Newsletter

Term 3, Week 8

From the Principal...

Dear Families, 

It has been really great to see the work being done in classrooms this week and I also wanted to thank the pre-service teachers who have been working in the school for their commitment to an educational career and we wish them every success on placement as they develop their craft. We were also fortunate to have a visit from Lee Carter the curriculum lead this week who came on a tour through our beautiful school grounds. This week also saw students in Year 3-7 complete their PAT testing which will inform teaching and learning over the coming term. Thanks to teachers for accommodating this into their already busy learning program.

 

I also really enjoyed seeing the progress being made in Michael’s class as students have received their roles for the class play to be scheduled for performance at the end of term. It is always lovely to see the children enthusiastically learn their parts and develop their performance skills and characterisation. The early years team are also working hard with a range of mathematical explorations and the 3/4 class have developed some amazing architectural structures with natural materials as they plan their building projects collaboratively together. I am really looking forward to seeing their conceptual development in the coming few weeks.

 

Please be aware that the last day of school Friday 24th September is a pupil free day with staff undertaking professional development with a team facilitator. The last day for students will therefore be Thursday 23rd September and a fun afternoon is planned with a cricket coaching clinic for all students and the Year 5-6 Steiner performance.

 

On a personal note and communicated to staff a few weeks ago and to Governing Council on Tuesday night, I am pleased to announce that I was offered several positions and have accepted another School Principal position for 2022 for 5 years. The current Principal position for Basket Range Primary has now been advertised and is currently awaiting a selection process.

 

There are many exciting initiatives being planned for the remainder of the year as listed in the newsletter, so please support the call out for loose parts for play and also the advent calendar which is a wonderful way to celebrate the festive season that will soon be upon us. The last term of school goes really quickly with finalisation of assessments, planned special events and the much awaited graduation of year 6 and 7 students together. I encourage all the students to take the time to enjoy the last few weeks of Term 3 because Term 4 is shaping up to be a busy one!

 

Enjoy your weekend everyone, the sunshine has finally arrived as we enjoy the commencement of Spring.

Kind Regards

Sybila.

From Michael's Year 5/6 Class.........

Steiner Class 5/6 News

Greetings all,

Outwardly it has been an eventful and busy term beginning with:

·         the Painting of the Indigenous Mural with David Booth,

·          the lockdown online home learning program which the students navigated and completed extremely well,

·         our day excursion to the Science Museum and the Ice Skating Centre,

·         our class popcorn and lemonade fundraising venture and purchase  of our classroom bean bags

·         upcoming is a planting day with the children in the front garden.  

Have you noticed that the Basket Range mural is on display?

·         there is the possibility of a cricket clinic in the last week of term and  the presentation of a class play co-written with the students.

Inwardly, we began this term with a Mathematics based business main lesson for the class 5 involving decimals, percentages and problem solving and an introduction to Algebra and the use of formulas to aid calculations for class 6. The classes fund raising efforts allowed us to buy several comfortable Beanbags for our classroom to create a cosy corner for reading lessons and class discussions. On the day they really worked well together as a team to meet the demand of various student orders. Our second main lesson has been astronomy for class 6 and Botany for class 5. Our story content continues to be stories from Ancient Greece for Class 5 and from Ancient Rome in class 6. I look forward to next term when we are on our camp to do some star gazing and identification with the students. For the last weeks of this term, we are working on a class play that we have written together. We have also been writing our stories onto our computers and publishing them for display. Some of the year 6 students are also doing their own research work documenting information and downloading images. They are becoming quite proficient with their usage skills.

Warm regards,

Michael Simmons

Photos from Michael's Class....

BRPS Assembly 1st September 2021....

Pyjama Day - Week 9 Monday 13th September.....

Its Pyjama Day!! Wear your comfiest Pjs to school - Monday 13th September

Gardening on a beautiful spring day!

Parents & Friends News......

At the last Governing Council meeting there was agreement to re-establish a Parents and Friends Committee and a Terms of Reference was approved.  If you would like to nominate to be a member of the Committee, could you please nominate to Claire (Charlotte) on 0438 838 236.

Loose Parts play.....

The Parents and Friends would like to replenish the loose parts play items for the school. 

