A message from Margie

Community-minded

Hello everyone, and thank you for the warm welcome back. Thank you also to Troy for doing a great job as Acting Principal during my leave; I always feel so grateful to work with another school leader who shares my values and prioritises wellbeing for all.

Troy and I were surprised with lovely messages from every child in the school and a special morning tea for Australian Primary Principals and Leaders' Day last week. This is the kind of thing that makes our community special - showing gratitude and care for one another.

In other words, at our school, connection matters. One way we build connection is by acknowledging each other when we pass by. We want others to get the message, 'I see you, and I'm glad you're here.'

This term we are all working hard to learn everyone's names at school and to greet others by name. Some students find this easy and already know everyone! Some find it a bit more tricky, especially our Receptions who need to get to know all of the kids in the school. Greeting people by name may seem like a small thing, but I feel like it is a truly valuable life 'hack', and an important part of how I want our students to connect with others throughout their lives.

We would love your help! Can you encourage your children to greet others in a friendly way, outside of school? This can happen in different ways. A great greeting is all about making the other person feel seen and welcomed. Many children and young people need help and advice learning how to do this. They can connect with someone by:

Giving a friendly wave, thumbs-up or high 5
Saying a warm 'hello' or 'good morning'
Referring to others by name
Offering a gentle nod or a smile
Turning their body toward them to show they are listening.

We're so lucky that in Uraidla, most students already feel connected to their community; let's try to 'power this up' in the coming weeks of our Community-minded term.

Here's what a few of our Year 5/6 students have to say about what being community-minded means to them:

Mia- It's making sure everyone feels like they belong, and celebrating our differences. Like saying 'good morning' to people so they know that others know them and that someone cares about them.

Jake - it's trying to make the community better, like helping out at the Uraidla Show.

Gus- It's welcoming and including others; making sure everyone is feeling included.
Maddi- It's making sure everyone's voice is heard, and having a say in improving things.

Reader's Cup

Last night 11 of our Year 5 and 6 students met at Bridgewater Primary School to compete in the Reader's Cup competition against students from 5 other Hills schools. This was the second part of the competition, after a quiz last term that tested their knowledge of a given set of books they were challenged to read.

For last night's performance, students needed to write and perform a play inspired by the book Anzac Biscuits by Clare Dory. They had to base their plays on the book and their understanding of the experience of the Anzacs, using costumes, props and their imagination. Clare was also present on the evening and spoke to the students about the experiences of Mount Barker's WW2 Anzacs.

I was quite simply blown away by our students' performances. I was so proud of their creativity, their confidence in presenting, their humour and the way they engaged with the audience. Congratulations to:

The Making of Uraidla Moonwalkers team ( Maddi, Layla, Tilly, Gus, Lila and Jemima)
Uraidla Runaway Stars team (Ruby, Olivia, Lily, Klara and Alyssa), and
Sallie who shone as emcee for the evening.

Congratulations to Uraidla Runaway Stars who won second prize, and to all who took part. You are all superstars, and you all made the Uraidla community proud!

Have a wonderful fortnight, everyone!