Primary School News

Primary School News

Dear Families and Students,

We have had a wonderful Term One, with many community celebrations and events. The Term started with the wonderful Community Welcome Pizza/Picnic, where we came together to welcome new families and reconnect with old ones. That was followed by the wonderful Iftar dinner celebrations, featuring delicious food and an opportunity for community members and our families to get to know each other.

This week, on Tuesday, we celebrated our unique school with our Open Day. Showcasing the great work we do at Collingwood College and sharing our passion for education with the broader community. A huge thank you to the teachers and the students who supported Open Day and the tours.

We have also managed to fit in the swimming carnival, Gala Day, NAPLAN, an unforgettable Class 6 sailing camp, an exciting Grade 5/6 Makerspace project, and Harmony Week, celebrating our diverse community.

We have several exciting events planned for Term Two. A soccer coach from Melbourne Victory is coming in to support our ever-growing soccer team. For the first time, the Primary school will run its own Junior School Representative Council (JSRC), which will work collaboratively with the Senior SRC members to ensure the voice of the Primary school students is heard loud and clear.

In Week Three of Term Two, on Monday night, April 28th, we are excited to host a workshop by Marc Armitage. Marc is a well-known Play researcher, consultant, and advocate for the importance of play and its links to social and emotional development. The workshop will examine "weapons, superheroes, and play fighting." An area that educators of children and parents have been discussing for centuries! Tickets can be purchased through https://www.marc-armitage.com/

In Term Two, 2026, Prep enrollments will open, and we will begin running our personalised Steiner and Main Program prep tours. Please let family and friends know that tours can be booked through our website or by contacting the front office. If you have a child starting Prep next year, please contact us to request an enrollment form as soon as possible.

I hope everyone has a relaxing time away from school, and I look forward to seeing you in Term Two and hearing about the adventures you might have experienced in the two weeks of school holidays.

Take care,

See you in Term Two.

Sormeh

Sormeh Afkari

Assistant Principal Primary

Primary Art

Dancing

The main primary school has been choreographing their own dance pieces. The students have worked well and have an exciting performance prepared for Term 2. Come along on Monday 5th of May at 2.25pm in the Theatre. Really excited to see what they have to present.

Painting

The whole main Primary School has been exploring painting. Some students have painted on paper while others have used canvases with amazing results. Well done to all.

Angela Dionysopoulos

Primary Art/Performing Arts

Class 5/6 Makerspace

The Grade 5/6 students in Mainstream have spent Term 1 working on their Makerspace project. As part of their learning journey, some students have written recounts to share their experiences.

Makerspace Mishap

Suddenly, the motor whirred to life.

“It’s working!” I exclaimed. However, it didn’t last long. The motor spluttered, and with a final whirr ground to a halt.

I was at the makerspace workshop, run by Greg Giannis. We were taking things apart and making things with the pieces.I had been building up to this moment since the start of the term, when the workshop started. I was making a small car out of a microwave door, wheels from a Mario toy and a lot of hot glue!

Greg came over to me “Do you need a hand, Max?” I explained to him about the situation. He thought about it for a while, and then was dragged away by a crowd of demanding children. 

He shouted over the noise “ I’ll get back to you!”

  I was stumped. Nothing seemed to be working! The glue gun was jammed, the motor had stopped and the wheels were falling off. I looked at the clock and gasped. There were only ten minutes left before we were showing our creations to other classes! The metal on my desk reflected the sun, blinding me. Other people's laughs and shouts filled my ears as they put the finishing touches to their creations. I looked at my falling apart, small, bland car and sighed.

As I sat, waiting for an answer to come to me, the seconds passed as quickly as lightning. Seemingly immediately, only five minutes were left. Something clicked. I had to do this! I worked quickly, tightening the wheels and getting another glue gun. The glue burnt my hands, but I had to do this. Dust was in the air, the musty smell filling my nose.I pressed on, determination in my eyes. Almost everything was done, however, the answer to the problem of the motor eluded me. People were starting to trickle out of the room, taking their finished products upstairs. Greg had also gone, helping a student with their heavy creation. No one was going to help me.

