Junior School

EXCURSION TO ROCKPOOLS AT RICKETT'S POINT

On Friday the 26th of October the two Prep classes enjoyed a wonderful day at the beach in Rickett’s Point.

The weather was perfect! Not too hot and not too cold. We enjoyed exploring the beach and looking at the seaweed, shells, sea jellies, crabs and other interesting things we found. We also wandered in and around and through the amazing rockpools which had so many different coloured seaweeds, shells and other creatures. After a short paddle in the water, where we saw some live crabs and fish, right near our feet, we had a fantastic time building sandcastles, tunnels and canals. It was so amazing to look out at the enormous ocean and be reminded of God’s never ending, love for us that is as wide as the ocean.

STARS OF THE SEA

On Thursday the 9th of November we had some sea creatures come to visit our Preps. The Preps enjoyed touching a biscuit sea star called Tim Tam and a many armed sea star that had lost some arms and was growing new ones.  They held some sea urchin casts and the shell of a spider crab. Some children held a small tank with a live sea horse and had lots of fun doing a special sea horse dance. Safely contained, in a small tank, the Preps saw a porcupine puffer fish called bloat and a Port Jackson shark called PJ. They also enjoyed watching the hermit crabs come out of their shells and scuttle across the floor. We felt very blessed to be able to see and touch so many of God’s amazing creatures from the sea.

GRANDPARENTS DAY

Last Tuesday the 30th November we hosted a Grandparents and Special Guests afternoon. The day was beautiful and began with a picnic lunch in the yard and a bit of soccer. After lunch the students welcomed their guests into their classrooms and were entertained by music and special activities together. The aim of the day was to honour these precious people in our families and to let them experience our school day. The guests were overwhelmed by their welcome from the Middle School leaders on the gates to the precious time spent together in classes - the feedback about their experiences was wonderful. This is another example of the amazing community we have at St Andrews, thank you to all our guests and to our precious students who went over and above to bless and honour all the Grandparents and Special Guests.

 

Yvonne Hughes

Head of Junior School

FAREWELL TO NICOLE NG

This week we said goodbye to out precious Year 2 Teacher who is going on Maternity leave. Nicole has been an incredible teacher and an amazing blessing to the school. We did get her to have a bit of fun with the staff and spit the dummy for the last time at school.

She will missed, however we look forward to when she visits with her little girl in the next month! May God bless you Nicole and David in this very special season of your lives.

YEAR 1 ART EXCURSION

Year 1s recently visited the Heide Museum of Modern Art with our wonderful Junior School Art Teacher, Mrs Sally Darlison! 

Students discovered the unique history of Heide with a guided tour of the 15 acre site, seeing, smelling and tasting as they went along.  Year 1s also learnt about the legacy of John and Sunday Reed and their contribution to the modernist art movement in Melbourne.  

A treasure hunt was included and students also had the opportunity to make recycled corrugated cardboard cows, inspired by art around the grounds of Heide.  A highlight for students was standing beside a tree that was 400 years old!

 

Melanie Lepileo

Year 1 Teacher

YEAR 4 ACE HI CAMP

Ready, steady, GO! We all rushed off at top speed to get lots of points for the Amazing Race. Emma, Leah and I got our first card, “How many tonnes is the Ace Hi express?” Our hearts were pumping at full force as we sprinted to look for the answer.

 

It was 17th October and everyone was squealing at the top of their voices, “We are here at Year 4 camp!” I couldn’t believe how much I’d enjoyed doing all the fun activities over the next three days – the bumpy horse-riding, the tall giant swing, the humongous rock-climbing, the heart-pumping Amazing Race, the super-long flying fox, and even the fabulous free time.

The bumpy horse riding

On Wednesday, we learned how to get on a horse, get a horse going, turn a horse and stop one.  It was lots of fun.  On Thursday we went on a trail ride for 1 ½ hours. We were quite scared that it was going to be bad weather for it was raining, but luckily it stopped soon.  My horse’s name was Bandit, but sometimes I called him “Cookies and Cream” because he was brown at the front and white at the back.  Bandit was very comfortable to sit on. I think he understood English too, because when I told him to go quicker and made a clicking sound, he listened and went quicker.  The ride was a bit bumpy but I soon got used to it.  When we finished, I was really sad to leave Bandit and hoped to see him again soon.

The tall giant swing

The giant swing was at an amazing height of 18 metres. To make it swing, someone was strapped in and pulled up by everyone else.  I went to the top but didn’t scream.  I had to pull a button at the top but I didn’t pull hard enough the first time, so I got a shock the second time.  Soon though that shock turned into sheer amazement as I saw the glistening sea and lush green hills.  Afterwards, I really wanted another go even though it felt like my heart was in my throat.

Fabulous free time

We had lots of things to do at free time, but my favourite things were just walking around and going swimming.  On the first day we went swimming.  The water was quite clear and most kids were there.  I also enjoyed walking around the campsite and just took in all the scenery.  There was lots of nature.

 

I really enjoyed Ace Hi Camp and want to go back really soon! I liked the horse riding, giant swing and free time the best.  Hope you see you soon, Ace Hi!

 

Zoe Oei

Year 4 Student