Performing Arts

   Communicating with the Specialist Team

We look forward to partnering with you in 2025, and welcome your input:

Penelope Lang (Performing Arts) penelope.lang@education.vic.gov.au 

Wominjeka!

Whole School Christmas Concert

Thursday 4th December, 6.00pm - 8.00pm (approx)

ON THE OVAL!

If you have not already heard the exciting news, we will be moving our concert down onto the oval this year. We think this will make the evening more enjoyable for everyone! 

You are more than welcome to bring blankets or chairs to sit on and the students will still be sitting with their classes and teachers at the front of the oval. So that everyone can see, it would be great if people with chairs could sit further towards the back and people on blankets can sit closer to the stage. 

This year we will be selling Zooper Doopers and lollies so don't forget to bring some gold coins. You are welcome to bring a picnic dinner and please remember this event is strictly ALCOHOL FREE. 

Students can make their way straight to their class seats (this will be signed and staff will be there to assist). Students are welcome to bring a small blanket or pillow to sit on and are encouraged to bring water. Please make sure your child has eaten before 6.00pm so we can keep movement during the concert to a minimum. All toilet visits will be managed by staff.

The Adventure Play Area on the oval will be completely out of bounds from 3.00pm to 8.00pm. This is our performance space for the evening and, as such, will have staging, props, decorations and sound equipment set up. Please supervise your children to ensure they do not walk/play in this space.

Costume Suggestions

As mentioned in our previous Newsletter, each class has been given some 'costume' suggestions for their performance. These are only suggestions and not a requirement. It is absolutely fine if your child wears 'Christmas' colours to the concert, namely red, green, silver, gold and a bit (or a lot) of tinsel. Please also ensure your child wears sensible shoes, as there will be a lot of dancing on the grass this year!

Foundation: They are dancing as Christmas Trees. They are welcome to dress as a tree, or wear a tree hat, green t-shirt with tinsel and baubles etc. They are also doing a second song with their buddies and are welcome to add a Santa hat for this if they wish. They will also be our incredible 'Trees of Wisdom' but we will add a little touch of green to them for this. Mrs Dam and Mrs Peters are going to be busy!

Level One: They are singing about dinosaurs so might like to wear anything linked to that. Some students have brought in some dinosaur dress ups (which is great). Maybe just get them to check they can still dance in them! They also use a length of ribbon in their dance (approx 70cm) I can provide this but they might like to bring their own (some have said they want dinosaur ribbon!)

Level Two: These talented students will be 'rockin around in Christmas pjs' so it would be GREAT if this class could wear Christmas pyjamas. They can be any length/style but they need to be able to dance in them. Please no Christmas slippers as they might get a bit dirty on the oval.

Level Three and Four: Any type of Santa hat would be totally amazing. Full Santa dress ups are also welcomed!

Level Five and Six: There are no specific 'costume' requirements for the Year Five/Six students but they are welcome to get dressed up as a Christmas rapper (caps, bling, sunnies etc) if they wish. Lots of Christmas colours and tinsel welcome.

Do they Know It's Christmas Time?

Our school choir, (with some special guests) will be performing the iconic Band Aid song, 'Do they Know It's Christmas Time?' at our concert. To coincide with this, we will be supporting the Foothills Community Care with their Giving Tree to support families in surrounding communities who are doing it tough.  I have discussed this in all of my Performing Arts lessons and have had some very rich conversations about empathy and gratitude. It has been wonderful to see so many items already donated. Please keep them coming in.

Suggested donations include:

🎁 New, unwrapped presents for primary-aged children

🥫 Non-perishable food items for care packages. See the attached Reverse Advent Calendar for some ideas.

We will collect donations up until the night of the Christmas concert. Please let me know if you can assist us in collecting the donated items for delivery and we thank you in advance for your kindness. Every little bit helps.

Upwey South's Got Talent

We are very excited to be running Upwey South's Got Talent again. As in previous years, there are TWO categories for entries, namely a JUNIOR category and a SENIOR category. Your child can only enter once and, if they are performing with a sibling or a friend from another year level, they can pick which category they wish to enter. For example, if someone in Year One is entering a talent act with another person from Year Four, they can either enter their act in the junior OR senior category, but NOT in both. 

The competition is only open to Upwey South Primary School students, but family members can assist with the filming etc. Remember, the 'talent' can be anything from singing, dancing, acting, telling jokes, mime, cooking, bmx riding, gymnastics, aerobics, Rubik cubing, cooking, magic, poetry reading and much more. The winners (as voted for by the students) will be announced at our final assembly.

To enter you must use GOOGLE CLASSROOM. Your child's classroom teacher will provide you with their login details if they do not already have them. Please put your child's name and class in the file name when you upload their entry. The classroom codes are as follows:

USGT SENIOR - zagvdimn

USGT JUNIOR - 3ds4kifj

Entries close on Monday 1st December at 9.00am

IN OUR PERFORMING ARTS ROOM

All the students have been continuing to rehearse their songs for our Christmas concert. We have been battling the weather over the last few weeks and the rain has prevented us from rehearsing outside. Some classes had the chance to duck out in between showers! We have been fine tuning our lines and spaces, and are looking forward to heading over to 3MDR to record the songs. The students will sing along on the night to their recorded voices. We are getting very very excited and can't wait to celebrate with you on Thursday 4th December.

Instrumental Concert

If your child is currently learning an instrument and wishes to perform in the Groove Foundations instrumental concert, please make sure you have read the email from Amaris as to which session your child is playing at. See below for a copy of the communication:

Here are the guidelines for session times for our Student Concert on Thursday 27 November. To ensure each session is kept within time, and to align with each teacher's availability, the following session groups have been planned.

Please take note of which session your child(ren) is/are scheduled in and please let your teacher know if you need to be scheduled in the other session instead.

Session 1 (3:45-4:45)

Pamela's students (Pamela won't be present)

Maddy's Students

Rohan's Students

Ayesha's Students

Session 2 (5-6pm)

Justin's Students

Treelo's Students (Treelo will also be present for both sessions)

Instrumental Lessons

Our school's Instrumental Program, now being managed by Amaris Lee-David, will continue to offer lessons on most instruments and will be retaining the outstanding team of musicians. The first 'trial' lesson is free of charge and your child will get the opportunity to perform in an end of year instrumental concert if they want to. You also have the option of choosing a lesson during the recess breaks if you would prefer that your child is not taken out of his or her class lessons. Feel free to contact Amaris info@groovefoundations.comfor more information.