Dear Parents and Families,

This week we have been busy practising our songs for the upcoming Hamilton Eisteddfod, which is on Thursday 9th June. We will all be going in and returning on the bus and we are entered two sections. In the first section - Year 6 under Primary School Choral Championship, the students sing two songs. In the afternoon session, we are entered in the Primary School Multi Instrumental Group section. Please contact Callie Leese or the school if you need any help with uniforms for the performance as the students will be wearing their full winter uniform. In between the two sections, we have arranged for the students to visit the Art Gallery and spend some time with the Art Gallery educator.

Thank you to all our families for their prompt contact regarding student absences. It makes our task of managing absences much easier otherwise we need to contact families during the day. Also, please leave a message on the answering machine if the phone is not answered, as I am teaching in the mornings and unable to answer the phone.

Simultaneous story time

On Wednesday morning, the school participated in the National Simultaneous Story Time. We watched and listened to the story 'Family Tree' by Josh Pyke being read and it was accompanied by a presenter sharing the story in AUSLAN (which is a shortened version of "Australian Sign Language" and is the official language of the Deaf community in Australia). I have attached the link below if you would like to watch as well. We then completed a buddy activity of making a character from the story, planted a tree seed and then went back to our own classes to further complete activities. Mrs Brabham has put up all the photos that were sent in and they have become our own Cavendish Primary School Family tree.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nT0PgFf7j34

Student free day

Students will not attend school next Thursday 2nd June as it is a Student Free Day. Staff will be using this day to prepare the students Semester 1 reports.

Attitudes to School Survey

Next week, students in Year 4, 5 and 6 will be completing the annual 'Attitudes to School Survey' online with Mrs Brabham. The students are asked questions about their learning, their relationships with each other and their teachers, about their personal well-being including resilience, mental health, amounts of physical activity and their life in general. This information is invaluable in helping schools understand their students views and plan programs that will support and improve their school experience. A letter was sent home recently about this survey to families with students in Year 4, 5 and 6 only.

Division Cross Country

Lexi Thomas competed at the Division Cross Country in Warrnambool on Monday. Lexi finished an impressive 18th out of 48 runners. Her time was 15 minutes 36 seconds. Well done Lexi.

Principals Conference in Melbourne

I will be in Melbourne at the Education State Principals Conference on Monday and Tuesday next week. Mrs Murray will be in the F/1 class while I am away. This years theme for the conference is - Stronger Together : Every Student.

Standing Tall Program

This morning we met with Dee and Mel from the 'Standing Tall In Hamilton' program to find out more information about becoming a school partner. This program is an award-winning not-for-profit, school-based mentoring program that works one-on-one with primary and secondary aged children. There will be more information in upcoming newsletters about this program and our possible involvement.

Have a lovely weekend,

Lisa Ferrier

National Simultaneous Storytime