On Thursday 14 November we hosted our first Kindergarten Open Classroom session where we invited 2025 Kindergarten students to become familiar with the classroom and playground environments with their trusted adult prior to their first transition morning. There was a real buzz in the air as students engaged in a variety of activities in the classroom and a play on the playground.

That evening, we ran a face to face and Zoom parent information session for new, incoming primary families to support their transition to our school.

On Thursday 21 November, it was great to welcome the 2025 Kindergarten students back again for their first transition morning. This first morning is such an important milestone in the transition to school program. It gives the children an opportunity to start building connections with their teachers and peers. Whilst the students were engaged in the classrooms, parents were invited to attend the Curriculum Workshop which outlined our approach to English, Mathematics, Fine Motor skills and Pastoral Care. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Ivan Honey, the founder of The Get Happier Project, for explaining our comprehensive social & emotional learning program. I would also like to thank Tonya Eishold from Moama Community Health for speaking to our families about children’s speech and language skills, and Johanna Nesbit, a local audiologist, for explaining the importance of good hearing and the impact hearing loss has on learning.

We look forward to seeing all our 2025 Kindergarten students again for their second transition morning on Wednesday 27 November from 9:00am to 12:30pm.

Orientation Day

All current and new primary students at Moama Anglican Grammar will be involved in an Orientation Day on Tuesday 3 December. On this day, students will step up into their 2025 class with their 2025 peers and classroom teacher. This day is an integral part of the preparation for the 2025 academic year, and staff plan for an enjoyable and informative day with lots of ‘getting to know you’ activities. This will allow new students to build connections with their peers and ease any anxieties they may have about changing year levels or schools.

Students are asked to wear comfortable casual clothes for the day and to start the day in their normal classroom. End-of-day arrangements remain the same as usual.

For those students identified, additional transition strategies will be implemented prior to this day.

Student Achievement

Edward Melville successfully tried out for the Bendigo Amateur Soccer League under 13 representative squad for 2025. This is his third year representing the region, playing across the state in multiple tournaments. Edward is committed to training weekly in Bendigo with his team, which includes players from as far as Castlemaine. Edward is one of a growing number of Echuca Moama Boarder Raiders selected, as soccer continues to grow in our area.

Staff Achievement

On Thursday 14 November, Year 3 teacher Miss Stacey Briggs and her horse 'Raff' competed in the national Equestrian Expo in Melbourne titled 'Equitana' in the Express Eventing competition. This competition consisted of 14 fences with a mixture of showjumping and cross-country style jumps at 1.20m in height. An optional 'Joker' fence built at 15cm higher was also included, which they cleared to take them into the final. Stacey placed 9th amongst some of the top professional riders in the sport in the final. Many of the MAG Equestrian Team students were in the crowd cheering along, which was very much appreciated by Stacey and Raff. Quinny Knowles-Mullholland also baked Raff some tasty apple and carrot treats, which he loved! Miss Briggs is excited to continue building the MAG Equestrian Program further in 2025.

T20 Cricket Tournament

On Friday 8 November, selected Year 5 and Year 6 students had the opportunity to participate in a T20 cricket tournament. The girls' team had a great time, starting strong with an intense first game against Echuca Primary School. Despite a hard-fought match, we narrowly missed a win, losing by just 2 runs. The day ended on a high note as we reached the finals and came out with a win! Overall, we ended in seventh. All the girls played exceptionally well, making it a memorable day filled with fun and great team spirit.

Written by Luella Williams and Sophie Millar

On Friday, November 8, selected Year 5 and 6 students walked to Jack Eddy Oval, for an exciting day of cricket. The boys began their first game, playing against St. Mary’s 2. Batting first, we scored an impressive 298 runs and secured a victory by 160 runs. In the second game, we faced a tough match and lost by a small margin of 20 runs, ending with Echuca Primary School winning. The third game was crucial, as a win would have put us in top two and allowed us to play against the second team in the other division. We rose to the challenge, winning by 80 runs, we were stoked. In the finals, we faced Echuca East 1 and chose to bowl first, with Echuca East scoring 131 runs. Then we went into bat, starting off shaky, but managed to reach the target, winning by 10 runs. Overall, the team finished third and had a fantastic day filled with competitive spirit. A big thank you to all the teachers who helped make the day possible!

Written by Ted Palmer and Tighe Teasdale

Learn to Swim Program

Last week we went swimming at the Echuca pool. The best thing about swimming was the whirlpool. We did this because they wanted us to know what a current would feel like. We ran in a circle, then went the other way. It was powerful but not exactly like a current. At the start of every lesson, we did forward stroke, back stroke and a new one, survival backstroke. If we did a good job we could pick something to do. We would always choose diving from the block or a special type of sinky.

