Dundurrabin Public School Newsletter Term 2, Week 4, 2023 Gazette
Principal's Message
I had the pleasure of attending the Year 6 Leadership Day at Bonville with Quill and Lucy on Friday. We enjoyed connecting with our partner schools from the Plateau and Bellingen Valley to explore student leadership in schools. All students were challenged to many tasks requiring them to think quickly, be physically active, work as part of a team and communicate with others. It was wonderful to see our captains step into a large group of children with confidence and smiles.
I seek your support in ensuring regular communication with our school for student absences and the prompt return of consent notes. Parents are encouraged to reply to the text message sent home where students absences are yet to be explained. The prompt return of consent notes is essential for school organisation, planning of excursions and special events. Attending special events and days out and about with other schools is integral for our students to establish friendships beyond our small school. Many new skills and interactions are developed via these connections.
Leah Keough
Every Day Counts
Congratulations to K/1/2 class for being the winning class for the Term 1 attendance challenge. K/1/2 had the most days at school with full attendance last term. Ice-cream cones were enjoyed to celebrate. Yum! Can they achieve this again for Term 2 or will 3-6 take the lead?
Fortnightly Awards
Term 2 - Week 4
K - 2 Class
Tom Duckett for great blending of sounds.
3-4 Class
Jaxon Bennett for fabulous effort and progress in writing and maths learning.
5-6 Class
Nikita Cheers for improved handwriting.
Year 6 - CoS Leadership Day
Lucy and Quill had a great time attending the Year 6 Student Leadership Day at the Coffs Coast Adventure Centre at Bonville on Friday 12 May.
The day commenced with guest speaker, Mr Richard Field who spoke with us about his journey to become a safari guide in Botswana. He explored skills needed to be leaders, such as moving out of our comfort zone, talking and working with people we don't know and building connections. An interesting and engaging way to start the day.
Students then broke into groups to participate in some fun activities to explore team work, to learn to take risks and trust others.
Thank you to Nickey McDowell for transporting us to and from Bonville.
Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) Update
Who would have thought that marshmallows and spaghetti can be used for a construction activity? Our Friday STEM group were put to the test when they were given only 20 strands of spaghetti to build a tower strong enough to hold a marshmallow. The excitement was next level!
Gumbaynggirr Language Learning
K-2 enjoy their language lessons with Leslie each week. We have been learning the names of body parts, as well as action words, numbers 0-3 and animal names.
3-6 have been having fun learning Gumbaynggirr language for family members and the culture around what to call different people in your family and why. They have also been learning to introduce themselves and some action words to help us play games like Hatchi Patchi and Simon Says.
Tennis for Sport
Our weekly tennis lessons kicked off last week. Coach Allan from Harbour Tennis is visiting our school this term as part of the Sporting Schools program. Stay tuned for more hot shots!
Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden News
Week 2
This week we weeded, dug, improved the soil and planted more broccoli seedlings as well as broad bean seeds. We also collected fennel seeds and planted turnip seeds. We harvested silverbeet, shallots, eggs, beans, carrots, parsnips, and a variety of herbs.
In the kitchen we cooked vegetable taco filling, homemade soft bread rolls and a variety of salad toppings. We also made lemon shortbread biscuits for dessert.
Cooking Award: Well done to Bailey Freeman, who was our Week 2 Cooking Award winner.
Week 3
We continued to clean up old summer plantings and planted carrot, parsnip, radish and pea seeds. We also added some additional soil to one of our herb beds. We harvested eggs, shallots, kale, silverbeet, carrots, cherry tomatoes, chillies and herbs.
In the kitchen we cooked extruded pasta bucatini with two sauces - roasted carrot and tomato balsamic sauce and a cheesy green kale sauce, as well as zucchini fritters and banana muffins for dessert.
Cooking Award: We had three award winners last week in cooking. Well done to Amber Baff, Nash Chambeyron and Tom Duckett.
Preschool Afternoons
Please come along and join us this Wednesday 17 May for our preschool afternoons from 1.30pm to 3.15pm.
