There were over 150 students absolutely pumped with their lunch today as Newlands became a Mexican fiesta! The crunch of tacos could be heard throughout the whole school, and we are so excited for this initiative to continue for the rest of the term.

Unfortunately, there will be no tacos next Friday due to our Curriculum Day, but Taco Friday will return on Friday 28 August. I am not lying when I say they are some of the best tacos I have ever had!

La Música Viajera

It has been the talk of the town for the last 10 weeks, but next week it finally arrives , our school production, La Música Viajera!

We have been lucky enough to get a sneak peek at some of the class dances, solos and videos, and we know it is going to be a great night. All the final information can be found on the Production page in the newsletter.

Now that everyone has had the opportunity to purchase tickets, all families are welcome to snap up the remaining tickets!

BOITE Chorus – Akoma: The Heart

On Tuesday night, a group of our students jumped on the tram and headed into the city to perform in front of more than 500 people at this year's BOITE Chorus.

This year's performance, Akoma – The Heart, focused on Ghana and its culture. A massive congratulations to all of our students who performed. It is an incredible experience to perform in front of such a large audience.

A big thank you also goes to Katherine, who gave up her lunchtimes to help our students practise and attended the event to support them on the night.

OSHC Playground

Just a reminder that the OSHC playground is out of bounds after school. This space needs to be available exclusively for our After Care program so that students can be safely supervised.

We ask all families remaining at school after dismissal to use our new playground next to the gym instead. We really appreciate everyone's understanding and assistance with this.

Before School Sports – Term 4

This term, we have been blown away by the response to our Before School Sports program. We are now looking to make it even bigger in Term 4, with plans to introduce a number of new sports and activities.

Before we can confirm these programs, we need to know that we have enough students interested to make them viable. Where possible, we hope to give students an opportunity to trial the new activities before committing for the term, with trial sessions taking place over the next few weeks.

We will do our best to reduce clashes in the timetable. However, with so many activities on offer and different coaches and organisations involved, we won't be able to guarantee that students can participate in every activity they are interested in.

We also strongly encourage students to continue with the activities they have tried in Term 3. They have spent a term learning the basics, and now is their opportunity to keep developing those skills!

Proposed new Term 4 activities include:

Girls AFL Football – Darebin Falcons | $100 per term | Minimum 15 students
Girls Soccer – Darebin Falcons | $100 per term | Minimum 15 students
Drama/Acting – DARE Drama | $215 per term | Minimum 10 students | P–2 and 3–6 groups
Muy Thai – MMA Pound Force | $100 per term | Minimum 20 students
Lacrosse – Brunswick Lacrosse | Cost TBC | Minimum 20 students
Fencing – Historical Fencing | $120 per term | Minimum 20 students

These will be on top of the fantastic activities we already provide:

Tennis – Adrian Barry Tennis | $225 per term
Wrestling – MMA Pound Force | $100 per term
Basketball – Players First | $100 per term
Zumba – run by our very own Diego | $50 per term

That's potentially 10 different activities available to Newlands students before school in Term 4!

Jess – Maternity Leave

We would like to wish Jess all the very best as she heads off on maternity leave and gets ready for an exciting new chapter. Jess has made an enormous contribution to Newlands, and we know she will be greatly missed by our students, staff and families while she is away. We can't wait to meet the newest addition to the Newlands family and look forward to welcoming Jess back in three weeks...or a year.

We will send out more information next week, including the proposed timetable, registration details and opportunities to trial the new activities.

Thanks,

Luke

Bunnings BBQ this Saturday