Written by Oscar Reid 2A

Primary Assembly

On Friday 15 November, the Primary School community connected at the final Primary Assembly for the year. I would like to congratulate Charlie Palmer and Alex Woods, our Co-Curricular Captains, for confidently running the Assembly. We enjoyed some lovely performances that included Georgia McIntosh from 5B who played the guitar and sang ‘Budapest’, a smash hit by George Ezra when it was released in 2014. We were amazed by first-time performer Katherine Nguyen from Kinder A who performed ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star’ on piano and enjoyed another performance by Payton Polido who played the guitar and sang ‘Georgia’ by much loved Australian singer, Vance Joy.

We welcomed Anna Bonomini from the Campaspe Regional Library who spoke about the ‘Big Summer Read’ and we acknowledged all the work by parents Mel Coburn and Linda Johnston and Year 10 student Olive Morton, who delivered the Primary Gymnastics beginner Co-Curricular program on Friday each week. We are incredibly grateful for their support.

Congratulations to the Kindergarten cohort for sharing their wonderful grass seed plants they grew in Science and Technology lessons, and their excellent writing pieces which explained the process of growing things. We were also treated to a wonderful video which highlighted their great experiences during their recent ‘Kinders Big Day Out’ excursion. Finally, we turned up the music and waved off our Year 6 students as they left their final Primary Assembly.

Congratulations to the students below who received a Core Value Award for consistently displaying one or more of the School’s Core Values and Motto. Keep up the great work!

COMPASSION

Matilda Cox KA

Ted Rankin KA

Reuben James KB

Sayuni Hettiarachchige 2A

Mackenzie Shinners 2B

Arlie Barnstable 3A

Isabelle Barnett 5A

Ryan Maxwell 5A

James Cox 5B

Archie Watson 6C

RESPECT

Clay Myers KA

Harry Reid KB

Lexi Clydesdale 1A

Josephine Gronow 2A

Dakota Patten 4A

Ryan Strahan 6A

Benji Brown 6A

Evie Andersen 6A

Evie Frew 6A

Patrick Frazer 6A

INTEGRITY

Koa Drough KB

Tabitha Polido 1A

Eva Michael 3A

Mea Whitelegg 3B

Jack McKay 4A

William Gulliver 4B

Jobe Jones-Weichard 5A

Stella Smith 5A

Greta Broadhead 5B

Pippa Lane 6B

Nate Murrells 6C

James Rush 6C

HONOUR & EXCELLENCE

Ivein Wimalasuriya KA

Phoenix Vanzetta 1A

Ochre Pascoe 1B

Mitchell Colliver 1B

Mia Binnie 2A

Henry Evans 2B

Pia Teasdale-Dohnt 2B

Emily Campi 3A

Harry Newton 3B

Hudson Alder 4A

Oscar Bull 4B

Cash Glanville 5A

Jordan Lyfield 5A

Hannah McCleary 5A

Lily Watson 5A

Francesca Starritt 5A

Ebony Patten 5B

Darcy Knowles-Mulholland 6B

Year 5 Leadership Speeches

On Wednesday 20 November, 40 nominated Year 5 students completed the daunting task of presenting their leadership speech in front of their peers. The students should be congratulated on the way they confidently conducted themselves. They were well-prepared, and it was evident that students had put a lot of thought into their speeches. The 2025 Year 6 leadership group will be announced at the Primary Presentation Assembly on Wednesday 11 December. The students will be introduced to the school community early next year at the Commencement Assembly, where they will recite their School Leadership Pledge, formalizing their leadership position.

Stage 1 Assembly

Students Ochre Pascoe and Jethro Batchelor from 1B were in charge of running the Stage 1 Assembly this week and they both did a wonderful job. It was a short and sharp assembly with lots of excitement. We then presented our ‘Stars of the Week’ awards to our worthy recipients.

YEAR 1	YEAR 2
Harlow Gunn	Ali Maxwell
Chris Hakim	Emerson Wright
Lillyan Walker
Jaxon Unmack

Stage 2 Assembly

On Wednesday 13 November, 4B and Mr. Ward hosted the Stage 2 Assembly. Together, they reflected on the fast-approaching end of the school year, encouraging everyone to make the most of the remaining time to prepare for and enjoy the exciting transition to the next year level. They highlighted some key upcoming events, including Orientation Day on Tuesday 3 December and the Stage 2 Celebration morning on Friday 6 December during periods 1 and 2.

Stage 2 celebrated the incredible efforts of the Citizenship Award recipients: Justin Baky, Dakota Patten, Chloe Wildes, Sam Connally, Aviraj Singh, Harry Newton, Finley Bachelor, Lachlan McKay, Dominic Parker-Hildebrand, Ella Betts, and Hamish Moon. Their outstanding display of our core values is an inspiration to us all.

