We would like to welcome everyone back to Term 4 and hope that you enjoyed the extra week during the holiday break. I would like to extend a special welcome to all the new students and their families who started with us in Term 3 and Term 4; Jordan, Lottie, Indie, Harry and Jaxon.

We continue to receive enrolment enquiries and applications and I would like to take this opportunity to thank all our families for their ongoing support. When speaking with prospective families, the impact your positive feedback has on the enrolment decisions of new families is highlighted. We currently have some enrolment opportunities at various year levels for 2024 so if you know anyone who may be considering a change, please encourage them to contact our School Registrar so we can organise an obligation free school tour.

Class Placement 2024

As we move into Term 4, forward planning for the following school year is a high priority as it ensures a smooth start to the school year. Allocating students to 2024 classes is an area that staff spend many hours on so that students can be placed in classes that allow for maximum learning, in a safe and caring environment.

We understand the valuable role parents and guardians play in making the right choices. Parents will be asked to complete a Student Selection form together with their child, focusing on who their child works best with. It is our aim to ensure that each child has at least one of the four nominated students in their class the following year. The Student Selection forms will be shared with families early next week and are due back on Monday 23 October.

Parents are unable to request that their child is taught/not taught by a particular teacher. All teachers employed by Moama Anglican Grammar are highly capable and able to meet the needs of each individual child.

Operation Christmas Child Shoe Boxes

The Primary School is excited to once again be involved in the Operation Christmas Child initiative. This great cause brings much happiness and joy to kids in need all around the world. The importance of being a global citizen is something we cover in many of our curriculum areas and our students continue to surprise us with their ideas on what this may look like.

There are three ways that families can build their boxes for a boy or a girl of a certain age:

1 – Decorate a shoe box to create a personal touch

2 – Use a preprinted box by picking one up from the primary reception

3 – Go online and donate money towards a box

Families can choose to pay postage by credit card or if they print out the label online and pay for the postage and follow their box as it travels. Instructions on how to pack a shoe box can be found at https://occ.samaritanspurse.org.au/home/pack-a-shoebox/

The boxes will be picked up from the office on Friday 3 November.

Regional Gymnastics Championships

On Saturday 9 September, Payton Polido from 5A competed at the Regional Gymnastics Championships in Albury. Payton competed in Level Five – Division Two. We congratulate Payton for her great efforts on the day finishing:

1st on bars

2nd on floor

3rd in vault

6th on beam

Payton’s team from Jet’s Gymnastics placed first overall which is a fantastic achievement. Payton also won the individual division which makes her the North-East Regional Champion for her level. Achievements like these require great dedication and it makes travelling to Shepparton four times each week to train worth it. We wish Payton all the best as she prepares for the upcoming Victorian Championships in October.

Gold Coast Gymnastics

Our 4 Moama Grammar students that travelled to the Gold Coast to compete for Palmers Gym at the National Clubs carnival had the most incredible experience going up against the very best gymnasts in Australia, each of the girls should be very proud of themselves.

Results are as follows.

Addi Coburn (2A) Level 5 women's tumbling 29th place.

Leni Coburn (5A) Level 4 women's tumbling 11th place.

Violet McGillivray (6B) level 4 women's tumbling 20th place.

Leni, Addi and Mayli also competed in an intermediate Team Gym event where they placed 1st!

Such a fabulous opportunity for these girls.

Learn to Swim Program

Our Kindergarten and Year 1 students have started their Learn to Swim Program this week. The program runs for 30 minutes every Tuesday and Thursday for the first three weeks of term. The program covers personal aquatic survival skills, movement, and swimming strokes. There was plenty of excitement in the students’ faces as they boarded the buses for their first session on Tuesday. From all reports, they enjoyed their first week and are eager for next week’s sessions. Programs like these are an invaluable learning opportunity to educate our students on water safety and gain lifelong skills.

Cross-Sector School Partnerships

This year, I have had the opportunity to be involved in the Echuca/Moama cross-sectoral network meetings between local Primary Schools, Preschools and Kindergartens. Chaired by the Department of Education, the aim of these network meetings is to collectively focus our expertise and resources to ensure our ‘Transition to School’ process is the best it can be. Sharing knowledge, challenges and needs with Preschool educators, teachers from other local schools and leadership teams has been a great experience. The network meetings provide valuable opportunities for schools to collaborate, share student data and learning outcomes to ultimately provide better experiences and outcomes for our students.

Today we welcomed 4 teachers from St Mary’s Primary School to observe the way our school teaches the highly effective and well-researched synthetic phonics approach through our InitiaLit program. I would like to thank Andrea Cowin and Andrea Ripon for opening their doors to welcome our visitors into their classrooms. In addition, the team observed two of our Literacy Intervention Programs (InitiaLit Sage and MacqLit). Thank you to Jodie Sly and Ann-Maree Rykers for sharing their knowledge and expertise about these successful programs.

Year 6 Camp to Canberra

Our Year 6 students will attend their Year 6 Camp in Canberra next week. They will depart on Tuesday 17 October and return on Friday 20 October. The students have four busy days ahead with visits planned to; Parliament House, National Museum of Australia, Royal Australian Mint, Government House, Museum of Australian Democracy, Questacon, National Abboretum Canberra, CSIRO, National Electoral Education Centre, National Capital Authority and the War Memorial.

Students will be accompanied by Callum Gibbs, Kiralee Pascoe, Nici Deller, Ann-Maree Rykers and Darcy Hall. Darcy Hall is the Year 7 Coordinator and attending this camp will give him the opportunity to get to know this cohort of students, which in turn will support their transition into Year 7 next year. We hope you all have a fabulous time!

Year 3 Camp to Corop

Our Year 3 students are getting ready for their first offsite overnight camp at Camp Kookaburra in Corop on Thursday 26 and Friday 27 October. During the camp, students will participate in a variety of challenges which encourage team building skills, communication, risk-management and are designed to build resilience by taking students outside of their comfort zone. They will participate in physical outdoor activities such as; archery, canoeing, flying fox and the giant swing, and meet the resident alpacas and Matilda the goat. We look forward to hearing all about their exciting adventures when they return from Camp Kookaburra.

Primary Chapel and Assemblies Term 4

Please be aware that we have swapped the dates for Primary Chapels and Assemblies this term. This means that our first gathering next Friday, will be for a Chapel Service. Unfortunately, parents are unable to join in this service due to the room change to accommodate the Year 12 examinations. However, parents are invited to attend our first Assembly on Friday 3 November at 2:15pm in the Multipurpose Hall and we look forward to the performance by our Kindergarten cohort.

Upcoming Events

17/10/23 Kinder and Year 1 Swimming Program

17/10/23 Year 6 Camp (until Friday 20/10/23)

19/10/23 Kinder and Year 1 Swimming Program

20/10/23 Primary Chapel (students only)

20/10/23 Year 4 Maths Excursion Rich River Golf Club

24/10/23 Kinder and Year 1 Swimming Program

26/10/23 Kinder and Year 1 Swimming Program

26/10/23 Year 3 Camp (until Friday 27/10/23)

30/10/23 Year 5 LifeChanger Incursion

02/11/23 Year 6 LifeChanger Incursion

03/11/23 T20 Primary Cricket (selected students only)

03/11/23 Primary Assembly; Kindergarten Performance

06/11/23 Exeat Holiday (student free day)

07/11/23 Melbourne Cup Holiday

Kind Regards,

Nici Deller

Head of Primary

School Noticeboard

2023 Yearbook Competition

Enter the Young Archibald Prize 2024!