Hello everyone!

What a week it has been! Unfortunately, I had to have a couple of days off but I'm feeling much better returning to work today. I would like to extend a HUGE thank you to all the staff for covering Room 1 whilst I was away and allowing me to rest and recover. It is super important to take the time to heal so that we can continue to be the best versions of ourselves for others.

Even though I was away, I heard nothing but great things about the kids in Room 1. I am extremely proud of their independence, helping the other teachers explain our routines and expectations even without me there! It is lovely to hear that we taking ownership for our learning and showing that we can get things done using our own motivation.

At the beginning of the week, during Social and Emotional Learning, we took the time to learn and understand Gunai Kurnai culture and language, with the intent to build on our respect towards the Traditional Owners of the Country we occupy. The school learnt that Gunai Kurnai is made up of 5 clans:

Most of us live and work on Brayakaulung Country.

We acknowledged that many parts of Gunai Kurnai language were lost during settlement, in fact almost 80% is still trying to be rediscovered by elders today. However, some of it is known, including 'How are you?' and 'I am good/I am okay.' We practiced saying these to one another.

Wunnum nijinde (Pronounced Woonam-ingie)

How are you?

Ngaju budjeri (Pronounced Naju- budgeree)

I am good.

Ngaju bow (Pronounced Naju – bow)

I’m OK.

In Writing this week, we have analysed authors to identify the different language features they use that help make their writing so engaging to read. Good writers make their readers feel something. We used the text 'The Refugees' by David Miller to create some amazing sentences! The table below shows an example from the author, the purpose of these words and some examples from Room 1 students.

What the author wrote
One day,	huge rumbling grumbling machines	crawled	scraping and gauging	towards the swamp.
What the language does
When	3 adjectives to describe the who/what (2 rhyming adjectives)	Verb- action (ed)	More information on the verb (ing)	Where
What we wrote
Tom: In the morning, Atti As the sun settled, Ariella In the morning,	jumping croaking, poking frogs, three squeaking, peeking kittens three loud, proud dogs	caught flies fumbled jumped	hoping and jumping from log to log tiredly and slowly, barking and nudging	in the swamp. beside their mother. onto the bed.

Another great week TEAM! Only two more to go- how crazy! The term has seriously flown by.

Cowwarr Primary School Newsletter

Respect, Resilience, Responsibility, Self-Belief

Issue 4 · 21 Mar 2025

In this issue