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Dear Parents and Carers,
The busy end of the year has arrived as we begin our preparation for Christmas and the summer break. I hope all members of our community are managing well through what can sometimes be both joy filled but challenging times. When I start to fatigue and can feel a little stress creeping in, I look for opportunities throughout each day to be grateful in quiet prayer, make sure I get adequate rest and deliberately connect with nature to return the balance to my life. I'm sure that you all have your own strategies to maintain your inner calm too.
Thank you to the regular members of our P&F Association who attended our final meeting for the year on Tuesday, followed by a fabulous end of year dinner at Bella. This small group of people have been really proactive over the years in developing traditions that build community and fun memories of good times with friends during their time at Holy Name. As a surprise, they also presented me with a beautiful gift, a painting by local Indigenous Artist, Brittany Paulson, that I will hang in my new office and treasure forever.
Our biggest student excursions - Yr 6 Canberra and Yr 5 Aussie Bush Camp, were held over the last fortnight. It was my absolute privilege to accompany Mrs Russell (Sheppard), Ms McKinnon and the Year 6 students to Canberra. The excursion was well planned and executed, providing the students with so many fabulous experiences that I'm sure they will remember for a long time to come. The highlight for me was donning the ice skates and trying my luck at ice-skating...I remember it being easier as a child! Thank you to our families who ensured their children were well-prepared for the week as this supports a positive experience for all.
I've also heard from Miss Flannery, Mrs Lupton and Mrs Loring, that our Yr 5 students were amazing on camp as well. Some feedback was that they were the most respectful group they'd had in a long time. What a fabulous start to their journey of leadership in 2024!
On that note, it was my pleasure to announce the School Captains, Vice Captains and students who form the Student Representative Council (SRC) last Monday morning. I reflected to the staff that I have found our preparation for students to nominate for this process supports the successful election, speeches and voting process. I think especially the Yr 5 Leadership Day is an opportunity for students to think about the qualities of a leader and to make their own decisions about whether they see those qualities in themselves and how they would like to present themselves as a leader during the nomination process. Congratulations to the following students, who will lead our students in 2024:
School Captains - Sophia Whitehouse-Miotto & Zac Te Raki-Pitfield
Vice Captains - Zia Singh & Chase Brooks
Student Representative girls - Amna Omar, Klahra Ridgeway & Sara Uprety
Student Representative boys - Kaige Letcher, Brady Clarke & Noah Portelli
This coming week, we will host our Christmas Concert on Wednesday in our playground. Please bring a rug to sit with your family. Chairs are allowed but will need to be set-up behind the grassed area for the families sitting on rugs so that everyone will be able to see the students. We are really looking forward to having all our families on site, especially since the refurbishments have been completed.
On Thursday, the P&F are hosting a Christmas Stall, their final event for the year. Students can normally bring $2 to $10 to purchase a gift for the loved ones in their families.
On Friday at 9:30am, we will host our Annual Awards Assembly for students. All families are welcome to attend this special event. Outside of the regular annual awards, we have included a new award for Academic Growth in each class over the 12 month period. Our staff have been working with students to develop a culture of feedback and improvement, and this award acknowledges that students commence their learning from different starting points each year, and it is the growth resulting from an effort and determination to improve that we would like to reward. Semester Two Student Reports will be available on Compass from Friday afternoon.
Please join us for both of these special events if you can.
Thank you to everyone who has donated to The Giving Tree, school hampers or Catholic Care food drive. We appreciate you thinking of others at this busy time and know that those who receive these gifts really do appreciate the support from others. Please send items into school if you can so that our Mini Vinnies Team can organise the gifts to go to the right organisations in our community.
Yours sincerely,
Brooke Stephens
Friday 1/12/23 | St Clare's Year 6 Support Day | All Day | St Clare's High School |
Wednesday 6/12/23 | Christmas Concert | 5.30 for 6.00-7.15pm | Holy Name School grounds |
Friday 8/12/23 | Whole School Awards Assembly | 9.00 am | Hall |
Friday 8/12/23 | Mrs Stephen's Farewell and Afternoon tea | from 1.30pm | Hall and Grounds |
Monday 11/12/23 | HNS Swimming Carnival | 9.00-12.00pm | YMCA Forster |
Wednesday 13/12/23 | Year 6 Graduation Mass | 11.30am | Kirkangina |
Friday 15/12/23 | Last day for students 2023 | ||
Monday 18/12/23 | Last day for Staff 2023 |
Attendance
Your child's attendance at school is crucial to their academic and social development. We have been looking at our attendance data for 2023 and the majority of our students attending school less than 90% of the time.
