Around the Junior School

Pre-Kinder, Teddy Bears' Picnic at Windermere

The wind stopped blowing and the sun shone down, it was certainly a perfect day for a picnic and bush play. The children bought their teddies along for the bus ride out to farm, where we started with some morning tea. Next the children went on a bear hunt and were rewarded with a gummy bear, jelly cup when they were able to return with the laminated bears that had been hidden in the gardens . Then we made our way to the scrub section of the farm to build to build cubby homes with sticks. Luckily some of the big kids had previously already stated to build a house so we were able to add to it. Wonderful team work involved during this activity. 

Year 5 Camp

This Term Year 5 travelled to Yarramundi for a remarkable camp experience. The behaviour of our students was nothing short of excellent, with each child displaying respect, responsibility, and a strong sense of teamwork throughout the trip. What stood out most was how everyone eagerly got involved in the various activities and challenged themselves, pushing their boundaries to discover new strengths and abilities. Some of the activities included abseiling, rock climbing, high ropes, low ropes, initiatives, orienteering and music trivia. It was truly heartwarming to see these young individuals come together, support one another, and grow both individually and as a group. The Yarramundi camp will undoubtedly be a cherished memory for these students and a testament to their outstanding character and enthusiasm for learning and adventure.

Year 4 Camp 2023 

By Lucy and Olive

On Tuesday 17 October, 41 students woke up excited and ready for the day ahead. Parents waved goodbye as the bus departed. On the bus excited chatter filled the air. As we arrived everyone cheered with joy. We were at Blue Gum Lodge at last!  

We picked up our bags and headed to the meeting point. As cabins were announced everyone held their breath, squeals and exclamations broke out amongst the students.  

Our morning tea vanished in a flash as we buzzed about our first activities. We split up into our activity groups. The day passed by in a blur!  

The next day breakfast smelled amazing! It was bacon, eggs and hash browns. After breakfast everyone rushed to the cabins to get ready for the first inspection. After all the inspections were done, we all got back into our activity groups ready for a second day of fun! 

That night after a delicious meal the students got ready for a trivia night. The team Platypus (Cabin 5) came away with first place! We all eventually fell asleep. 

We all woke up tired and grumpy but after a delicious breakfast all of us were ready for the day. We did our first few activities and then it was time for lunch. For lunch we ate yummy subways. After our last couple of activities for the day and dinner we got into our pj’s and snuggled down to watch the movie, Elf. 

The next day we woke up bright and early. We all packed our bags and headed out for breakfast. We completed our very last activities and took our bags onto the bus. We were sad to leave but we knew we were ready to go back home to our families. On the bus trip home, we argued which activities were the best. These activities were bush cooking, archery, rock climbing and more. 

By Jarvis Byrne 

On the cold, frosty morning of 17 October, Year 4 hopped on the bus ready for an amazing four days at Blue Gum Lodge, in the Blue Mountains. The journey was long, but it did not affect the fun time that we would have at camp. When we finally got there, we dropped off our bags and eagerly waited for the teachers to tell us who was in our cabin and activity groups. Then we put our bags in our cabins, split into our activity groups and parted ways doing different activities. Activities included archery, pool initiatives, catapult, BMX, bush walking, low ropes and more. Every morning we had Christian Discovery which told us about God’s stories. Night activities included games in the rec' hall, trivia night and movie night. We also had cabin inspections, where the teachers would come into our cabins and check if they were neat and tidy. They would rate it out of 10 and at the end of camp they would tell us which cabin came first, and the winning cabin would get a prize. The food was good, and they had a wide range of options to choose from, which included chicken and rice, burgers, pancakes and much more. Finally, on the last day of camp it was time to go back home. Everyone was tired but ready to go. We were also excited to see our families again. 

Nick Strahorn and Harry Sullivan  

On Tuesday the 17 October Year 4 had an early start to the day. We hopped on the bus with excitement and joy ready for a big week.

