Crafers Primary School

Hi all

Toward the end of last term we held our 2019 Governing Council Annual General Meeting. The meeting was well attended and conversation reflected the work of 2018 and the plans ahead. We thanked members who completed their terms of service and welcomed some new.

Colin Koch, Nadine Cullen, Richard Fishlock and Catherine Alcock completed their terms in March. They have provided an amazing level of service to the school and its community over an extended time. Nadine has led many fundraising projects with great success making a significant contribution to our program. Richard has been a key figure in our facilities work and has been instrumental in our play space development amongst other projects. Catherine has served as secretary and with our OSHC committee and has ensured that Governing Council communications have kept all members well informed. We thank them for their efforts and appreciate their ongoing input in other ways. 

Colin Koch has served as Governing Council Chairperson for several years. Colin’s commitment to school and community connections and understandings has been unwavering and has supported successive long and short term leaders at Crafers. I personally would like to thank Colin for the manner in which he has supported my first year here and wish him well. His positivity and steady leadership has been critical in the development of the school over a long period.

We welcome new members, Graham Harding, Mellita Froiland, Kylie Hopkins, Cara Oosterbaan, Tara Graham-Cochrane. The continuing members are Christian Freriks, Nick Raimondo, Cindie Smart and Greg Collins. Re-elected members are Mick Vickery and Amelia Hurren and the staff representative is Felicity Harrison.

Mick Vickery is the 2019 Governing Council Chairperson, Amelia Hurren Deputy Chair and Mellita Froiland is Secretary. I thank all of the Governing Council for volunteering their time in supporting our school.

NAPLAN

This week year 3, 5 and 7 students have been sitting the NAPLAN tests. This year all tests, apart from Year 3 Writing, are to be completed on-line. John Nielsen and Elke Lobenstock have led the process and tests will continue into Week 4. We are working with the test authority to iron out any technical issues as we go and I thank John and Elke for their work in supporting this.

Pedal Prix

Congratulations to the team at Loxton. What a fantastic effort with the best team results in several years! We ride as one! More details in the newsletter.

Outreach

At assembly in Week 1 I officially launched Crafers Primary School Outreach. CPS Outreach will develop over time but is essentially a new concept that supports teachers and students to ‘learn through helping’. Each class is developing different ways to engage with this ranging from local to global. In itself CPS Outreach is not a fundraiser but a way for students to contribute their goodwill, time and effort to support a project. Whilst some projects may require a financial contribution it is not intended that this should burden families but be should be generated through the efforts of students. More details in the following document.

Quiz Night

Don’t forget to book your spot for the Quiz Night. The fundraising team have gathered an amazing collection of prizes and are ready for a wonderful community night.

Pupil Free Day

Governing Council has approved Friday June 7 as a Pupil Free Day. Staff will be focussing on our strategic directions for the day. OSHC is available for bookings, to be received by Friday, 31. This is the only Pupil Free Day in Term 2.

Regards

Garry        

On Sunday the 5th of May the Crafers Primary School Pedal Prix team hit the streets of Loxton for round 2 of 5 pedal Prix Races. They raced for 6 hours with the Comet, the Snappin Pappin and the Edge.

The race began at 10 o’clock with Emily starting in the Comet. Emma starting in the Snappin Pappin and Julia starting in the Edge. As the day went on the pressure grew and so did the number of laps that our team completed.

Oliver got the fastest lap of 2 minutes and 30 seconds with Amelia close behind him with 2 minutes 36 seconds.

Overall we had a magnificent day with the Comet coming 2nd, the Snappin Pappin coming 6th and the Edge coming 15th.

We would like to thank all the parent volunteers that supported us on the day, and we look forward to the next race at Victoria Park.

By Ella, Room 1

A black writhing mass of wings engulfed the trees above the students…Of course the local bats had come to welcome Rooms 1, 2 and 13 as they exited the bus and prepared to enter the Adelaide Zoo on the 6th of May 2019.

Room 1 kick-started the day with a visit to the Education Centre. The zoological educator Sally was there to introduce students to an ectothermic (A.K.A. cold-blooded) animal…the Hosmer’s Skink.

Students had to design an enclosure for Harold and his friends Harriet, Henrietta and the albino skink, Spike. This included hiding places, sleeping quarters, food and drink bowls, heat lamps and objects to climb. Room 1 then explored a variety of animals and observed structural and behavioural features and adaptations.

When the classes were not at the Education Centre they were exploring the zoo and enclosure designs with the help of an activity book. We observed penguin lakes, monkeys perilously clinging to the heights and lions lazily watching the visitors pass.  We focussed on replication of natural habitats and enrichment devices.  All the students returned to school with a new respect for enclosure design and the importance of zoos in conservation. 

By Cleo, Room 1

On Monday in the last week of term1 room 12 went on an excursion to the biennial International Sculpture Symposium at Crystal Lake in Macclesfield.

First we had a tour of the museum and felt some of the creations they had made. They were amazing and made out of marble, limestone and other types of stone.

Then we saw some people building some bigger ones down below. It was incredible to watch the sculptors using grinders, diamond saws and other tools.

Then a guy taught us lots of things about sculpting. We used large sandstone blocks to make some creations with saws, chisels, hammers, files and graters. Before we built our creations we got chalk and drew an image to show what we were creating. Then he showed us how to use the tools. After we built our creations we got a photo of all of us with our creations. Then we got back on the bus and went back to school.

We thought the sculpture symposium was great and was very fun we hope we can go there again.

By Oskar and Conner, Room 12

On Wednesday week eleven, classes 11 and 12 caught a bus to Port Adelaide Maritime Museum. First we met a guide and she took us to where we could keep our bags and she talked us through what we would be doing that day. Then we all split up into our groups.

First we got taken inside the museum and we got to explore a replica of an old ship (called a ketch), we got to see what the captain’s chambers looked like compared to the crew’s.

Next we got to climb to the top of the light house, before we climbed up, an official told us about the history of the light house and how it had been moved to various destinations. We climbed up the light house and saw a great view of the Port River.

After some walking along the river we ate lunch with the hungry seagulls chirping at us. After a while of eating we went on a dolphin cruise and only 1 group saw a dolphin but the boat was still fun for the other groups. The man on the boat was very nice and he told us about the river.

After, we went back to the museum and we went upstairs to a room with lots of activities and games. We all spread out to different activities and everyone agreed that they were lots of fun.

After that packed day of activities we tiredly jumped on the bus and got back to school just in time for the bell.

Thank you so much Miss Kaeding and Miss Price for organising and taking us on such an amazing excursion.

By Marley, Hannah and Claire, Room 12