I realised with a jolt that I didn’t have to make the car move. It still looked pretty cool. So, I took out the wires and the motor and spent the last minute making it look better. Later on, at the exhibition, people seemed to like my work. I told them about the story and how I had learnt that even if something doesn’t do its intended purpose, it can serve a different purpose that can be good as well.

Max North 5/6A

The robot disaster!

“NOT AGAIN!,” cried Trixie and I in chorus.

Every time it happened again and again, Monday after Monday, our robot was RUINED!  

This was our last week of school and our last Monday of makerspace.

Makerspace is all about working together with electronics and making some recycled stuff.

But now for the eighth time our robot made out of a speaker lost its nose AGAIN!

Me and my partner Trixie were furious! 

So we just kept going.

Glueing,screwing and renewing until 1.2 Bep Enter (our robot) was ready 

We took our creations upstairs for the exhibition.

We waited SO LONG for the other class to come in, it was so annoying because I just wanted to get it started and I was really excited for it and we worked really hard.

But finally they came around and looked at our amazing creations.

After the exhibition I was about to put my robot in my bag when it fell and 1.2 Bep Enter fell on the floor and broke!!!! 

I felt tears rolling down my face as I cried.The screaming of the classroom faded away. I saw my broken robot on the floor.

And then the robot’s nose fell of again and me and Trixie laughed! 

Based off a true story - Gilly Free O’Donoghue 5/6A

Class 6C Steiner Sailing Camp

In mid-March Class 6 Steiner went on a 3-day sailing camp in Flinders. Guided by the expert tuition of Oscar, Tom and Josh from Smooth Sailing, the class leapt straight into learning the many skills involved. From knot-tying and setting up the boats, to the intricacies involved in manoeuvring the sailing boats around the bay in all kinds of winds, the students rose to meet the challenges, becoming proficient beginner sailors after an intensive three days. Lessons in teamwork, resilience and persistence, the class enjoyed dreamy moon rises over the waters and spectacular sunrises. Big thanks to the volunteers Felix, Steve and our outdoor education expert Georgia. Well done 6C!

Class 6 Steiner 2024

Collingwood College

Receive the children in reverence, educate them in love, 

and send them forth in freedom. 

- Rudolf Steiner

Jo Windred

Class 6C Teacher

Outside Hours School Care (OHSC) - Bookings Now Open for TheirCare 

Dear Parents/Guardians,

We are pleased to announce that the booking calendar for Collingwood College TheirCare is now open.

The first day of operations will be on the 22nd of April 2025.

To manage your bookings, kindly log in to your parent portal and access your booking calendar located at the bottom of your dashboard. Please ensure that your account is complete for the calendar to appear.

Additionally, we would like to provide you with an update regarding your payments and childcare subsidy.

Typically, we charge your out-of-pocket fees at the end of each week (in arrears). However, as Collingwood College TheirCare is a new service with us, there is a transition period for Centrelink to process the subsidy transfer.

Centrelink is currently in the process of transferring the service, and until this transition is complete, we are unable to determine the exact amount of out-of-pocket charges. Therefore, we anticipate commencing charges once Centrelink has processed the Child Care Subsidy (CCS).

Once the transition is finalised, you will receive a system-generated email prompting you to log into your Centrelink account (via MyGov) to confirm your details for the service, ensuring that the subsidy is correctly applied to your account.

We wanted to inform you of this process in advance, should you be expecting a direct debit or enrolment notice.

Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact our Support Team during office hours at 1300 072 410.

Warm regards,

The Team at TheirCare

INSTRUMENTS FOR SALE (updated 27 October) - Contact Person - Steve Wu

Please click on the attachment below to see a list of Stringed instruments for sale. If you have an instrument for sale please email Steve at:  fengchih.09@gmail.com

COLLINGWOOD COLLEGE ON FACEBOOK AND INSTAGRAM 

Collingwood College is online! Feel free to follow us on: 

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/collingwood.college/ and like us on our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/collingwood.vic.edu.au/ to keep up to date with everything that our school has to offer our students and the community.