Book of the Week

Book of the Week Farmhouse

Written and Illustrated by Sophie Blackall

Step inside the dollhouse-like interior of Farmhouse and relish the daily life

of the family that lives there. Based on a real family and an actual farmhouse where Sophie salvaged facts and artefacts for the making of

this spectacular work, page after page bursts with luminous detail and joy.

Sophie Blackall takes readers on an enchanting visit to a farmhouse across

time, to witness the way that history spins stories. (Booktopia)

Footy Colors Day

The last Thursday of term four, our students came together to celebrate and support their favorite footy teams. Students were encouraged to dress up in their team colors and bring a gold coin donation, which went towards the efforts of Fight Cancer Footy Colors Day. There were also plenty of activities throughout the day, including a special hot dog lunch supplied by the canteen. During recess prep-3 students participated in handball activities and games. Then during lunchtime the older year levels partook in a footy kicking competition. A huge thanks to everyone who participated in this successful day.

Year 6 Chinese Museum Excursion

We arrived at school at quarter-to-nine, excitement buzzing from the entire year 6 cohort. After a brief walk to the train stop, a train trip to the city, and a swift stroll from the city to Chinatown, we found ourselves standing in front of the prodigious Chinese Museum building. Outside, two stone lions were stationed on pedestals flanking the museum. We met with our tour-guides, arranged ourselves into classes and started our trip around Chinatown.

Each class wandered around Chinatown with their separate tour-guides, sighting many amazing buildings and structures and gaining new knowledge about Ancient/Modern China. We ventured down Celestial Lane, discovered the origin of its name, and learnt about the history of Chinese Immigrants during the Gold Rush. Along the way, we kept our eyes open for stone lions and Chinese archways, learning about the unique, ancient way of crafting structures without the use of glue or nails.

Then, once we were finished with our interesting tour, we walked into the museum and had a quick snack, so that we could venture upstairs to continue our exploration about Chinese culture. Throughout the museum, we witnessed exhibitions about the Han Dynasty, the Gold Rush as well as seeing the massive Millenium Dragon. The most memorable part of the trip was the unexpected rocking of the boat downstairs, which took us all by surprise! We all received a good shock from that!

After the extremely fascinating tour around the Chinese Museum, we headed across the street for lunch at a Chinese restaurant. We waited a few minutes before dishes of delicious vegetarian noodles, tofu and assorted veggies, honey chicken balls and some spring rolls were brought across to our tables. For the vegetarians, a plate of scrumptious deep-fried eggplant was offered instead of the chicken, and they were devoured within minutes!

After an enjoyable lunch, we broke off onto the subway and boarded back on the train, stopping off at the train station near the bridge and walking back to school.

Everyone thoroughly enjoyed this unique experience, and came back with much more insight and knowledge about the lives of people living in Ancient China. And, we returned with stomachs stuffed full of delicious Chinese foods!

Prep

For R U O K day the Preps watched an awareness video about How to be a good friend and ask R U OK? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEKhTSagJ3I

There were four important conversation steps that we practised through role play. ALEC (Are you okay? Listen, Encourage, Action and Check In?). We also engaged in a writing activity on what makes a good friend. Both engagements supported our Visible Wellbeing Pathway for Coping and developing habits that can help us and others around us manage challenges in our everyday lives.

Grade 4

4C worked on drawing what we look like when we feel sad, upset, irritated etc., so others know what to look out for, to start a conversation and support each other. We had great discussions and lots of sharing about what we all do /appear like when we’re not feeling our best.

4B graffitied the wall outside their classroom on R U Ok Day. They offered some great

advice as to things to do to lift your spirits, if you experience a Blue Day!

Year Six Leadership Lesson with Year Two

The year twos have been inquiring into strengths and this week the year six leaders ran a session with the year twos to explore what it means to be a good leader. The year sixes organised two games which allowed reflection on how to be successful when working in teams. This included developing their communication skills. Which ended with them as a class creating a portrait of what makes a good leader.

Students vs Teacher's Soccer Match

Wednesday the 31st saw the long anticipated girl's student vs teachers soccer match. With the score nil all in the first half, the second half came off to a cracking start with the teachers scoring the first goal of the game. However their luck was short lived as the students were able to score two goals, winning 2-1. Thank you not only to the teachers and students who participated, but those who came to cheer on and show their support as well.

Daffodil Day

Thursday August 25th, some of the year two students took part in Daffodil day. They discussed the importance of days that raise awareness and how donating can in this case support medical research. 2B wondered what the daffodil represented and learnt that it signifies hope.

Mid-Autumn Festival

It was great fun as students got to explore the Mid-Autumn Festival through a traditional artform – shadow puppet play. Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as Moon Festival, falls on 10 September this year. All students at ASPS watched the shadow puppet play that tells the story of Cháng'é and Hòuyì. Year 4 to 6 students got to make their own puppet of either Cháng'é or Hòu yì with a shadow puppet craft kit. Some Year 5 students had a go at doing a small puppet show of the story during lunch time. Teachers from Prep to Year 3 who watched the play with the students in the hall also got to play the puppets on the stage through games. The Mid-Autumn Festival is all about family reunion, happiness and thanksgiving. We wish everyone in our community happiness, family reunion and health on this day.

Well done Keira!

KEIRA STUBBINGS ASPS’ OWN NATIONAL GRAND SWIMMING CHAMPION !!!

My name is Keira and I’d like to share with you what I have been doing over the last couple of weeks. I flew to Brisbane to compete for Victoria in the National School Sport Swimming Championships on 18th August – 26th August.

I competed in the following events:

10 Year old Girls Handicap Relay swimming the Back Stoke leg
10 Year old Girls 100m Back Stroke
10 Year old Girls 50m Back Stroke
10 Year old Girls 100m Freestyle

I certainly tried my hardest after many hours of training I was fortunate to win a Bronze medal for the Handicap Relay. I am so proud, this is the second year that I have reached the National Titles.

Well done Keira, your dedication and early morning starts for training have really paid off. Auburn South is proud to have one of our students to reach such great heights. You are a CHAMPION!!

Prep Inquiry

As part of our visible wellbeing program and unit of inquiry, 'Appreciation of nature can inspire creativity,' the preps visited the garden and tapped into their senses to develop their awareness of self within nature. They tasted tangy orange wedges, smelled the aromatic herbs, listened to the nature sounds and felt the textures of different plants and of course patted the chickens to feel their soft feathers.

Grade 3 Art Exhibition

For our inquiry into how we express ourselves, all of the students in Year 3 made an artwork that stores meaning and emotion. We worked really hard to create this exhibition and are learning to communicate meaning through art. Our first stage was learning about other artists' work and trying to think about what the artist was communicating. We then made a plan for our artworks by writing down the materials we would use to communicate the message. Our third stage was testing out the materials in Visual Arts to see if we still wanted to use the same list of materials. We then actually made our artworks and put them in a frame, before we then wrote our didactic panels and set up the exhibition. Thanks to all the people who came to our exhibition.

Alyssa Lawless

Canteen Volunteer Sign-Up

The canteen is always looking for new volunteers! Come and join this dynamic team and your kids will get a kick out of seeing you help out at school! Click below to sign-up or speak to one of our super friendly canteen managers for more information.

2023 Prep Transition