Children enjoy loose parts play because it allows them to be creative in how they use an item to build their own play.  Loose parts encourage open ended and flexible play as well as providing sensory opportunities and often involves problem solving, collaboration and decision making.  More information on loose parts and the benefits in play can be found here https://www.education.sa.gov.au/sites/default/files/npsa-familyday-care-loose-parts.pdf and here https://natureplaysa.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Nature-Play-Downloads-Loose-Parts-Info-Sheet.pdf 

 

We are seeking contributions of loose parts such as: 

  • Small pebbles – 5 to 15cm  
  • Feathers 
  • Pinecones 
  • Seed pods - greater than 5cm 
  • Wood rounds – 5 to 30cm 
  • Sticks  
  • Small natural fibre baskets and vessels 
  • Wooden or metal pegs 
  • Sea sponges, corks and luffas 
  • Flower heads and foliage 
  • Kitchen items such as saucepans, fry pans, measuring cups, egg cups, spoons (metal) 
  • Construction items such as plumbing pipes and pipe joints, nuts and bolts 

 

When collecting items to donate, please consider these ideas: 

  • Natural over plastic (often, but not always) 
  • Light over heavy 
  • Large enough to not choke on 

    •  

    Donations can be dropped off at school by placing items in the box in the office.  Donations will be accepted until the end of term 3. 

    If you have any questions about loose parts donations please contact Claire (Charlotte) 0438838236 or Shelley (Arden) 0478409552. 

     

    Advent Collective........


     

    The fun of opening an advent calendar day by day in the lead up to Christmas can be a family tradition to remember. Here at Basket Range, the Parents & Friends invite you to come together in creating a simple Advent calendar to use in December 2021.

     

    This will be a collective project, where each participating family will contribute a set number of small handmade, found or foraged gifts that are distributed to the collective. The advent calendars will include simple, inexpensive trinkets for each day representing (or made of) each of these elements: Mineral, Plant, Animal and Human. 

     

    Examples of gifts could include: 

    ·         Mineral – crystal, shell, stone, pebble, bell, bolt

    ·         Plants – seed, felt flower, crochet leaf, pressed flower, hemp string, star anise 

    ·         Animal – tuft of wool, feather, animal button, felted bee, acorn bunny

    ·         Human – gnome, minute note book, blanket, basket, and small felted baby

    We aim to keep the gifts small, simple and inexpensive so that it is not a burden to supply multiples of the same gifts.

     

    This year, advent is from Sunday 28th November and ends Friday 24th December, a total of 26 days! 

     

    If you would like to get involved:

    1.    RSVP to Sam by 24th September. If you have a preferred element / item you want to contribute, please let her know. If you have no idea – DON’T WORRY – she and other parents can share. Choose something that is LOW STRESS and enjoyable! Once all RSVPs are collected Sam will calculate how many of each item is needed, as it depends on the number of families participating.

    2.    Get crafting or collecting! – Deliver your items to Sam by 12th November. You will be able to join in the craft at Parent and Friend’s gatherings in the meantime. Remember, enjoy it and use it as a great chance to meet with other families and friends and get an excitement full of the excitement of spring and the coming of summer. 

    3.    SECRET preparation – Join with other parents at the SECRET ADVENT WRAPPING evening where all items will be wrapped and tied onto sticks ready for all families participating! Date and venue TBC!  

    Student $20 Boss Projects..........

    Cherry Blossom Bath Bombs.....

    Evie Lenon and Lily Tarr in Claire's class have worked extremely hard to start up their small business "Cherry Blossom Bath Bombs" for their $20 Boss project.

    Please find attached the flyer advertising their business and their order form below.

    Download

    Cherry Blossom Bath Bombs order form

    https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1j55XXVA7O7F9nOaWo7VloXily7KXtspsbTITry0-Atg/edit

    Alex & Ethan's Kindling....

    Alex and Ethan's Kindling...

    Dear Parents,

    Have you ever tried to light your fire and had no wood, kindling or fire starters? Well, we have got the perfect thing for you. We have worked hard in cutting up a variety of wood for our $20 boss project this winter, and have decided to go out and sell It. if you would like to buy some wood, kindling or fire starters prices are as follows:

     $18 for a hessian bag of kindling

    $10 for a small bag of fire starters

    $25 for a medium bag of wood

    $50 for a big bag of wood 

    We are giving 25% of our money to the CFS charity and 25% of our money to school.

