Wilsons Prom Camp

Early on Monday morning, our Year 5 and 6 students set off on the long drive down to Wilsons Prom. A lunch stop at Gumnut Park playground in Donnybrook gave students and adults a chance to stretch their legs. Once at Tidal River, students unpacked before heading down to the beach, for some free play before dinner. After dinner, they set out on a night walk with torches in hand, to see who was just waking for the night.

Day 2 - Tuesday

After a yummy breakfast, an exploration of the beach was in order. There was plenty to see and find, including time to pause and watch as the crabs emerged from the sand to eat and before disappearing back into the sand.

A hearty morning tea had students fuelled up and ready to take on some surfing lessons with coaches TJ and Koda from Offshore Surf. Even though the rain started to fall, students had a great time in the water, with the wind providing some offshore waves to enjoy. We've heard it was warmer in the ocean than out!

After surfing, students enjoyed a warm shower. They spent the rest of the day making some sand art and sculptures, and a walk on the famous Squeaky Beach. There was also some fun night-time activities including a talent show as a highlight for the evening.

Day 3 - Wednesday

After a very active day yesterday, Wednesday began at a slower pace. After breakfast students set off to hike up Mt Oberon, 1,831ft above sea level, Mount Oberon offers one of the best views in Victoria. The summit overlooks Tidal River and hikers enjoyed a 360-degree panorama of Wilsons Promontory. The rest of the afternoon was spent having fun on the beach and playing games.

On their final day, Thursday, it was another early start and after cleaning up their rooms, the lodges and packing the bus, it was time to depart Tidal River, with one last stop at Gumnut Park playground for lunch and a break.

Our students had a fantastic time supported by parent volunteers, Ian, Al, Erik and Duanne. A huge thank you to Carolyn and Dave for making our delicious meals and to Steph, Kim and Anna for the amazing job they did, keeping the itinerary on track and getting the most out of each day. Thank you!

Moss Piglet Stage Show

On Tuesday, Years Prep - 4 enjoyed an excursion into Wodonga, to see the stage show Moss Piglet, at The Cube.

Here is a snapshot of the performance as described by students.

At the start of the show, the lights dimmed and the scientists shimmied in. The scene was mainly a science lab, and it was very loud. One of the men was holding a bag, and the other had a petri dish that had the moss piglet in it. “Esperement!!” they yelled. They put sand in the dish and looked at it through a microscope. At first all you could see was sand, but after a bit, the moss piglet came into focus. You could see it waddling around. The scientists explained that a handful of sand is like a vast desert to the moss piglet. (Thelma & Sienna)

BOOM!!! The volcano erupted and a fire devil ran onto the stage and danced and fought the Moss Piglet. At the end of the battle they became friends and shook hands. But the fire devil burnt the Moss Piglet's hand causing it to fall on the ground and go CRACK!!!

After the Moss Piglet gets dehydrated in the desert, the scientists get out their microscopes and take a look at the Moss Piglet. “Dead!” they exclaim. They pick up the phone and tell the boss that it's dead. They then look into the microscope again. Then they say, “he’s alive!” One of the scientists suggests extreme cold will kill it. They get a liquid nitrogen gun and spray it around the room.

The scene then changes to a Moss Piglet walking in the snow. He shivers, and shakes. Suddenly he comes across a really big slope. He says,“Grafd sb tali ling”, which roughly translates to ‘lets do some skiing’. He puts on his goggles, ski poles, and skis and pushes off! (Loki)

As he’s skiing down the slope, he twists and turns around some poles. He crashes into a pole and rolls down the rest of the way and stops at the edge of an icy cliff. Then he jumps, but freezes in mid air and the narrator says, “The one thing moss piglets can't do is jump!” He quickly unfroze, put his hands out and gripped on the other end and pulled himself up and shivered…”Ahhhhhh!”he collapsed, and his body twisted and cracked 'CRACK'! Then the scientists started talking in the lab. “Alive”? questioned scientist 1.”Dead!” said the other. Scientist 2 picks up the phone and says “Dead”, and hangs up the phone. Scientist 1 slowly comes up and slowly turns around, scientist 2 quickly turns around looking surprised…”ALIVE!” says scientist 1, then scientist 2 said “Alive?” Scientist 1 nods his head, and then they both say “ALIVE!!!” and they start dancing around the Lab singing "ALIVE!" Scientist 2 picked up the plate that held the moss piglet and sneezed!” Aaahhhchooo!” The moss piglet flies into the sink! (Luca & Christian)

'Time for the next 'esperement'!”they said. One guy was holding Moss piglet in one hand and the other guy had just washed his hands and the tap was still on. He sneezed and Moss piglet flew everywhere. Now Moss piglet is flushed down the drain in the scientist's sink!

