OKTOBERFEST 2023

On Friday, 6th October we celebrated our annual Rangeview Oktoberfest. The day commenced with an Oktoberfest assembly held in the hall, involving student performances, a Foundation dance, German poetry recitations, a teacher/staff song, a ‘Best Dressed’ Parade and two whole-school action songs.

Thank you to Elliot (4H) who played the German national anthem on the trumpet and to our fabulous Oktoberfest dancers.

At lunchtime students who had placed their orders last term, received their pretzels and gingerbread hearts to enjoy.

After lunch students worked in multi-age groups and engaged in 3 rotation activities: a German craft activity, cooking pancakes and playing German party games.

It was wonderful to see everyone dressed in either a Bavarian costume (Dirndlkleid or Lederhose), the German flag colours (black, red, and gold/yellow) or the Bavarian flag colours (blue and white). Congratulations to all our ‘Best Dressed’ winners, who received a prize to take home at the end of the day.

Thank you again to our wonderful Parents & Friends Committee for organising the Oktoberfest food and to our German Captain Flynn, for his contribution to our Oktoberfest assembly, including his entertaining video, and for his ongoing involvement in German assembly presentations.

Es war ein wunderbarer Tag! (It was a wonderful day!)

History of the bretzel

While baking bread, an Italian monk decided to create a special treat to motivate his distracted students. He rolled out ropes of dough, twisted them to resemble hands crossed on the chest in prayer, and then baked them. Hence, the pretzel was born.

The first pretzels were a soft, squishy bread, like the soft pretzels of today. They were always baked and originally called “bracellae.” This is the Latin word for “little arms”. From this root word, the Germans derived the name “bretzel,”.

AGTV German Poetry Competition State Final

On Saturday, 14th October four Rangeview Primary School students participated in the AGTV German Poetry Competition state final, held at the beautiful Austrian Club in West Heidelberg.

This year the AGTV German Poetry Competition celebrated its 30th anniversary, and on Saturday it was wonderful to see German students from all over the state of Victoria (including towns as far away as Bright and Rainbow), coming together to celebrate a love of German poetry and language learning.

Our four state finalists, Molly and Josephine (Level 6) and Nina and Frank (Level 5), had each received either a first or second place at the regional final last term, after spending many weeks rehearsing a German poem with the help of our German Language Assistant, Frau Josephine Schneider.

On Saturday each of these students recited their poem to two German-speaking judges, and were judged according to their pronunciation, intonation, phrasing and overall expression.

Whilst anxiously awaiting the results, students enjoyed some complimentary food and drinks, delicious German cakes and participated in a quiz about Austria, winning some great prizes.

The top 6 students from each year level were awarded a place and received a trophy, certificate and prizes. We are delighted to announce the results of the state final:

Level 5

2nd place: Nina (5/6J)

Level 6

2nd place: Molly (5/6C)

6th place: Josephine (5/6A)

Congratulations to all students involved in the competition for your wonderful effort, dedication and enthusiasm. We are very proud of all of you!

Should you have any queries about how to best support your child’s German language development, we would love to hear from you.

Frau Ulrike Lindner Frau Susanne Heine

Frau Megan Taylor Frau Josefine Schneider

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