     Have you got your wood for winter? Well, if you haven’t, we are located at 37 Charles ST Caloote (P.H. 0451104084) and 2248 Mount Barker Road Hahndorf (P.H. 0432259748). Or as an alternative you can order wood and pickup it up at school, get yours while it lasts!

    Upcoming Activities

     

    TERM 3 2021

     



    SEPTEMBER
    13thPyjama Day
    22nd

    Reception/Year 1 & 2 Excursion

    23rdMichael's class play
    24thPupil Free Day
    OCTOBER
    11thFirst Day of Term 4
    14thSchool Photos

     

     

    Community News.....

    Uraidla Sustainability Fair....

    Please see attached flyer for the upcoming Uraidla Sustainability Market, to be held in the showgrounds on Sunday 3rd October, 10am - 4pm.

    Entry is free. 

    Download

    Summertown Tennis Club..........

    " Kick off the summer tennis season @ Summertown Tennis Club!

     

    Summertown is one of the best tennis clubs in the Adelaide Hills known for our fun, family friendly culture and on court success!

     

    We invite you and your family & friends to consider the range of junior competitions and activities on offer at Summertown Tennis Club. In the 2021/22 season, Summertown are providing:

     

    ·  Junior coaching

    ·  Red Ball (4-8 years) junior coaching (no competition)

    ·  Orange ball (8-10 years) Friday night or Saturday morning competition

    ·  Green ball (9-12 years) Friday night or Saturday morning competition

    ·  Yellow ball (12+ years) Saturday morning competition

    ·  Div 1 yellow ball Friday night competition

     

    Season dates:

    ·  Coaching starts mid October (dates to be decided)

    ·  Weekend competition starts 15/16th oct & ends 10/11th Dec (9 weeks)

    ·  Christmas Holiday Break

    ·  Weekend competition starts 28/29th Jan & ends 4/5th Mar (6 weeks)

     

    Coaching:

    Coaching lessons are on Tuesdays or Wednesdays after school and go for half an hour or 45 minutes (depending on age & level). There are normally 4-6 kids in a coaching group. Summertown tries to keep friendship groups in the same coaching lessons, however coaching lessons are a great opportunity to create community friends!

     

    Competition:

    Summertown also offers weekend tennis competitions which run on a Friday night or Saturday morning. Juniors get the opportunity to play against other juniors in the hills, bond with their teammates and practice their skills in match play scenarios!

     

    Membership Options:

    Summertown has two membership options for junior players: 

    ·  Junior (competition & coaching) membership: $190

    ·  Junior (Just coaching) membership: $100 

     

    Sport voucher:

    As part of the State Budget for 2021-22, the Marshall Liberal Government recently announced the expansion of Sports Vouches to students in Years 8 and 9. This will commence from 1 January 2022. A new link will be sent out for players in year 8 & 9 next year.

     

    For the remainder of 2021, the current eligibility will continue - primary school aged children from Reception to Year 7 (even if Year 7 is based at a high school). For 2021 this means eligible children will have a year of birth from 2008 to 2016.

     

    https://www.sportsvouchers.sa.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0016/30742/2021Voucher.pdf

     

    If you choose to use the SA government sports voucher, please send the document to Tom Daw the secretary of Summertown Tennis Club.

    ·  Tom Daw - Secretary

    ·  tomdaw901@gmail.com

     

    Registration:

    If you want to play tennis at Summertown Tennis Club in the 2021/22 season… click the link below. Share our registration link to all your friends!

     

    https://my.tennis.com.au/OnlineMembership/661719

     

    If you have any questions of troubles registering, contact:

     

    ·  Hayley Riessen - Junior Coordinator & Head Coach

    ·  hayleysriessen@gmail.com

    ·  0490 321 800

     

    For more updates and social events, follow ‘Summertown Tennis Club’ on Facebook and Instagram! We hope to see you out on the tennis court this summer season!

     

    Cheers Hayley Riessen 

    Grasshopper Soccer....

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