During the assembly, Year 3 students showcased their impressive procedural writing, explaining how to create an origami crane, while Year 4 students shared their creative work, introducing new characters inspired by their class novel ‘The Callers’. It was a wonderful celebration of learning, creativity, and achievement across Stage 2.

ICAS Achievements

The International Competitions and Assessments for Schools (ICAS) English, Mathematics or Science Competitions were held during Term 3. This competition is by nature designed to test and challenge students whose academic ability lies in the top 10% of their school cohort. Congratulations to the students below who opted in and performed well in one or more of the three tests.

Distinction (top 10%)	Test
Hudson Knight	English
Rory Mansfield	English and Science
Kusali Gamage	English and Science
Archie Flanigan	Mathematics

Credit (top 35%)	Test
Isabelle Townrow	English and Mathematics
Kaitlin Goodsell	English and Science
Sayuni Hettiarachchige	English
Autumn Corlett-Love	English
Shriya Rayas	English
Rishi Shenai	English, Mathematics and Science
Hugh Thomson	English and Mathematics
Emerson Wright	Mathematics
Akain Perera	Mathematics and Science
Kusali Gamage	Mathematics
Cleo Guinan	Science
Cleo Haw	Science

Merit (top 50%)	Test
Ariella White	English
Patrick Frazer	English
Vivaan Shenai	English
Hudson Knight	Mathematics and Science
Luke Murrells	Mathematics
Shriya Rayas	Mathematics
Amelia Goodsell	Science
Layla O’Sullivan	Science
Isabelle Townrow	Science

Presentation Assembly

Preparation for the Primary Presentation Assembly is underway. This Assembly has been scheduled for Wednesday 11 December, starting at 9:15am in the undercover area. Parents are invited to attend this important event and in addition, the assembly will be livestreamed for parents to view. These formal assemblies are a great opportunity to celebrate students’ achievements. Each classroom teacher from Kinder to Year 6 will select the 4 recipients for the student awards listed below.

Name of Award	Criteria	How the Award winner is determined
Excellentia	Awarded to one student from each K-6 class: ‘is awarded to the student who has achieved the highest overall results across the curriculum in their class for the year'.	This award is objectively determined by the classroom teacher based on consistent and independent achievement throughout the year and generally not dependant on effort or attitude. Results from class-based assessment tasks and standardised tests, form the basis of the decision.
Endeavour	Awarded to two students from each K-6 class: ‘is awarded to a student who has achieved above and beyond their potential across the curriculum by committing their best effort throughout the year'.	This award is objectively determined by the classroom teacher based on consistent achievement and application throughout the year. The recipient will be a student that regularly goes the extra mile to provide evidence of attention to detail, in-depth investigation and thinking, reliability and presentation. Learner attributes not readily tested such as work ethic as well as aspects of the School’s Core Values also provide guidance when determining the recipient.
Most Improved	Awarded to one student from each K-6 class: ‘is awarded to the student who has demonstrated the greatest progress and application throughout the year'.	This award is objectively determined by the classroom teacher based on progress and application throughout the year. A comparison of results on class-based assessment tasks from the beginning of the year and standardised tests, should demonstrate a significant “leap” and form the basis of the decision, overlayed with teacher judgement to reflect learning attributes not readily tested such as work ethic as well as aspects of the School’s Core Values.

Message from the Office

To ensure the digital protection of our students in Primary School, IT have rules in place for both inbound and outbound emails. Outbound emails sent to Primary aged students are automatically placed in quarantine which is being monitored by the IT department. Recently, we have noticed an increase in the number of emails being sent between family members to deliver messages. I would like to remind parents that if they need to get a message to their child/ren during the day, they should contact the Primary School Office. Parents looking to share resources for their child’s talking topic are encouraged to email the classroom teacher directly.

Upcoming Events

27/11/24 Kindergarten 2025 Transition Day 2

28/11/24 Year 1/2 Celebration Day

28/11/24 Year 6 Celebration Day

29/11/24 Year 3 Celebration Day

29/11/24 Year 5 Celebration Day

29/11/24 Primary Chapel

02/12/24 Year 6 LifeChanger incursion

03/12/24 Kindergarten 2025 Transition Day 3

03/12/24 Orientation Day Years 1-6

04/12/24 Christmas Service

05/12/24 Year 6 Graduation

09/12/24 Carols on the Lawn Christmas Concert

11/12/24 Primary Presentation Day Assembly

11/12/24 Celebration Day

11/12/24 Last day of Term 4

Kind Regards,

Nici Deller

Deputy Principal - Head of Primary

Community Events

Echuca Moama Community Projects & Uniting Church Christmas Toy Appeal

Rich River Junior Golf Program

Concert Series Launch

Tough Tilly Day