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.