Around the School

PCYC Fit for Life in Term 4

Term 3 was another strong term for the PCYC Fit for Life program at Guyra Central School. 

Congratulations to Cameron Batt, Anja McIlwain & Tyler Bourke who were presented with PCYC shirts in recognition of their self-discipline, respect, and commitment to the Fit for Life Program over Term 3. Thank you to Keith Robinson and Brad Killen from PCYC for making the trip to Guyra each week to run the Fit for Life sessions, and to Eunice Blair for her dedication and support of the program.

This free, weekly program focuses on both physical fitness and social engagement, with students improving their boxing skills and connecting with their peers. It’s an excellent way to start the day!

The PCYC Fit for Life boxing and fitness program kicked off again for Term 4 on Tuesday of Week 2 (18th October 2022) at 7.30am in the GCS gymnasium. Students of all ages are encouraged to attend! Please contact the school if you would like any further information 6779 0844.

Early Stage 1 Rainbow Gymnastics

Early Stage 1 Rainbow has visited the Armidale Gymnastics Club for the first 3 weeks of Term 4. They have worked through rotations each week learning different locomotor movements. Early Stage 1 Rainbow were able to try out a range of apparatus' including the beams, vault and rings. The climbing wall and trampolines were favourites amongst the children.

Dylan from Armidale Gymnastics was a fantastic teacher, and we thank both him and Mr O'Hara for their assistance in organising our gymnastics visits.

Anna Fletcher - Early Stage 1 Rainbow                          A Day on The Farm

Anna Fletcher wrote a book one afternoon for fun. She utilised a range of sentence conventions including spelling, capitalisation, grammar, punctuation and lovely handwriting that she has developed over the past year in Kindergarten. Anna was very proud telling people that she was the author AND illustrator of a book called ‘A Day on The Farm’. 

Ellie Mitchell - 2022 CWA Guyra Evening Branch Scholarship 

Ellie Mitchell was awarded the 2022 CWA Guyra Evening Branch Scholarship and as part of this scholarship we were able to offer Ellie several guest speaking roles over the last year. Ellie has spoken at our International Women’s Day morning tea at Black Mountain Nursery, our Women’s Health morning tea, and most recently at the NSW Rural Women’s Network (RWN), Rural Women’s Day event at Ben Lomond. Ellie speaks with passion, pride and conviction about being a young women in rural NSW with aspirations of a career in agriculture. We are extremely proud of Ellie’s achievements this year and are grateful to have her as an active member of our CWA Branch.

The CWA Guyra Evening Branch Scholarship is open to girls entering Year 11 at Guyra Central School in 2023 who wish to pursue a career in agriculture, and applications are now open. 

Please see Mrs Smith for more information or email: cwaguyraeveningbranch@gmail.com

Ms Anne Starr 

CWA Guyra Evening Branch 

Guyra Central School is incredibly proud of all the fantastic work Ellie is doing in our school community.  Here is what Ellie had to say about her journey so far and what she hopes for the future;

'At the beginning of the year, I was lucky enough to be granted a scholarship through my local Guyra Country Women’s Association to assist me in my desired career of Agriculture. Little did I know what broader opportunities would arise from it. Not only have I gained confidence, met new and like-minded people, had the opportunity to travel to some beautiful locations and been able to spread awareness of topics I’m passionate about such as mental health and women in agriculture, the academic side such as public speaking experience and further pathways has been life changing. With the support of the CWA and my local community I intend to continue to inspire people young and old with the knowledge I’ve gained and the experience I’ve been so fortunately granted. Career wise, I plan to complete my high school education at Guyra Central School before heading north to experience life on a cattle station and finally returning home to complete a university degree in Agricultural Science and potentially Psychology. I would not be where I am today without the ongoing encouragement of those around me and for that I am extremely grateful, I am apart of such a thriving and kind community that have provided me with the world at my doorstep and it is so rewarding to be able to give back .'

Early Stage 1 Rainbow -Teddy Bear's Picnic Adventure 

Kindergarten had a fabulous day at Thalgarrah Educational Centre’s Teddy Bear’s Picnic!

