The Golden Vine

From the School Leadership Team

A Heartfelt Thank You to Our Class Carers

We extend our warmest gratitude to our wonderful class carers for organising and running an absolutely amazing Father's Day stall this week. Your dedication and hard work made the event a tremendous success, bringing joy to our students and families. The smiles on the children's faces as they selected special gifts for their fathers and father figures were truly heartwarming. Thank you for creating such meaningful memories for our school community.

Celebrations of Learning

It was fantastic to see so many parents attend our recent Celebrations of Learning for Years 1/2 and Year 5. These events provide a wonderful opportunity for students to showcase their learning journey and achievements with their families. The enthusiasm and pride displayed by both students and parents made these celebrations truly special occasions that highlight the strong partnership between home and school.

Important Date Change

Please note that our Mark LeMessurier evening has been rescheduled from Thursday 4 September to Thursday 25 September. We apologise for any inconvenience this change may cause and look forward to this valuable professional development opportunity with Mark LeMessurier.

Pupil Free Day - Friday

This Friday is a pupil free day as our teaching staff and Learning Support Officers (LSOs) participate in important professional learning activities. This session will focus on following up our recent Primary Years Programme (PYP) Evaluation visit and beginning the development of our next five-year plan for teaching and learning. This professional development ensures we continue to provide the highest quality education for your children.

For families requiring care on Friday, GGOSH will be open and available.

Special Visitors from Papua New Guinea

We're excited to welcome some very special visitors to our school in mid-September. The Principal and several teachers from Asaroka, our link community in Papua New Guinea, will be joining us during their visit. Asaroka has a Lutheran kindergarten, primary school, and secondary school serving their community.

Our connection to Asaroka comes through the Tscharke family in our congregation. Pastor Len and his wife Claire served faithfully in this community during the 1950s and 1960s. Following their passing, their son Ken and a number of our church congregation members have continued to nurture this meaningful relationship between our communities. We look forward to learning more about their work and sharing our school with them.

Year 6 PYP Exhibition 

Our Year 6 students have been working incredibly hard on their PYP Exhibition under the guidance of Mrs Zadow. It's wonderful to see their inquiry skills developing as they dive deep into their chosen topics. We can't wait to see their final presentations!

STEM and Music Classroom Upgrades

You may have noticed some construction work taking place around our STEM and Music classroom block adjacent to the main courtyard. We are currently undertaking some important remediation work to address moisture issues that developed over time.

The original pavers and fill underneath were installed too high against the building slab, which unfortunately caused moisture problems. Our current work involves drying out the slab completely, carrying out any necessary internal remediation in both classroom spaces, and then reinstalling the pavers at the correct lower level. This will prevent the same issue from occurring in the future and ensure these valuable learning spaces remain in excellent condition for our students.

We appreciate your patience during this improvement work and look forward to having these spaces fully operational again soon.

Volunteering in the School 

We appreciate many families giving of their time and expertise to volunteer in the school, whether it be with our school canteen, P & F Events, school camps, GLOW Week or classroom assistance. A reminder to please ensure that your WWCC details are up to date, along with RAHN and VSC training. Further information on our volunteering requirements is available from our website. 

A few reminders

Please be reminded of some of our key events coming up: 

 

Term 3

  • Friday 5 September – Pupil Free Day
  • Wednesday 10 September – Year 3/4 SACSA AFL
  • Wednesday 10 September – Principal Tour 9.15am
  • Wednesday 10 September – Exhibition viewing for Parents
  • Thursday 11 September – Year 5/6 SACSA AFL
  • Friday 12 September – SAPSASA Tennis
  • Friday 12 September – Messy Church
  • Friday 19 September – Special Person’s Afternoon
  • Thursday 25 September – Mark Le Messurier – managing anxiety and big emotions in children 7.00pm to 8.30pm in the Worship Centre

 

Our full school calendar can also be viewed on the school website. 

 

Will Wallace 

Principal 

EVALUATION

Thank you to all the staff, students, School Board and parents who took part in the evaluation of the PYP which took place in Week 4. The evaluators, Brendan on-line and Michael here at school, viewed the school and discussed many aspects of school life. The staff in particular have worked tirelessly over the last 18 months to complete a self-study relating to the PYP Standards and Practices.  

At the completion of Michael and Brendan’s time here, they spent time with Mr Wallace and I, discussing the preliminary findings of their visit. Within the next 4-6 weeks, we will receive a copy of the final report which will highlight areas which we are doing really well along with recommendations for areas of improvement. As we strive to continue to grow and improve, we look forward to the information this report will provide so that we can respond with positive actions in our continual cycle of improvement.  

 

EXHIBITION

The Year 6 students are currently working on their major exhibition inquiry of the year in which they have defined their leadership role/s within the school. From here they looked reported on connections between their role and their community and the world. Each student has chosen an area of focus which will see them inquire into different issues and opportunities in the world. Their inquiry will be presented to the School Community on Tuesday, September 9th and to their parents on Wednesday night, September 10th. This is an exciting part of the journey of a PYP learner as they draw on the skills, dispositions and knowledge they have developed over their time at school.  

 

Jayne Zadow 

Director of PYP, Teaching and Learning