Out and About the School

Aboriginal Message Stick 

St Xavier’s Primary School received the Message Stick into their school community from St Mary’s College at an assembly on Monday 20 May. Mr Cruze Morley made a special visit to all the classes throughout the week and recapped the significance of the Aboriginal Message Stick. Students created their own message stick design on paper and shared their message with others.

Mathematics with Year 5  

Year 5 investigating tenths, hundredths and thousandths on tape measures!

School Chess Team

As the NSW Primary Chess Tournament draws closer (6/6/24) training of our Chess Team is getting serious.  Mr Heap is shown here demonstrating a variety of starting tactics.  It's been great to see how far they have come in their chess strategy.

Eisteddfod Primary & Infants Choir 

On Wednesday the 22 May, both the St Xavier’s Primary and Infants Choir performed at the Gunnedah Eisteddfod. They performed two songs each in their section and sounded beautiful. 

The Infants Choir took out 1st place in their section, and the Primary Choir came home with a well deserved 2nd place. Both Choirs should be congratulated for all the hard work they have put in over Term 1 and 2 to learn their two songs. Well done St Xavier’s Choirs. 

Year 2 Warrumbungles Excursion

They say the early bird catches the worm - if this is the case, then Year 2 were going to be in the running for the worm. On the 23 May, we set out 'early' for our trip but this didn't dampen the enthusiasm for the day ahead. We arrived at the Warrumbungles ready for a stretch of the legs, fruit break and a trip to the composting toilets! Isn't nature grand!

In Geography we have been learning 'People and Places' and how we look after our environment, together with how we connect to those places. This excursion was a great way to see how those choices help to maintain a beautiful spot such as the Warrumbungles. Like true Geographers there were a lot of observations to document and even a walk up a lava flow created by volcanic activity millions of years ago.

The weather was magnificent and whilst it started fresh, the sun warmed our back all day.  Wes, Narelle and Serena were the perfect hosts and were a fountain of knowledge on the Warrumbungles, which many students tapped into by asking some great questions throughout the day. 

Year 4 Cotton Excursion

Thursday 16 May, saw Year 4 head off for their cotton excursion. Students had been studying crops in Science, together with Climate and Natural features in Geography. What a great day it was! Students were able to see first hand how those large colourful modules that drive through Gunnedah are created and where they end up.

First stop was the Carroll Cotton Gin, where Scott walked us through the process of what happens to the cotton when it arrives at the gin and what it looks like when it leaves. 

A couple of fun facts we learnt were:

• Each bale of finished product equates to 2,000 Adult socks or 250 pairs of male jeans.
• 42% of the contents from the module is lint
• Up to 50% seed
• Remainder is trash
• Each module weighs around 2.5 tonnes
• A reasonable crop will yield 12-13 bales per hectare

Due to the damp weather in the mornings the farm visit was left until after lunch, fortunately the cotton was dry enough for Peter to show us how cotton is picked using the picker - what a fancy bit of kit! He even off loaded a module right in front of our eyes - fascinating. The information that both Scott and Peter, together with Jenny and Alec from Cotton Australia imparted on our students (and staff) was insightful and delivered in a manner that the students remembered. We are very grateful to Cotton Australia, Carroll Cotton Gin and Peter Lennox for the opportunity to visit.

Winter Uniform

All students are to be in WINTER UNIFORM from this week onwards. Whether it is the new winter uniform, the old winter uniform or a combination of both, now is the time.

TIES are compulsory with the winter uniform and are available at Lowes in Tamworth.  

School Photos

School Photo Day is Thursday 6th June.

You would have received an email from MSP Photographers with ordering instructions.

Please contact MSP Photographers on 6772 3519 if you have any issues or questions. 

School Photos can be ordered through the Compass App.