Principal's Report
Nearly at the end
I never seem to get term four quite right. At the beginning of the term, it seems I have plenty of time to get everything done for the end of the year and for planning for the following year. But I always get to a point where there’s only a couple of weeks left, and it seems like there are still 1000 tasks to complete! However, we are on track as we move towards the end of the year and plans are well underway for a smooth start to 2020. We are still expecting a little more than 900 children to begin at Lyndhurst next year.
Summer Celebration Concert
There’s lots of excitement around the school about our upcoming summer celebration concert. It’s always a wonderful community event and we have our fingers crossed for some beautiful weather so that everyone can sit out on the oval and enjoy the talents of our wonderful students. You’re welcome to start setting up your picnic from 6 pm. Early entertainment will be provided by our school choir and our Zumba group. I know we’re in for a wonderful evening of fun and enjoyment for the whole community I look forward to seeing you all there.
Step Up Day
Our annual “Step Up Day” is coming up soon on the 10th December. On that day, our new preps will have their first real experience of school and many other new students at other year levels will visit for the day to begin their transition as well. All of our current students already will have an opportunity to visit their new classroom for 2020 and, in most cases, meet their 2020 teacher.
Senior Choir at Hampton Park Carols
On Friday 13th December, our senior choir will once again entertain the crowd at the Hampton Park Carols by Candlelight. The Lyndhurst senior choir has been a feature of the program for some time now and we are so pleased that they’ve been invited back to perform in front of such a large audience. It’s a wonderful performance opportunity for the students and I wish them the very best for the evening.
School Leadership 2020 speeches
One of the events I most look forward to each year is when our year five students have an opportunity to express their interest in leadership positions for the following year. For our senior leadership positions of school captain and SRC chairperson, we ask children to prepare a speech which they present to their teachers, their peers, some of the current student leaders and school leaders.
Children putting their hand up for leadership should be congratulated and I’m always thoroughly impressed with the quality of the speeches and the depth of thought that goes into the preparation. We always get wonderful student leaders from the process and I’m certain that this year’s year fives will be no different.
Graduation 2019
Of course, I’m also always really excited as graduation time approaches. Many of the students I have known since prep and it is always a bittersweet moment to farewell them from primary school and from Lyndhurst. The graduation, over the years, has developed into a wonderful celebration of their seven years of education. It is a very emotional time for staff and parents, but it is a time of great pride as we send our year sixes out into the big wide world.
Energy Breakthrough 2019
Recently, we returned from another successful Energy Breakthrough with our HPV teams. For those who don’t know, the Energy Breakthrough is a competition for school teams based around innovation in transport technology. For most students, it takes the form of a 14-hour endurance race using HPV’s or Human Powered Vehicles.
Teams of 8 to 10 students work together, completing hundreds of laps of the 1.2 km track over two separate race days totalling 14 hours. They also go through highly technical and rigorous scrutineering of the big vehicle and answer any questions in front of the judges about their preparation for the event. They also give a 30-minute presentation, both visual and oral, of all they have learned leading up to the event. One of the best parts of the event is the community aspect whereby students, parents and staff, all camp together and work together to support the student teams in the competition.
The competition runs from Thursday through to Saturday and, whilst we were challenged by some of the hot and windy weather, all of the students were wonderful representatives of our school and competed in the true spirit of teamwork and sportsmanship. To give you some idea of the scope of the event, I’ve included a couple of excerpts from the energy breakthrough website. It is an enormous event involving thousands of students, parents and teachers and has to be seen and experienced to be believed.
2019 Energy Breakthrough – a test of endurance, innovation and challenging weather!
This year’s Energy Breakthrough wasn’t just a test of endurance and innovation, with the event’s organisers and volunteers being tested by the severe weather conditions on Thursday.
“This year’s Energy Breakthrough highlighted student’s resilience and tenacity,” Event Director John Stafford said. While multiple schools were not able to travel on Thursday due to the adverse forecast, there was minimal disruption to the event’s schedule with event organisers being able to reschedule and accommodate every school’s needs.
Away from the tracks, the Transurban Future of Transport Expo was expanded with new attractions including robotic traffic cones and Virtual Reality activities from Transurban and La Trobe University’s ‘Clever’ vending machine where participants could win some cool gear by completing challenges.
“Schools came from across the state and interstate – country, city, big and small schools,” Energy Breakthrough Committee Chairperson Hugh Delahunty said.
“Congratulations to all participants for a great four days of innovation, determination and endurance. After a difficult start because of the weather, we enjoyed a great three days of human endurance.”
Sensational Saturday at the 2019 Energy Breakthrough
It was a massive day in Maryborough this Saturday as ou [...] The post Sensational Saturday at the 2019 Energy Breakthrough
(https://www.eb.org.au/2019/11/24/sensational-saturday-at-the-2019-energy-breakthrough/)
appeared first on Energy Breakthrough