Specialists News

Sport/Phys Ed News   

Division Soccer Championships

I would like to congratulate both the Senior Boys and Girls soccer teams for their performance at the Sandhurst Division Soccer Championships at Epsom last Wednesday. Both of our teams represented the school extremely well, demonstrating wonderful sportsmanship, skill and team spirit.

The Girls team had a particularly successful day, going through undefeated, finishing 1st and winning the Division Champions title. They finished the day with 3 wins, one draw and only conceded 1 goal for the day. The girls will now go on to represent the school at the Regional Final in Swan Hill on the 19th of August.

The Boys team also had a great day and were extremely competitive in all of the games they played, winning 5 out of 6. Their only loss for the day game against Kennington PS. Despite finishing the day equal top on points, an inferior goal differential meant that Kennington got to progress to the next level.

It was a pleasure to take such a well behaved, enthusiastic, team orientated group of students to this tournament. I would sincerely like to thank Michelle Maher for her outstanding work coaching the Girls team. I would also like the thank Mr Greer for his wonderful work with the Boys team.

Division Hockey Championships

Congratulations to our Girls hockey team who represented the school at the Division Championships on Friday the 30th May.

The girls played brilliantly all day, winning 2 of their 3 round robin games (against mixed teams). They played the Boort PS girls in the final and had a comprehensive 4 to nil victory. They will now progress to the Regional Final in Swan Hill on the 14th of August. 

I would sincerely like to thank Narelle Dalley for her outstanding work coaching the team. Most of the girls had never played competitive hockey before and they certainly learnt a great deal in a short period of time.

Auslan News

Last Thursday, our Grade 3-6 students, and some Grade 1-2s were very lucky to meet a Deaf friend, Blake, who kindly gave up part of his holiday to come to SGPS for 5 hours, to answer students’ questions about his life as a Deaf person. Grade 3-6 students went to a 1hour Meet & Greet session with Blake, and Grade 1-2s were invited to a short lunchtime Meet & Greet if they would like to sign with Blake. 

I was very proud of our students for the respect they showed Blake in their questions, for attempting to sign some of their questions for Blake, and in their focus and attentiveness throughout each of the hour sessions!! You are amazing people SGPS students!!!!

Blake was happy to answer any question posed by the students, which ranged from:

‘What is your favourite sport, fruit, drink, colour and animal?’ to questions about family, school life, hobbies, where he likes to holiday, where he would like to go overseas, his career/work life, and furthermore, to deep wonderings like: 

‘Do you hear sound in your dreams?’      

Blake’s Answer: ‘Yes, I hear sound in my dreams. I hear voices, animals and songs.’

‘Are you Autistic?’

Blake’s Answer: ‘No, I am not Autistic, but I do know some people who are Autistic.’

‘Have you ever been bullied for being Deaf?’

Blake’s Answer: ‘Yes, when I was younger, but I think I was not so aware that it was happening, because it was more like people mocking me behind my back.’

‘Do you like being Deaf?’

Blake’s Answer: ‘When I was younger, I did not like being Deaf. I wanted to be Hearing. But, over time I have come to adapt and accept it, and now I love being Deaf.’

'Do you have a Sign Name?'

Blake's Answer: 'Yes, my Sign Name is like Elvis, because when I was in Grade 4 or 5, I did a Red Faces Act at a School Camp. I dressed and danced like Elvis and so a Teacher of the Deaf gave me my Sign Name, like Elvis' hair.'

‘What is one of the best times of your life?’

Blake’s Answer: ‘Right now is one of the best times in my life because there have been some big changes in my life and I am really looking forward to the future and what lies ahead. It is an exciting time in my life, right now.’

‘Who is someone that you are inspired by?’

Blake’s Answer: ‘My mum, because she has taught me to be a good man.’

We are very grateful to Blake for giving up his time to come up to SGPS, to meet with so many students, to openly answer their questions, and to give us some insight into what life can be like when you are Deaf. 

Please enjoy these photos from the Meet & Greet sessions with Blake:

In class, all students have been signing about Animals. 

Grade 5-6s have been signing a description of an animal for the class in a Class Guess My Animal PowerPoint. I am proud of the students for getting up in front of the class to have-a-go at signing their Animal Description. Everyone has been very brave!

Grades 3-4s have been making pages in an Animal book: ‘What Animal is this?’ They will be donating these books to the Grade 1-2 classes. Grade 3-4s are also enjoying making an Animal PowerPoint to sign for the class.

Grade 1-2s are signing their favourite Sea Animal with a short description for their peers to interpret.

Grade Preps are starting to sign their Learning Task Farm Animal Art, with the Animal name, its colour/s and a sign to describe its body.

Mrs Riordan

Music News

Grade Three and Four students in the spotlight! What have we been up to in Music?

This fortnight, Grade 3/4 students have continued developing their musical literacy with a focus on steps and skips when reading music notation. We’ve been practicing this using the desk bells and resonator glockenspiels. We’ve also been listening to and learning about “ Wayilwan Ngurambaa” which is a First Nations song from Wayilwan Country. We’ve discussed the meaning of this song and the importance of “Connection to Country” in First Nations culture.

OVERVIEW & PURPOSE - Week 7

In this lesson, students will refer to neighbouring notes as musical steps and play along with the popular song, "Five Little Pumpkins". By the end of this lesson, students should be able to define the term “step” and understand what it means to "step up" and "step down" on the musical staff.

Learning Intention: We are learning about musical steps.

Success Criteria: I can demonstrate what it means to "step up" and "step down" on the musical staff.

OVERVIEW & PURPOSE - Week 8

In this lesson, students will learn about musical skips and be introduced to playing a duet with other classmates. By the end of this lesson, students should be able to define the term “skip” and begin to the understand the importance of an ensemble.

Learning Intention: We are learning about musical skips.

Success Criteria: I can demonstrate what it means to "skip up" and "skip down" on the musical staff.