He’s flying and whooshing everywhere in the pipe. He's going so fast, I'm scared where he’s going to land! Oh phew, he has landed in the ocean! There was Moss piglet and other fish puppets, even a blue whale!

He’s down the bottom now and here comes a jelly fish. They swim and dance together then the bloom (a group of jelly fish) sting him and leave. His back cracks as he dies. Then a submarine floats down and the scientist swam out. He catches Moss piglet and takes it back to the lab. (Miranda)

As the scientists came out, one of them was still wearing the snorkel and tried to talk but it was all muffled and his friend, the other scientist, couldn't understand and kept saying “What?” and it got increasingly louder and louder! Just then one of the scientists slapped the other one's hand down because he was about to pick the telephone and say “DEAD!” Then they look in the microscope and come back, then there's an awkward moment of silence before they shout “ALIVE!” (Eleanor)

In the last eight minutes of the play the moss piglet, who is also known as a water bear, asked to go to the moon. And he does succeed in going to the moon and tries drinking a cup of coffee, but fails because he has a space helmet on. When he gets on the moon, he bounces on the moon and he tries to eat cheezels, but again, he fails because he still has his helmet on!

The play ends and a humongous inflatable water bear comes on to the stage, and they all bow. (Dexter and Yuvi)

Moss Piglet is another name for a Tardigrade. Tardigrades are these little creatures that are almost indestructible, but more on that soon.

While being only half a millimetre in size, the human eye could possibly just see them with a magnifying glass. If someone would want to see them closer, they’d need a microscope to see them. Tardigrades are also known as Water Bears. I'm not too sure why, but I think it might be because of their bear-like claws. Their diet consists of moss and other plant things. They also have predators, but sometimes they fight each other. When I said they’re almost “indestructible,” what I actually meant was that they’re BASICALLY UNKILLABLE! Boil them? You’re just giving them a hot bath! Deep freeze them? Keeping them cool after a hot day! Dehydrate them? They’re a living, tiny raisin! SHOOT THEM INTO LITERAL SPACE! Look, there is an alien plummeting down to earth 10 days after we shot a water bear into space! NOTHING YOU DO KILLS IT! At least Australia doesn’t have a more dangerous species… at least I hope not! (Charlie)

Prior to the show starting, our students meandered through Hyphen, the Wodonga Library Gallery, to look at the exhibitions. This included the exhibition Understory, created by artist Kathy Holowko, which explores the details in the ecosystem of the forest floor, where unique plants, animals and fungi connect in a dynamic web of energy, life and transformation.

Kitchen Garden: "Pumpkin Soup for Sale!"

With the weather turning cooler, our junior kitchen garden students thought it would be a great idea to sell cups of Pumpkin Soup from our new canteen on Thursday, accompained by yoghurt bread. Kathryn has an amazing veggie patch at her house and supplied the pumpkins for the children to cook up. All funds raised will go back into the purchase of consumables for the program.

Our students in Prep-3 have also been learning about plant life-cycles this week.

Prep/1 class joined Kathryn in the kitchen to bake some ANZAC Biscuts. It was very hands on and patience was tested, waiting for them to cook and cool down before they could dive in to gobble them up.

Tree Planting - Pebble Beach

Yesterday, a group of students in Year 3 and 4 walked to the Pebble Beach swimming hole to assist with planting 85 tube stock plants, adding to their local community and supporting a sense of belonging, where many families enjoy spending time throughout the year. Steve Gardiner has been leading the development of this area for our greater community over many years, in collaboration with the Alpine Shire. Steve dropped off some tree guards last week for our students to decorate this week with artwork, to bring some extra colour and intrigue for passersby to stop and enjoy.

Prep/1 with Ellen

This week our class has been reading Goldilocks and the Three Bears as part of our STEM Unit. Students have been tasked with re-creating a bed suitable for Goldilocks, working through the structural requirements to hold a person. As well as making a mattress, blanket/doona and pillow, some also thought a canopy was a great idea to test out. Safe to say, the beds were just right!

Sport & PE

With Kathryn and Dave