Year 5 Excursion

Monday 18th September Year 5 set out on their first excursion to the Whitehaven Mine (Maules Creek). This was our first visit to the mine and it was fabulous! So many insights to how a mine is run and what an operating mine looks like. We set out at 9am and were escorted out to the mine from Boggabri. On arrival we had 'smoko' onsite at the 'crib' and were kitted out with our PPE, we then loaded back onto the bus and went on tour, passing many dump trucks, some of which fully loaded weighed over 500 tonnes!

Maules Creek showed many examples of how they are using technology with robotic dump trucks, robotically loaded trains and measuring the usage of equipment such as tyres.

The highlight of the day was going up to the top of the pit and looking down (250m to the bottom) where we could see the excavators digging up coal, from this vantage point we were very lucky to see the dump trucks unloading the byproduct onto the mountain to reshape and rehabilitate the land. Year 5 students were also shown fossils and petrified wood found in the pit, and they were not fooled by the 'fool's gold' (pyrite).

After our tour we headed back to school via the park at Boggabri for lunch, a stretch and run around - it was a great park and accommodated the 55 students perfectly!

Once back at school we were able to (cool down) and reflect on all the amazing facts we learned about the mine, giving us all a bit more understanding of where those trains come from that travel through our town 3 times a day, loaded for the port at Newcastle.

A big thank you for Whitehaven for allowing us to visit and showing us around - not to mention the generous goodie bag. We hope we can come back next year.

Living Well, Learning Well

Week 9	Name	Reason	Character Strength
Kinder	Benjamin Martin	For exceptional growth in reading.	Love of Learning
Kinder	Harper Griffin	For always being an active classroom participant and demonstrating pride in her schoolwork.	Love of Learning
Year 1	Ashton Mitchell	For working well with others and sharing his ideas and thoughts with his table group.	Love of Learning
Year 1	Shelby Sloey	For always being patient, kind and respectful to her classmates.	Kindness
Year 2	Nash Seach	For his amazing performance in Seussical Jr. the Musical	Bravery
Year 2	Charlotte Wiggins	For her wonderful performance in Seussical Jr. the Musical	Courage
Year 3	Eloise Launders	For continually asking questions, contributing to discussions and being open to learning new things.	Curiosity
Year 3	Emma Gander	For showing maturity, perseverance in class activities and always being ready to learn.	Self-regulation
Year 4	Georgia Hobson	For having a humble and kind heart and always being inclusive to those around her.	Humility
Year 4	Jayde Sloey	For bringing a calm presence to our classroom and always trying her best.	Gratitude
Year 5	Georgie Thompson	For always bringing energy into our class and brightening everyone’s day.	Energy
Year 5	Will Riordan	For giving everyone a go in turbo touch and showing his great sportsmanship.	Sportsmanship
Year 6	Gus Simpson	Showing care and concern whilst remaining calm in a difficult situation with an injured child.	Empathy & Kindness
Year 6	Jake Hausfeld	For his commitment to the musical and sharing his knowledge with others during maths.	Love of learning
Year 6	Darcy Mainey	For expressing interest and working hard in the musical.	Creativity
Year 6	Miss Clift	For bringing new and exciting activities into the classroom.	Energy

Important Dates

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