The Golden Vine

From the School Leadership Team

Staff News 

 

Congratulations to Kuno Berghout, who has won a position working in grounds and maintenance at Thomas More College. Kuno has been a much loved member of our community over the past fourteen years and he will be sorely missed, to say the least! We have appreciated the immense amount of work that Kuno has done for our school over that time and for the positive rapport that he has enjoyed with students, families and staff alike. Kuno's children also went through our school over that time, so it is very much the end of a very enjoyable era for both him and us. This new opportunity for Kuno gives him the chance to work as part of a larger team in a different setting, and we are sure that his broad skill set will be very much appreciated! Please take the opportunity to farewell and thank Kuno as you see him around the school next week.

 

Congratulations to Mrs Emily Gower, who will be on maternity leave from Term 3 of this year. It is exciting that Emily will have a new addition to her family and we wish her the very best in this next season of motherhood. Mrs Jade Fielke, who currently shares the 3/4 GF class with Mrs Gower, will continue to teach the class on Mondays and Tuesdays and will also teach on Wednesdays from Term 3 onwards. Mrs Cloe Richardson, who would be very familiar to our school families as our specialist art teacher, will teach 3/4 GF on Thursdays and Fridays from Term 3 onwards. 

 

Foundation Classrooms 

Work is continuing on our Foundation classrooms, and it is great to see them taking shape week by week! This week, there was more work that took place on the concrete slab, and the steelwork frame is still on track to be installed later in March. The retaining wall and ramp to the oval and basketball courts will also be rebuilt in late March and early April. We are certainly excited at the prospect of having the ramp back! We are awaiting a final engineering inspection on the middle (Junior Primary) playground following the installation of a new retaining wall there, and envisage that this should reopen during March as well. 

 

SAPSASA Swimming 

Congratulations to Sedani, Ruby, Mia and Amity for your great representation of our school at SAPSASA swimming! You did a great job in your races and wore our new school swimming caps with pride!  

 

Middle of Term Breakfast 

It is hard to believe that we are already quite close to the middle of the term, so it is a good opportunity to remind our families about Middle of Term Breakfast next week, as well as putting in some information about what this is for all of our new families - as we'd love to see you there. 

Each term, on the very middle Wednesday of term, we enjoy a Middle of Term Breakfast that our P & F put on for us. This term we will enjoy hot cross buns. The cafe will also be open to provide tea and coffee. This is a great community event where parents, students and our staff team can come together to chat and build connection and community. Middle of Term Breakfasts take place before school from 8.00am - 8.45am in the School Courtyard. 

We look forward to welcoming you there! 

 

Eisugakkan Visit and Japan Study Tour 

We are looking forward to a number of year 5 students from Eisugakkan visiting our school in the first week of Term 3 - from Wednesday 24 July through to Sunday 28 July. We are seeking expressions of interest and assistance in a few different areas. 

  • We are arranging an optional camp for year 5 and 6 students who would like to spend the night with the Eisugakkan students at AFL Max on Friday 26 July. The cost will be $160 per student for those students that would like to 'opt in' for this experience. It will prove to be a valuable time for the students to be able to make new friends, practice their Japanese and make some great cross-cultural connections. 
  • We would love the opportunity for our visiting Eisugakkan students to be able to have a 'homestay' with our students and families. We have about 20 students visiting from Eisugakkan this year and would love to have enough parent volunteers for them to be able to spend Saturday and Saturday night on the 27th of July with our students and families, being dropped back to their hotel on the Sunday morning of the 28th.

We are finalising costs for the year 5/6 study tour to Japan later in the year. We plan to travel to Japan and visit Eisugakkan school, as well as a range of other sites around Japan, from Monday 23 September - Friday 4 October (the last week of term 3 and first week of the school holidays). 

Our travel agent is currently updating the prices to reflect 2024 fares, and Sensei Bishop is working to find some savings in the itinerary, as the current projected cost is about $5500 per child and $6000 per adult. We plan to hold an information session in the next month once these details are finalised. 

 

If you are interested in hosting a homestay student for one evening (this is open to all families across the school) or are interested in you and your year 5 or 6 child attending the Japan Study Tour (and you have not already completed an expression of interest), please contact Melissa Bishop, our Teacher of Japanese via bishop.melissa@goldengrove.sa.edu.au

 

Harmony Day 

Harmony Day is coming up on Monday 25 March. We are excited about this special day where we can celebrate and share the range of different cultures that make up our school community. The children love coming in their traditional cultural costumes on the day. 

