Reynella Primary School Grapevine

However with the end of the year comes some staff changes. We will be welcoming some new staff members in 2022 and are sadly farewelling some wonderful staff, some who have been with us for a few years.

• Mrs Evelyn Van der Harst will be retiring. She has been at RPS for 3 years and we are very grateful for contribution to not only Reynella PS, but all the children she has influenced over her 36 years in education. I know how much she will miss her French culture lessons.

• Mrs Mouna El Ayoubi will be moving to Reynella East College in 2022. Mouna has also been with us for 3 years and has had a significant impact on the learning of the students in her care and she will be greatly missed.

• Mr Paul Smith has taken on a variety of roles in our school this year from class teacher to PE teacher and we have greatly appreciated his flexibility and consistency. Paul will be moving to Gillies St Primary School in 2022.

• Mrs Jess Dolan, Ms Megan Condous and Mr Darren Green have been with us all year and we thank them for their contributions and are hoping that we may see them again next year.

We are also welcoming back Mrs Ann-Mari Turner from maternity leave and two new staff members: Mr Tom Clayton (year 2) and Mr Marty Czerwinski (1:1) support.

As the year draws to a close we would like to take the opportunity to personally thank the staff, students and school community for your support in another year that threw us some ‘curve balls.’ 

Look out for our Student Grapevine on Skoolbag- our annual newsletter written for our students by our students. Thank you to the Communication Action Team for their efforts.

We look forward to your support and working alongside you in the New Year but in the meantime wish you a safe, happy and wonderful break with your family and friends.

School resumes on Monday 31st January 2022 at 8.45am.

COMMISSIONER’S DIGITAL CHALLENGE 2021

The Commissioner has selected the Porta-comfort 2D design made by Sulaiman, Year 7 as one of the top-rated designs in Space to Dream 2021. The design will feature along with others in the public exhibition at the Space Discovery Centre being launched in November 2021.  Congratulations to Sulaiman.

Our school has also won a class pack of annual GROK Academy subscriptions donated by GROK Academy. The winner entry was the testimonial we submitted from a student who completed the Learn to Speak Robot Challenge.

In addition, due to the numbers of students at our school who engaged with the Challenge, Reynella PS has been selected as one of the schools receiving a High Achiever School award from the Commissioner for exemplary participation in the Challenge in 2021. 

F8’s Amazing Year

This year we have been doing many interesting activities and subjects. During the year we have had a lot of fun and challenging learning. Here is a quick recount of our favourite ones.

Mathematics

During mathematics we have done Three Act Maths. This is where we would come up with questions related to videos. Whichever question was the best, would be our main question. We would enjoy this greatly as the videos were full of different ideas for questions. We have also worked on adding and subtracting fractions. An example of this would be 12/3 plus 11/3. You add the numerators together and keep the denominator to make 23/3.  You can also change it to a mixed fraction 7 2/3. We have also learnt different strategies to get us out of the pit, which we would generally use for maths, such as arrays, skip counting, multiplication and much more.

“They were challenging for me and they stretched my brain.”

-Haydan-

“I enjoyed Three Act Maths because it challenged my growth mindset.”

-Lexi-

Writing

Every Thursday we do a Big Write. Our teacher puts inspiring pictures on google classroom as a prompt. We can then either prepare ideas at home or just think about it while we are writing. We complete the Big Write in silence and after we finish we have 5 minutes to edit and define. This provided us with an exceptional writing experience. We have worked on persuasive texts, narratives, descriptive text and information reports. We have focused on figurative language to suit all types of writing. We have experimented with using metaphors and similes. For example:

Simile - The cat is as black as the night.

Metaphor - The cat is the black night.

“I enjoy writing as it challenges my mindset and helps me learn.”

-Liam-

iTime

One topic that we really enjoyed was ITime. We would do interactive activities which helped strengthen our weakest Learning asset. It helped us discover more about the learning assets and to also see if we could be successful with the learning asset we chose to strengthen. Charlotte and I did a podcast about self-awareness.  We looked at what self-awareness is and how to become self-aware.  To strengthen the learning asset, we had to control our learning in a way so that we could be successful and create something we were proud of. In term two we had a rewarding excursion for the hard work we did during iTime.

“For my project I had to show people hard work.”

-Alexandra-

“It helped me strengthen my assets.”

-Kobi-

STEM

During term 3 we did a STEM project all about air pollution and carbon emissions. This was about creating a low emission car that saves the environment by being powered by solar panels. We were challenged to put in as many seats in as possible, so it would be eco-friendly. Me, Antonio and Ethan. Made a solar car. It was made out of a card piece, a motor, wheels, a solar panel and some wire. We painted it and made it all beautiful.

“Building solar cars was a fun creative activity that spoke a big message about net zero emissions.”

-Charlotte from the S.T.E.M action team.

Science

In science we looked at different materials. We did a fun activity where we had to create a shoe for Mr Bean. We had limited time and could only use materials from around the classroom.  It was challenging but every group managed to create a shoe that worked.

We also studied life cycles. We researched the life cycle of different plants and animals. We then had to present our research to the class.

“The activities we did were fun and produced creative ideas. Plus, some shoe designs were hilarious!”

-Jake-

“I enjoyed life cycles because I got to find out what my favourite animal goes through.”

-Takdeer-

Concert

For the last term we have been spending a lot of time practicing for the end of year concert. Our class did a routine that involved basketballs. It was tricky trying to get all the basketballs in time but we practised a lot and we got there in the end.

“During the concert I liked seeing the whole school have fun and I also thought the teachers dance was the best.”

- Bella-Rose -

 “I really liked our dance to ‘Getcha Head In The Game.’ My favourite whole school dance was when we were going to see the wizard, the Wizard, the Wonderful Wizard Oz.”

-Charlotte -

 “I liked the dance that was the teachers did because it was funny and they were wearing school uniforms. I also liked how Ms Condous had a new identity.”

-Alessia -

I liked the whole school song ‘Were All In This Together’ because of the chorus and the dance moves.

-Maddi

‘I liked the concert because I liked seeing other people dancing. I also liked the setting of the whole school concert. I also liked how all the parents were watching. I also liked that the food and Ice cream trucks came.”

-Alexandra-

 “I liked making new friends because they were funny, friendly and caring.”

-Lexi

Overall, we have had an amazing year and we are so excited for our year ahead.

Written by

Ala, Maddi, Charlotte and Charlotte      

 from F8

Hello dear Reynella families,

I hope everyone has had a successful year and are now ready for a well-deserved break.

I have included a list of agencies that provide either cheap or free food or groceries should families need them over the holidays.

The eSafety Commissioner has released details of their Term 1 parent webinars.  They are designed for parents and carers of young people aged 11-18 years old.  The first webinar is around the topic of Cyberbullying and online drama.  Registration details are included on the flyer.

I sincerely wish all of our families a safe and restful holiday break.  I hope you get to make great memories with each other.  I look forward to working with you in 2022.

Cheers, Fiona

Wednesday 17 November - Road Safety Centre Crossing Monitor

Wednesday 17 November - Senior Tops 2022

Monday 22 November - 2021 Graduation

Monday 22 November - EOY Special Lunch Order

Monday 22 November - Junior Choir excursion

Tuesday 30 November - A5 & D2 Virtual celebration song performance