The day included a bus trip, teddy bear games, meeting a Spiny Leaf Insect, more bear games, a catered morning tea, bush walking- finding clues where Kindergarten’s bears took their lunchboxes and finally a Teddy Bear’s Picnic!!! 

 Enjoy these gorgeous photos from the day!

Here is what our Early Stage 1 Rainbow students had to say about their 'Teddy Bears Picnic' adventure: 

Annabelle Fletcher  - "My favourite  thing was hunting for our lunch because I could read the paw clues to find our Teddy Bears."

Malakai Pixton - "Finding our Teddy Bears, it took a long time!"

Val Alefosio - "Finding our Teddy Bears."

Jack Sutton - "My favourite part was eating the cupcakes because they had a Teddy Bear on them and chocolate on the back of them!"

Willow Vickery - "I liked finding the Teddy Bears and eating the cupcakes too!"

Lachlan - ""The morning tea was fun because I had some vegetables, cake and fruit."

Aron Ashman - " I got to bring my most favourite Teddy!"

Aria Mayled - " I liked when we had to find our Teddy Bears and have our lunch.  We also got to play games!"

Nicko Hutton - "My favourite part was having to find my lunch after the Teddy Bears took it!"

Stage 5 Science

Check out the work Stage 5 have been doing with Mr Galvin! 

Stage 5 Science have been completing their unit on chemical reactions, corrosion, acids and bases. 

Under 16s Boys Rugby League Squad nominated for 'Junior Team of the Year'

The Under 16 Boys' Rugby League Squad have been nominated for the Junior Team of the Year after their very successful winning the CHSSA Small Schools State Chamionships in Bathurst.  Many of the squad continued their success, taking out the CHSSA Central Schools State Championships in the Rugby League 9's competition and the Touch State Championships.  

The awards night was held at the Armidale Bowling Club on Thursday 17th November 2022.  It was fantastic for our students to be recognised for their sporting achievements during 2022. 

Thank you to Mr Jeremy Galvin, Ms Wendy Wilson, Mr Jason Allwood, Mr Angus Goodwinhill who each attended the awards with our 16 Boys Rugby League Squad. 

'Waringa Lamb Marking Day'

The Primary Industries class attended an excursion to "Waringa" to gain industry experience for a day with lamb marking. The students were very impressive and improved their lamb marking skills immensely over the day of experience. 

Many thanks to Laurie Smith for sharing his skill and knowledge with the students and to Gwyn Pearson for also attending and supporting the excursion.

Rebecca Smith

Primary Industries Teacher

Stage 3 Mini Golf = Angles 

Stage 3 have been busy learning about angles in Mathematics and and were took the opportunity on a beautiful spring day to put their knowledge to the test with a practical lesson on angles, playing Mini Golf.

Our students really enjoyed taking their mathematics lesson to the next level, out of the classroom and into the community.

Thank you to Guyra Bowling Club for allowing Stage 3 to use their Mini Golf course.

Stage 4 Coffs Harbour Adventure Centre Excursion 

We set of on our adventure leaving Guyra Central School at 8:00 o'clock and stopped at Dorrigo for a quick break to stretch our legs and go to the toilet. We continued our journey and our next stop was in Coffs Harbour to visit the Dolphin Conservation Marine Park. We had lunch near the water and  we had a little talk about marine life and what noises they make.  We enjoyed a dolphin show, they had sea lions and a Cockatoo and we went to see some turtles. We couldn't touch them though because they were all sick. To finsih off our Dolphin Conservation Marine Park experience we spent time with penguins, fish and sharks. After the Marine Park we left and went to where we were Camping, Coffs Harbour Adventure Centre.

Upon arrival to the Coffs Harbour Adventure Centre, the co-ordinators explained the rules we needed to abide by at the basketball court and explained that we needed that to stay on certain parts of the property. The centre used music as a way of letting us know if it was a meal time or that an activity was about to take place.  Between meal times and activities  we spent time in the cabins. All the cabins were bunk beds, so everyone had a bed. 

The food was great, the first night we had spagehetti bolgnaise for dinner followed by a game called 'Capture the Flag'.  We retired to our cabins in anticipation for the following day and all of the activities Miss Condrick had planned for us. 