 

We will hold a special assembly on the day, and will send home details about times and all of the activities for the day home to families shortly. 

 

Please note that this means that Foundation sharing at Assembly will now happen on Monday 8 April (in Week 11), rather than on Monday 25 March. We apologise for the change and hope that it does not inconvenience any families. 

 

Pastor - call process 

As families would be aware, Pastor Greg accepted a call to Faith Lutheran College in Queensland towards the end of last year. Our church congregation have formed a 'call committee' to commence the process of calling, or inviting a new pastor to serve at Golden Grove Lutheran Church and in our school community. In the last newsletter update, we outlined that we have conducted a survey of the church community of the qualities and skills that we would seek in our next pastor, and have met with Stephen Schultz, our Assistant Bishop, to analyse this data. The call committee are continuing to work with our congregation in discerning available pastors to call from across the Lutheran Church and finalising the information package that would be provided to a prospective pastor or pastors as part of the call process.

 

 

Strategic Plan 

We have an exciting year ahead as we embark on the implementation of our new strategic plan. We are energised by our purpose to enrich the lives of children and each individual in our school community, and beyond the school environment. With a Christ- centred foundation, we foster an inclusive environment where everyone can belong, explore and thrive. Equally exciting are our new values - love, collaborate and explore, which will underpin all that we do, as well as our strategic priority areas of: 

• Excellence and innovation in learning 

• Well-being and culture

• Community and Partnerships

• School Development

 

Strategic Plan 2024-2028.pdf

 

Parent Lounge 

We are excited that our new parent portal, Parent Lounge, has been launched this year. This is a great way to be able to check that your contact details and your child's medical details are up to date, as well as to be able to view the school calendar. 

Please check your email for the login information sent in Week 1 of term, and you are most welcome to be in touch with us if you have any queries around the login process.

 

A few reminders 

Please be reminded of some of our key events to commence the year: 

  • Friday 1 March - SAPSASA Swimming 
  • Saturday 2 March - Fishing Club at Goolwa
  • Wednesday 6 March - Middle of Term Breakfast 8.00am - 8.45am
  • Monday 11 March - Adelaide Cup Public Holiday 
  • Wednesday 13 March - NAPLAN commences for Years 3 and 5 
  • Friday 15 March - Foundation Parent Welcome Evening 
  • Monday 18 March - P & F Meeting - 7.30pm 
  • Friday 22 March - Sports Day 
  • Monday 25 March - Harmony Day (please note changes to assembly on this day) 
  • Friday 29 March - Good Friday 
  • Monday 1 April - Easter Monday 

Will Wallace

Principal

 

Harmony Day is a very special day at GGLPS on which we can celebrate the diversity in our wonderful school community. Planning is underway for our celebration on Monday, March 25th and our program for the day includes: 

 

WORSHIP and PARADE in the Worship Centre – during this time, students will be encouraged to go up on stage with the name and flag of their country. 

Students are encouraged to dress up in CULTURAL DRESS to celebrate their country of origin, or WEAR ORANGE to celebrate Harmony Day. 

DRINKS OF THE WORLD sampling. Between recess and lunch, students will have the opportunity to choose drinks from around the world to sample.  

TIME WITH BUDDIES taking part in activities and learning that celebrates different languages and lifestyles of the world.  

A SCAVENGER HUNT based on different aspects of being a global citizen. 

 

What can parents do? 

Do you have a drink (child friendly) suggestion from around the world that you could suggest being made for student sampling?  

Would you be available to help to make and serve the DRINKS OF THE WORLD? 

If you haven’t already, can you please visit the parent portal on TASS and enter in your child’s country of birth and home language if applicable. 

If you have a suggestion, or are available to help, please email: 

Please email details to: 

Mr Salisbury     Salisbury.james@goldengrove.sa.edu.au or 

Mr K     kriewaldt.tim@goldengrove.sa.edu.au 

You are invited to join us for Worship and the Parade on Monday morning. 

 

 

Memories of Harmony Day 2023: 

 

 

 

Jayne Zadow

Teacher