In the Classroom
Easter Fun at the end of Term 1
The children had a Easter fun day to celebrate a busy first Term of learning. Mrs Grayling and Miss Dunn kept everyone busy with biscuit decorating, easter egg basket and hat making in the morning.
During the afternoon Mrs Crawford and Mrs Wall were entertained by the students as they presented the Easter hop dance/parade, before games were played.
To end the day we had a visit from the Easter Bunny who left chocolate eggs for everyone to find.
Cross Country
Niangala students joined Woolbrook and Yarrowitch for the annual Cross Country event on Thursday 1 May. We were very lucky to again be able to run with the Walcha Central School students at their event. The weather was cold and the children had to contend with water patches on the course.
Congratulations to all of the participants, who tried their very best and competed in good spirit.
Special mention to Lindsay Ham who has qualified to represent Niangala at the district cross country in Armidale. A great effort as this was the first time having to run the 2km course. We wish him all the best on Monday 26 May.
Lunch Time Gardening
As the new term begins, we have decided to start up a lunch time vegetable gardening group - "The Green Thumbs". This is a voluntary activity that our students can choose to participate in.
The focus over winter is to improve the health of the soil. Pete has been busy helping to clean up the vegetable gardens: digging in sawdust and sheep manure, adding lime and seaweed fertiliser. Pete also fixed up the watering systems on the vegetable beds to make sure they are in top working order.
We are also encouraging the compost to start breaking down. We now have a compost turner to aerate, and have added water to encourage the microbes to break down the organic material.
The first vegetable we have planted is garlic! There was much excitement and we will eagerly wait and see if it starts to grow.
"The Green Thumbs" will happily accept any manure or old hay donations.
GRIP Leadership Conference
Year 5 student and school captain Valerie Ham attended the 2025 GRIP Leadership Conference in Armidale on Wednesday 14 May. Valerie joined with like minded school leaders for a day of brainstorming and discussions about what leading looks like.
The day was broken up into three sessions
The Responsibilities of a Student Leader
Being an example to others
Being a helper to others
Being a voice for others
Being willing to do what the school needs
Leadership Through Friendship
Conversations are more effective than instructions
Sharing responsibility is more important than showing off responsibility
Fun is more effective than feeling forced
New Ideas to Help Others
Leadership is not about my status, it's about my service
GENEROSITY - Willingness to use what you have been given (time and resources) on behalf of those you seek to influence.
RESPONSIBILITY - We all have a responsibility to develop what we have and help others to live well.
INTEGRITY - A commitment to truth and honesty in dealings.
PEOPLE - Every human being is of great significance, and has a purpose to fulfill.
Valerie's take home message for the day was that helping and being willing to support others is the best way to lead.
Wild Rivers Alliance Athletics Carnival
The Wild Rivers Alliance schools of Yarrowitch, Woolbrook and Niangala competed in their annual Athletics Carnival on Friday 16 May 2025.
The carnival was run in conjunction with the Thunderbolt Alliance of Rocky River, Kingstown, Kentucky and Kelly's Plains at Uralla Sporting Complex and was a terrific way to meet and compete against other children.
On another cold sports day, the Junior and Senior aged group children kept warm by participating in the track and field events, while the Minors were kept busy doing tabloid sports, including tunnel ball and a tug o war. Congratulations to everyone for competing strongly and displaying amazing sportsmanship.
Champions on the day were
Junior Girl - Zoie Denny (Woolbrook)
Junior Boy – Lindsay Ham (Niangala)
Senior Girl – Alyssa Brown (Woolbrook)
ALIA National Simultaneous Storytime 2025
National Simultaneous Storytime (NSS) is held annually by the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA). Every year a picture book, written and illustrated by an Australian author and illustrator, is read simultaneously in libraries, schools, pre-schools, childcare centres, family homes, bookshops and many other places around the country. Now in its 25th successful year, it is a colourful, vibrant, fun event that aims to promote the value of reading and literacy, using an Australian children's book that explores age-appropriate themes, and addresses key learning areas of the National Curriculum for Foundation to Year 6.
This years story was The Truck Cat written by Deborah Frenkel & Danny Snell. Niangala students were part of the 2,204,658 participants in the event. After listening to the story the children went into creative mode and made some amazing craft.
