastic about the year ahead.