Sports, Co Curricular & Year 6 Group Photograph - MSP Photography

Next week on Thursday, 11 September we will hold Sports, Co Curricular & the Year 6 Group Photographs.

Students are to wear correct Winter uniform (jumpers will be removed for the photographs).

No sports uniform and No Year 6 Shirts to be worn.

Please ensure your child has the correct winter uniform, please refer to our uniform guidelines.

Families will be notified and provided with a link to order these photographs when it becomes available.

Year 6 Canberra Camp

Our students have just returned from an exciting education tour of the national capital, where they engaged in a range of enriching programs focused on Australia’s history, culture, heritage, and democracy. This experience provided valuable insights into our nation’s civic life and the importance of active citizenship. We are grateful for the support of the Australian Government, which contributed $30.00 per student through the Parliament and Civics Education Rebate program to help families with the cost of this memorable excursion.

What our Year 6 students had to say about camp

This year’s Canberra Camp was an educating and exhilarating experience for everyone in Year 6. Places we visited included Mount Ainsley, New Parliament House, Old Parliament House (The Museum of Australian Democracy/ The Australian Electoral Commission), The National Capital Exhibition, The War Memorial, The Royal Australian Mint, and Cockington Green Gardens, a particular highlight being Questacon.

When we arrived at Canberra, we kicked off our adventure with a picturesque climb to the Mount Ainsley viewing-point, where we saw the geometric layout of the Canberra triangle, which we soon learnt about at the National Capital Exhibition where we gained information about how Canberra was designed and chosen as the Australian capital.

Before settling in at our accommodation, we visited The New Parliament House where we were immersed in a live experience of how The House of Representatives functioned, before being absolutely captivated by an extremely heated argument between senators in the Senate. After this we roleplayed parliament and discussed the bill of raising the price of sugary drinks.

On the night of the first day we ventured into the Australian Institute of Sport where we enjoyed many cool simulations sports like skeleton, snowboarding and skiing as well as the usual like basketball and football.

After a decent night of sleep we set off to Old Parliament House where we learnt about the history of democracy and how voting is administered in Australia.

Visiting the War Memorial, we were immediately taken on a guided tour, where we saw well-preserved vehicles from different wars, along with models representing the contributions of Australian soldiers that helped make Australia what it is today.

Then, catching a bus trip to the breathtaking Arboretum where we did some orienteering, we walked through the sososososososo scenic and beautiful view from the gardens leading down to a view of Canberra and mountain ranges lying at the horizon.

That night Questacon was what everyone was looking forward to and it certainly delivered. We were captivated by the exhibitions and immersed in the science of it all before buying fascinating items at the gift shop, definitely making it the highlight of the trip.

On the final day of Canberra, everyone was taking in the final few hours of our time there and we certainly enjoyed the day’s activities. First we went to the Royal Australian Mint where we explored the factory and learnt about the history of the Australian Dollar and how it evolved. In the gift shop, many of us minted our own special coins engraved with an uncirculated pattern signifying the 60th anniversary of the RAM.

After this we went to Cockington Green where we explored the miniature model villages and famous buildings from countries around the globe as well as taking a fun mini train ride around the area.

Having eaten our lunch, we took the long trip back to Sydney but it seemed like only a blink of an eye as we played and talked all the way home.

Overall the Canberra camp was an amazing experience where we all learnt lots of new things to accompany our learning in our classrooms, and most importantly had a really good time.

By Edward H & Richard L (Solar 2)

At 5:15am, most of the Year Sixes of Chatswood Public had lined up, barely keeping their tired eyes open. The excitement had yet to start, as the next three days we’d be in Canberra, ACT. Hundreds of excited smiles and the chatter of students echoed throughout the otherwise empty school, as loving parents hugged their squealing children.

The first day was mostly the ride there, with us - Coach 2 - chatting enthusiastically and taking quiet naps. As I puffed and wheezed while blowing up my air pillow, I spied us leaving Sydney; NSW; and eventually crossing the border line and entering Canberra, visiting Mount Ainslie and the National Capital exhibition.

We received detailed guided tours throughout the Parliament House and even did a roleplay! I found it interesting to watch the politicians debate new bills and laws. We also got sorted into our motel rooms and visited the sport simulations of The Australian Institute of Sport.

On day 2, we stopped by at the National Electorate Education centre, Museum of Aussie Democracy (Old Parliament House) and many more places, including Questacon. Many people called Questacon the “highlight of the trip”, because we were given the freedom to visit interesting exhibitions and play around interactively. For once, science was FUN!

The final day didn’t disappoint! The Royal Mint tour was one of the most interesting tours of the trip! Coach 2 learned about the history of the aussie currency, its role and importance in our history. The Cockington Green Gardens were an amazing (and iconic) end to our trip, and as we packed up our bags and took a last glance at our comfortable accommodation, we felt satisfied about everything we did.

Emma B in Waratah 3

Samuel has visited Canberra before on a 2022 or 2023 trip. But when he gets into another Canberra camp, Samuel learns more about the parts of Canberra he never knew. Before this, however, is chaos and preparation, because he is sick! Can he maintain his body, deal with a 3-day Canberra camp AND control his cabin friends....?