We woke up early and waited for the music to let us know that breakfast was ready.  We enjoyed toast, cereal, butter, jam or Vegemite before we set off on our way to 'Surfing school'. We were split into two groups.  The first group started the surfing lessons surfing straight away.  I don't think any of us actually knew how to surf so we spent lots of time practicing before we attempted to surf for real.  We went out pretty far out to surf , luckily  it was one of those beaches where you can go out far and it's still very shallow. We were able to touch the bottom at all times but the waves just got bigger and bigger. It was actually really hard to surf.

We headed back to camp after we completed 'Surf School'  to have lunch (wraps, fruit and biscuits). 

Our next activity was the 'Mod Run' which was great fun.  The 'Mod Run' is a big obstacle course full of mud. After getting exteremly muddy, we all showered and either relaxed in the cabins or played basketball. 

Sausages, mashed potatoes and vegetables was on the menu for dinner before we sat around a campfire telling stories before bed.

The next day we packed up our rooms, got our bags ready to go on the bus. We had eggs bacon and hash browns breakfast before heading to the 'Big Banana' to do ice skating, tobogganing and laser tag. 

After an action packed three days hopped on the bus to make our journey home. On behalf of Year 7 and 8, we would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to Miss Condrick, Mr Goodwinhill, Eunice Blair, Jason Allwood and our peer support leaders from year 11 for taking us on our Coffs Coast Adventure.  We really appreciate the time and effort each of you put into making our trip enjoyable.  

Darcy Grills and James Grills

Big Picture - Year 7

'Dreaming with eyes open......' 

Each year since 1945 the CBCA has brought children and books together across Australia through CBCA Book Week. During this time schools and public libraries spend one glorious week celebrating books and Australian children's authors and illustrators. This years theme 'Dreaming with eyes open.......'., allowed for reflection of Australia's First Nations People and their rich story based culture.  Our traditional book week dress-up was the perfect occasion for our students to bring their favourite book characters to life by becoming them for a day. 

With the aim to encourage a love of reading, students and staff  across our school showed their sense of curiosity, imagination and their passion for literature for our Book Week Parade this year.  From pigs and caterpillars to minions and wizards, we had a wonderful day celebrating Book Week.  

Our Scholastic Book Fair was back this year!  Thank you to all of our students and their families along with our staff who supported our Book Fair.   Our Library was able to purchase $485.00 worth of new resources for our Library from our Book Fair sales.  We look forward to our students borrowing our new resources and continuing their passion for literature. 

Northern Schools Steer Competition

Our Agriculture students were given the opportunity to join students from across the district and attend the 2022 Northern Schools Steer Competition at Manilla last week.  

The competition involves preparing, parading and evaluating 70 steers and heifers on the hook in three levels of competition - junior , intermediate and senior and unled cattle judging.   The criteria for judging students in the competition are confidence and attention to their stock, skill and technique and softness of hand.  

Guyra Central School finished the competition on a high, with many students  talents being recognised and receiving ribbons for their efforts.  

Mrs Rebecca Smith (Agriculture  teacher) spoke highly about our attending students, their efforts and commitment during the competition. 

 "We had a fantastic time with 20 + schools from across the state in attendance and over 200 students from year 7-12. The results for our school were - "Curly" came first in his Medium weight heat and "Dog" made it to the finals but was unplaced. Ellie Mitchell came 6th in the junior paraders and Ashley Donnelly came 4th in the junior judging. It was a great show and the students were exemplary in every way with many participating in their first show. They were a pleasure to take away on excursion and their teamwork and the way the seniors mentored our younger students was so pleasing to witness. Many thanks to Jason Eddy for his work to feed and prepare the cattle for this show. They were beautifully finished and as good as they could be. Many thanks also to Gwyn Pearson for her assistance and total support for our students whilst on excursion. Her input is very appreciated by staff and students alike. It has been a great finish for our Agriculture course and we look forward to doing it all again next year."

What a high note to finish Agriculture at Guyra Central School on for 2022.  Guyra Central School would like to take this opportunity to express our gratitude to Mrs Rebecca Smith for the ongoing support and opportunities she gives to our Agriculture students to pursue their interests in their desired field.  

A full story on the Northern Schools Steer Competition will be featured in The Land.