GECPA News
GEC Parents Association (GECPA) – Join Us!
All GEC parents and guardians are welcome to attend our meetings – a great chance to meet some school families and help the school. Our meetings are friendly and informal, and your level of involvement is up to you. If you are interested in being involved, want to come to any of our meetings or are not already receiving our emails, please send an email to gecpa@gec.vic.edu.au.
Our next meeting will be an evening on 14th June at 7:45pm in Caulfield South – email gecpa@gec.vic.edu.au for address details.
We will discuss
- Supper at School Production
- Students Mobile phone use at school
- Movie Night
- Trivia Night
- Election Day sausage sizzle Nov 24
Volunteers (welcome even in a small way) and other suggestions welcome.
Supper at School Production 24th-26th July (3 nights)
We will provide tea, coffee and a light supper at intermission for each evening performance. We ask only for a gold coin donation to cover costs.
We will need a few volunteers each night to:
- bake a cake, slice or biscuits
- set up tables, tea and coffee supplies and set out food before the show
- start cleaning up towards the end of intermission
- finalise setting up just before intermission and finish cleaning up after intermission.
The first 3 of these jobs can be done on a night when you are also watching the show. For the last job, we need at least one person who is not watching - you would need to be there for about half-an-hour before and after intermission.
If you can help with any of the above on one or more of these nights, please send an email to gecpa@gec.vic.edu.au
Trivia Night
GECPA is planning a trivia night in September to raise funds for improving school grounds, outdoor seating and bike parking. Previous trivia nights have been lots of fun and very successful. We need a few more volunteers to assist planning the night. Please email GECPA if you can help gecpa@gec.vic.edu.au
Year 7 Parents Contact List
Thanks Julie for preparing an updated Year 7 contact list with some 200 parents details for year 7 students. The list enables Year 7 parents to contact each other if they need to. Only those parents who gave us their consent have been included in the list, however the list has been emailed to all parents in Year 7. Having this contact information gives you, as a parent, a backup contact in case your child encounters any issues while out with their fellow Year 7 friends. If you would like to be included on the list, please email gecpa.contact@gec.vic.edu.au.
Year 7 Boort Family Camp – setting for “Crow Country” Year 7 novel.
April school holidays weekend
Boort, north of Bendigo, was a very beautiful and interesting setting to experience Victorian Aboriginal culture and get to know the place in the Year 7 novel. We camped in town beside the lake with a lovely view of the water and waterbirds – but no crows!
Jida Gulpilil’s indigenous eco tour included a family boat trip on Little Lake Boort showing us some of the 500 scar trees where bark was removed for canoes and other uses. Some of the scar trees are upto 8000 years old and Boort has the most scar trees in the world. Jida also showed us many cooking mounds where handmade clay heat beads were used for cooking over many thousands of years. Dja Dja Wurrung people are considering seeking World Heritage Listing for the Boort area. Erin 7E and family enjoyed the chance to throw a boomerang across the lake (luckily it floated in the lake and was picked up from the boat) and to appreciate a possum skin cloak.
Paul and Cath took us for a personal tour telling us more about the area’s Aboriginal and European history, showing us the extensive views over the Mallee from the hill in town and big Lake Boort returning to seasonal wetlands with new gums after being flooded by early settlers (just like Crow Country).
We were amused by the “Spanner Man’s Garden” with many large sculptures and park benches made from spanners welded together.
Unfortunately no other families joined Erin’s family. If Year 7 families want to organise a social camp next year (like other some other schools do) the school could help to better promote the camp to students and families.
If you would like to experience Boort and “Crow Country” for a short holiday – details are
Camping sites and cabins Little Lake Boort and Paul and Cath’s history tour ph 54552064 http://boort.com.au/caravan-park/
Gulpilil’s Australia indigenous eco-tour 0497 589 839 2hour, 4 hour or full day tours
http://boort.com.au/tourist-attractions/indigenous-eco-tours/
Spanner Man Sculptures http://boort.com.au/tourist-attractions/sculpture/
Report from the Multicultural Supper in March
The Supper was a very pleasant evening meeting new families and catching up with GEC friends. Thanks to Mark Dipnall who came and played music for us. Last year we had many more families as the dinner was the same night as the Year 7 parent information evening. Next year we hope that GEC can again schedule the supper on the same day as the Year 7 Information night and promote it to students and in the orientation packs for new students.
Movie Night
Anyone interested in helping to organise a movie night of school families at Elsternwick? – previous movie nights have been very enjoyable and not a lot of work to organise. Please email GECPA if you can help gecpa@gec.vic.edu.au.
Weekly walk and talk
We have a social walking group which meets once a week to walk and chat for an hour. We meet on Tuesday evenings (weather permitting) at 7:45pm at the corner of Crosbie and Murrumbeena Roads at Duncan Mackinnon Reserve.So that we can keep in contact, we have set up a messaging group on Whatsapp. To join the group, just email us your name and phone number. (If you don't already have Whatsapp installed on your smartphone, you will need to do that first -it's very easy to install and to use).
Bicycles
Gran Prix Bicycles offer school families a 5% discount and 5% donation back to Glen Eira College. Collect a loyalty card from the school office and present it in store at Gran Prix Cycles, Glenhuntly Rd, Caulfield South.
Cathy McNaughton
GECPA