There were a lot of places and one of them held a highlight. After the better Canberra visit than the last one, something new revolved around the just recovered Samuel. Riding buses between The Capital Airport Motel and the itinerary - mentioned place via Pialligo Ave was repetitive, but I did enjoy looking out the window. It was nice. A highlight was probably learning more about Canberra - places, roads, embassies - even suburbs I've heard of but never heard of, like Woden. I liked the War Memorial - showing the things of what happened and how they lived through the war. And if there was anything that my brain had to process and add on, it was that the toilet there makes a horrible hissing sound (Room 25. Do. Not. Choose. That. Cabin.). No, just kidding. It was that (well, for one of them) was the structures in the Cockington Green Gardens. I learnt about events (like the 1979 UK stadium incident where this one guy was running naked with a soccer ball) and the structure was like the structure in Indonesia. Wonder what that was...

Anyway, in summary, Canberra was great. I'd recommend Canberra 'a town to go again'.

Samuel H Waratah 3

Everyone woke up at the crack of dawn to embark on our camp to Canberra. As we split into our various groups, a chorus of cheers erupted as my group (coach 2) boarded the bus. Excited voices filled the air as the bus driver introduced himself. After 3 hours of riding on the bus, we finally arrived at the National Triangle in Canberra. We first went to Mount Ainslie where we saw the breathtaking view of Canberra. We could clearly see the outline of the national triangle which amazed everyone. We then went to the National Capital exhibition, where we learned the intriguing history of our nation’s capital. There, we learned that Marion and Walter Griffin, were the winners to design Canberra. We learnt that there were also many fascinating names that could’ve potentially been the name of Canberra. One of the names that caught my interest was the name - Sydmeladperbrisho. We saw many names on the walls that were interesting. The next place we went to was the parliament house. To be honest, I thought that it would be very boring and be full of tour guides just telling us about the parliament’s historic recount. The whole coach group was in luck. The day we went there, people were debating and arguing about political issues. We first went to the Senate. In the senate a senator was arguing with the speaker. It was extremely captivating as the senator rambled on about old age care while the speaker continuously commanded for order. The tour guide then gave us a detailed description of what was happening. We then went to the House of Representatives. This was where everyone was swept away. Down in the House of Representatives, we caught a glimpse of the prime minister. Nobody ever thought that this would happen. This was an highlight. We then got to do a roleplay that was extremely fun. As we exited the Parliament everyone commented about how they all thought it was more engaging than they thought it would be, though I think that was because we actually got to see the leaders in action. After that, we went to our accomodation. Everyone was dying to know their cabins, it was an exciting time. We were then called down to eat dinner, which was…. Alright. After that we got to hang out in our cabin and rest a bit before we went to the Australian Institute of Sport. There were many interactive things that we could engage with. My friends and I tried almost everything.

The next day we woke up for an early breakfast and then went to the Museum of Australian Democracy which was the old parliament house. We were advised to wear gloves so that we could protect this heritage site. The old parliament house wasn’t as appealing as the new one. We then went to the National Electoral AEducation Centre. There, we played games that taught us many things about voting and we also got to participate in a vote about fruits! We were taught about all the intricacies of the process of voting and how it works. After that we went to the Australian War Memorial. This was also another place that many people thought would be not very exciting. We were proved wrong. As we stepped into the silent halls, our tour guide told us many stories. There was this person who was called Jim Martin who faked his age to participate in the war. Although the older soldiers protected him, he still died, but not due to being shot. E died at night due to heart failure, and was thrown off the ship. All soldiers who died at sea, would be thrown off the ship after they were wrapped in many things. After that, we went to see the wall of the people who had served the Australian army and died. After that we went to the national arboretum. We did orienteering which was extremely fun. As we teamed up with our friends we ran off to find the tags on trees. We navigated our way on the map and ran from place to place and in the last 5 mins we found many tags. Orienteering was one of my highlights on this trip, because we got the chance to work as a team and have fun at the same time. We then returned to our accommodation and ate dinner. After that we went to Questacon which was another highlight. After we arrived our bus group was a bustling beehive. Everyone was extremely excited as we went to our first gallery to experiment with the gadgets. Everyone was racing from everything to something else. Me and my friends went on the earthquake simulator which was extremely fun. After we went into 3 galleries, we went to the gift shop. People all bought things as souvenirs. We then went back to our accommodation extremely late. Me and my cabin all played pranks on each other while we each showered.

On our last day, everyone woke up as the jade sunlight spilled through the gaps of the curtains. We went to the royal mint and learnt the process of coin making. This was intriguing. We then went to Cockington Green and saw the miniature figures of houses from international countries. The designs were really interesting and this gave us a chance to see the architecture of other countries. We also went on a train ride that emitted a fume that did not appeal. After that we ate pizza and we all said goodbye to Canberra. Overall Canberra was a fun and engaging trip, it was a intriguing experience.

Sunnie H Waratah 3

Student Achievement

We are proud to celebrate Joshua’s outstanding achievements at the Joseph D’Onofrio Sabre Fencing Competition in Melbourne. Competing in the Under 10 category, Joshua won a gold medal, and he also earned a bronze medal in the Under 12 category, making him the youngest athlete on the podium. Congratulations, Joshua, on your impressive success and dedication to fencing!

Sandcastles Preschool Partnership with Chatswood Public School

On Wednesday this week Chatswood Public School were very excited to host 9 preschool students from one of our local Sandcastles Preschools. The students of Wallaby 1 were thrilled to be the 'big' buddies for the preschoolers, and to share the things that they love most about being in 'big school'. Our students also showcased some of our literacy activities and supported the preschoolers in the use of describing words to describe some of their favourite literary characters including 'Pig the Pug', 'Thelma the Unicorn', and 'Edward the Emu'.

Our students then engaged in some developmental play with the preschoolers adding a sense of fun and imagination to the preschool visit.

It was amazing to see how much our Kindergarten students have grown up already this year and to see them taking younger students under their guidance.

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