When we arrived at Blue Gum Lodge we took in the surroundings and were excited for our first activity. We found out who was in our cabin and activity group. Our favorite activities included: Rock climbing, biking, and archery. We were put into three groups, A, B, C.  

Breakfast, lunch, and dinner were served in the dining hall and the food was amazing. Special diets went first, and others went next. Afternoon tea tasted delicious and so did morning tea. 

The teachers held a competition for the tidiest cabin and trivia was held after dinner on Wednesday to get extra points for the cabins. Cabin 5 won the cabin competition, scoring 1 more point than cabin 8. Their team’s name was Platy.  

As we entered the bus back to school, we felt tired and sad to leave camp, but happy to see our parents again.  

The Year 2 First Nations Engagement Day Trip

How lucky Year 2 were to be able to attend The First Nations Engagement Day on Tuesday 7 November on Wiradjuri Land at the Orange Regional Museum. They began the day by having to search and locate First Nation artefacts in the Museum and identify what they were called and what raw material they were made from. They heard the Dreamtime Story of how Gaanha-Bula (Mount Canobolas) came to be and its Indigenous meaning -  two shoulders. Gaanha-Bula was actually the name of one of the three brothers in the story.

From there the students moved to an Art Session with Sandon and talked about what was important to them. This was the basis for their artwork as they created their stories by painting on a bookmark. Many students chose to draw their family and friends and were shown symbols that they could use to represent people that are special to them. 

After lunch, there was a chance to explore some cultural dance. After painting their faces with ochre, students were able to use a branch of gum leaves to swish away the negative energy as they moved around a circle in time with the music.

Year 2 finished the day with a session presented by our Deputy Mayor, Gerald Power on Bush Tucker. They were fortunate to be able to visit a community garden and sample many native plants. They learnt the value of river mint to keep the mosquitoes at bay and got to enjoy a cup of popcorn with some crushed lemon myrtle. They discovered that Lemon myrtle can be used to treat headaches, or heal wounds and they realised that Kangaroo Grass can be crushed to make Johnny Cake – a type of damper. They were fortunate to hold some emu egg shells and one lucky Year 2 student was able to take one home. Gerald demonstrated how our First Nation peoples were able to gather emu eggs by tricking the male emus. He let a few of us try to replicate the sound. Many of the students enjoyed the opportunity to throw a hunting boomerang.

Year 2 enjoyed the opportunity to listen and learn from local First Nations Peoples. 

Merit Awards - Term 3 Week 10 2023

K Paddington

K Plume

• Maya Knox: Being a considerate and caring buddy for a new student and continually challenging herself in her learning.
• Clementine Adams: A positive start in Kinder Plume and working hard to improve her letter formations.

1 Elmer

• Hugh MacMahon: Dynamic double facts in Mathematics
• Henry Volkofsky: Fast facts in Mathematics

1 Simba

• Poppy Fardell: Her impressive application to all writing tasks.
• Darcy Price: His improved efforts in writing interesting sentences in daily 10 minute writing.

2 Jack Berne

• Harriet Gibson: settling into Term 4 routine like a butterfly in Spring.
• Amelia Canning: adding two-digit numbers in maths investigations as well as a flying fish swim!

3 Watson   

• Lulu Widauer: Her application in reading fluency and detailed explanation of what quality reading sounds like. Keep up the great work!
• Michale Gurr: A great explanation of his arrays in multiplication. Keep up the hard work in Maths!

3 Armstrong

• Alec Stewart: His positive attitude, active engagement, and his excellent ideas around “States of Matter” in our science lessons.
• Kayley Lett: Her positive engagement and thoughtful contributions to class discussions. Well done!

4 Einstein   

• Felix Knox: Having a positive attitude at camp and trying his best.
• James Proudford-Nalder: Having an excellent grasp of phonemes and helping others in the class with their phoneme fingers.

4 Pitt

5 Mabo

5 King

6 Mandela

6 Brockmann