Year 7 News 

GOLD FOR AUSTRALIA!

Alyssa Greening, 7A, has been busy travelling around the globe these past few weeks and has just won GOLD at the Four Nations Show jumping Championships in China.

Alyssa is one of Australia’s top  junior equestrian stars and she and her team mates travelled to China to compete in the 90cm competition this week. She won the Gold medal with her team mate Kiah, ahead of riders from New Zealand, Singapore and China. 

Alyssa has previously had success at the Nationals, coming 5th in Australia. She returns home this weekend, only to compete again in the Australian Championships Under 14 class in Mornington next week.

Alyssa’s hard work and dedication to her sport is to be commended. We also congratulate the team of people around her, including her coaching staff and her family.

Congratulations Alyssa! We are all proud of your efforts and wish you the best for the upcoming championships.

BELONG PROJECT

Year 7s have begun interviewing community members about their belonging in our community and are on the way to present their work at the HUMANS OF MAFFRA EXHIBIT to be held in late November. This will be a celebration of the faces of people in our communities going above in our communities. To kick start the project, over one hundred Year 7 students have written their own memoirs of Belonging which will be published and released at the event next month. Here is a sample of the students writing.

The bush

The cold, fresh air hitting my face, moving so fast. I nearly catch them, but then their gone. I see an entrance leading into the gloomy bush, I follow the tracks through the bush. I see my sister, I follow her to where my parents were. We’re collecting wood for the winter, I hear one of my sisters calling me. I run over to them with Rory behind me, we are so quiet. Rory points to the top of the hill, the sun shining in my eyes so hard to see. We sneak along the tree line, they hear us. We keep moving, slowly.

We hold the dog’s collars, we wait till they look away. We let go of the collars slowly, we start to stand take one step then another. Then we chase, the sound of our feet hitting the ground at rapid speed but the kangaroos jump the fence to the next paddock. We hear Mum and Dad calling us for lunch, I stop and wait for my sisters. I feel free and like I am loved and cherished, I feel like I belong.

The heat from the fire warmed my body and the smell of sausages cooking made my tummy rumble. As soon as we finish lunch we head back to the bush, we find so many tracks but there is still more to be found. I decide to build a cubby out of trees and sticks on the ground. The sound of the chainsaw echoes through the valley, I wish I could never leave this place.

Lexi Laskowski

Grandma’s house

Warmth blowing against my face, the sweet taste of marshmallows hitting my tongue and the soft voices of people having kind conversations behind me felt like the whispers of the wind. It was a calm night, with calm people, and a (not so calm) fiery bonfire.

My Grandma and Pa’s house is where I belong. Everything was big. The lounge room. Big. The bedrooms. Big. The dining room. Big. The kitchen. Not so big. But I belonged.

Sitting around the brick fire, giving and receiving presents, talking with family, it is Christmas. My favourite time of the year. I felt like I could do anything, anything in front of family. I could be myself and I didn’t want to hide. I would only hide when I played hide and seek. Hide and seek with all of my cousins, was my favourite tradition. We did it every time, every time we were there, we would play. Mason, the oldest cousin, would always have the best spot and I would always have the worst. We sometimes played it outside at night time. We would play all around the house in pitch black darkness.

One summer’s day, we made a waterslide. Pa made it out of a really long piece of tarp. It was as long as a whale. It went all the way down the hill. It was very dangerous because it stopped at a tree. So whatever went down it really fast, hit the tree. Luckily, when I went down it I didn’t even make it half way. I remember the hot tarp sticking to my body like glue to paper. It would give you a long burn against your stomach. But then we decided to lather ourselves up with soap. We would almost use a whole bottle of soap on our body and we would slide all of the way down. I managed not to hit the tree at the end and I was really surprised. However, my dad decided to go down it. It did not end well. He slid straight into the tree at the end. But, he managed to survive.

I also remember bush walking. The warm air surrounding me, energy filling my body as we left for the long walk. After about 20 minutes all of my energy had left. It decided it didn’t want to be in my body and scrambled off. I would follow the animal tracks and watch the tall kangaroos hop off into the distance. Pa would always give us a walking lolly. A walking lolly was a small caramel lolly that you had to be walking around or doing any sort of movement to eat it. He had a glass jar of them in the kitchen.

I am so thankful for everything. The presents, the family, the animals, and the feeling of belonging. Everything I am so grateful for. Last December, I lost one thing. My Pa. He was the heart, the soul, a reason I loved this place. I miss him dearly. It broke my heart.

Charlie Northway