From the Head of Primary

Just like that we are halfway through Term Three! Our Year Five students have all returned safely from camp and it’s been wonderful to see each class venturing to the Wild Space in preparation for our much-anticipated Science Day next Wednesday, coinciding nicely with the ‘Read, Grow, Inspire’ Book Week theme. Mrs Gouldthorp and Ms Couper have been working hard to bring to us a fabulous week of nature, science and books. Keep tending to the propagation science experiments that are due to come in on Wednesday and sourcing costumes for the widely anticipated Book Week Parade on Thursday. Tomorrow our Year Six students are running some fun House activities to lead us into the long weekend; students are encouraged to wear their House shirts.

Many of our students have been excelling on the sporting field in the past two weeks with our Katanning netball teams narrowly missing out on the boys’ and girls’ titles and our Docker’s Shield team bringing home the silverware in style on Tuesday. Thank you, Mr Berryman, Mrs De Jonge, Mrs Cameron and Ms Nichols, for ably preparing and taking away our netball teams, and a big thanks and well done to Mr Hardey for coaching our AFL team to win.

Congratulations to Samuel Forgus (Year Four), Kalarney Williams (Year Six) and Malachy Williams (Year Four) on their efforts swimming at HBF Stadium on the weekend to record state times, PBs and medals – well done boys!

Year Five Camp – Pemberton

A big thank you, Ms Lanaux-Neale, Mr Berryman and Ms Youens for safely navigating our students through Year Five camp. The final instalments of the Pemberton Trek Voyager are below!

The Pemberton Trek Voyager Day Two

Day two hit the target! Our well-rested girls and slightly less-rested boys, emerged to a picturesque misty Pemberton morning, transfixed by the fandangle machine that transported fresh bread through a heating mechanism to turn it into toast! In Charlie’s words “fancy!”.

Archery and mountain biking filled our morning. A special mention to Poppy who ruthlessly splayed an avocado for 100 points in archery and George who tackled the track, on and off, the bike. Damper was made and eaten, around a cosy fire, and nachos filled our bellies.

The fire hi-jinx didn’t stop there with an after-dinner snack of roasted marshmallows. We ended the night with an early birthday celebration for Ruth with glow sticks, chocolate, popcorn and a movie.

The Pemberton Trek Voyager Day Three

Dam! That’s a big Brook: Day Three (Insert David Attenborough voice here) Imagine a pristine natural landscape where ducks flock in abundance and the water glistens with mirror-perfect reflections. The Karri trees grow tall and strong in all their splendour. You hear the soft bubbling of the Warren River guide you to the soft sandy beachside of Big Brook Dam … then we arrived. Our crew had an absolute blast on their canoes, journeying into the water with some impressive teamwork and skill. They paddled their hearts out to reach the jetty and viewed some beautiful natural sights. I think we even gained the title of ‘first ever GSG group to not have a capsized canoe’! Our raft building stretched our communication and critical thinking skills. Several very creative vessels graced the water and battled it out in the ‘will it sink?’ relay. Our student-written quiz finished our night with maths, arts, sport and general knowledge questions. The charade round was a particular highlight for the teachers to watch. We finally wended our way to our beds happily knowing that tomorrow was going to return us back into the arms of our loved ones. See you soon.

Values and Stars of the Week

Our whole school value for the following fortnight is Integrity – being trustworthy and honest. Congratulations to our wonderful Primary School students who have been awarded for demonstrating our school value last week of commitment.

Sebastian Jacobs, Olivia Turrill, Nina De Giambattista, Pippa Hancock, Bo Anning, Amy Lee, Edith De Jonge and Fraser Lester.

Well done to our ECC Stars of the Week: Jemima Lester, Finn De Snoo, Sonny Williamson and Harriet Stan-Bishop.

Upcoming Events

Week Five

House Activities Friday (House shirts)

Week Six

Pupil Free Day – Monday

Book week – ‘Read, Grow, Inspire’ theme – linked with Science Day

Science Day – Wednesday, please bring in your projects!

Book Week Dress Up Day – Thursday

Year Four Chapel – 2.30pm in the Hall

Wishing you a restful long weekend. I look forward to welcoming families back on Tuesday.

Mrs Leah Field | Head of Primary

Great Southern West Coast Fever Regional Netball Carnival

On Friday 4 August two teams of Year Six students and three Secondary School Umpires attended the Great Southern West Coast Fever Regional Netball Carnival held in Katanning. After an early morning start, students were in fine form on the bus ready for the exciting day ahead.

Throughout the day all students performed admirably for their team and school. Both teams started off strongly with confident wins against their opposition.

The girls showed character and grit throughout the tournament and nearly managed to make it to the grand final just missing out on percentage in the end. The boys team went the day undefeated and managed to make it to the grand final. They came up against a strong Denmark team and just fell short of clinching the win.

I would like to express my thanks and gratitude to the three Secondary School umpires, Poet Smargiassi, Liesel Freebury and Lucy Mackenzie who umpired tremendously well throughout the day. Also to Mrs Deb De Jonge for coaching the girls and to Mrs Caroline Cameron for assisting both teams throughout the day.

Dockers Shield

On Tuesday 15 August, the Primary School AFL team made up of Years Five and Six students took to Centennial Park Ovals to play in the annual Dockers Shield Cup. The bus trip there was full of excitement and anticipation along with a few nerves.

Mr Hardey and I, along with a few loyal parent supporters were very impressed with the team's strong team mentality and diligence to perform and compete against some strong opposition throughout the day. The team, led by team Captain Tyler Ravenhill, managed to go undefeated throughout the day claiming the Dockers Shield trophy for the first time in the school's history.

I extend my thanks and congratulations to Mr Hardey and the team for a wonderful day of football.

Mr Stephen Berryman | Primary School Teacher & Sports Coordinator

Great Southern Griffins