This is a statistic we would like to change as children are expected to have >95% attendance. Our school day begins at 8.45 with the first bell and the roll is taken just after 8.50 when the children enter the classrooms.
All classes start the day with the vital Reading block and if students are arriving late they are missing a crucial part of their learning. Please ensure your child/ren are at school to begin the day on time.
If children are sick, you can ring the school office or enter details on COMPASS. This is very important as Leave details can only be accepted from 7 days after the absence and if they come in later, the student has to be marked as Absent with no explanation. If you are planning leave for >10 days you must complete an Extended Leave form, which is available from the school office.
Thankyou for your support in this matter.
Student Representative Council 2024
Captains | Sophia Whitehouse-Miotto | Zac Te Raki-Pitfirld |
Vice Captains | Zia Singh | Chase Brooks |
SRC Leader | Amna Omar | Brady Clarke |
SRC Leader | Klahra Ridgeway | Kaige Letcher |
SRC Leader | Sara Uprety | Noah Portelli |
Whales | Airlia Coulton-Donnelly | TBA |
Sharks | Sophie Andrews | Tarickai Smith |
Dolphins | Jade Smith | Tyson Crain |
Stingrays | Layla Price | Hayden Pol |
Sport
Great Success for Hamish Carmichael!
Hamish competed at the North coast Swimming Championships last weekend - straight off the bus from Canberra into the car to Coffs! Despite being very very tired he still
managed to win 6 gold Medals, 1 silver and 1 bronze and was crowned 12 year boys age champion for the entire North Coast (from Tea Gardens all the way to the Queensland border !!!) He swims at NSW Senior State during the last week of school at Sydney Olympic Park (and misses his last week at Holy Name : (((( which we are all very sad about). He has qualified in seven events for State which is huge for a 12 year old, including the 50/100/200 breast stroke which are his best events :) Hamish has been training very hard in the run up to State - doing 5 or 6 sessions a week including 4 very early mornings, a couple of which involve getting up at 4.30am to travel to Taree to train in the 50m pool.
Thanks to Hamish's mum, Julie, for the information and what a fantastic achievement!
HNS Cheer Squad
Our HNS Cheer Squad competed in the Nfinity League Championships in Newcastle 3 weeks ago and came away with the Gold Medal!! They will compete this Saturday at the National Championships at Darling Harbour. Congratulations and Good luck to all those involved.
Positive Behaviour For Learning
Our focus for the past fortnight has been Listening to the Teachers. The following students received their Class Awards:
PBL AWARDS TERM 4 WEEK 8 | ||
KM | Alex Oake | Evie Johnson |
KP | Evie Redman | Rocco Rettke |
1N | Ilijana Trautsch | Arden Cassar |
1M | Remi Tull | Van Maggs |
2S | Kirra Nadin | Aaron Huynh |
2L | Autumn Barrett | Dorian Doherty |
3M | Indy Cooper | Grace Rinaldi |
3W | Danny de Sousa | Jasper Waters |
4H | Isabella Sleiman | Makayla Bowie |
4L | Mia Collins | Isla Ware-McKay |
5F | Layla Price | Airlia Coulton-Donnelly |
6M | Grace Zarate | Oliver Cooper |
6R | Jayden Bowie | Ellara Collins |
We had so many student receiving Principal's Awards today!
Elise Matlawski | 1 Maroon | 20 |
Isabella Marchett Caberlon | 1 Maroon | 20 |
Mia Pruim | 1 Maroon | 20 |
Hudson Paterson | 1 Maroon | 20 |
Archie Clark | 2 Gold | 20 |
Arlo Haywood | 3 Maroon | 20 |
Lilah Jha | K Gold | 20 |
Alexander Oake | K Gold | 20 |
Evie Johnson | K Gold | 20 |
Ernest Trautsch | K Gold | 20 |
Kristel Lakin | K Gold | 20 |
Luke Jajo | K Gold | 20 |
Jaxon Negulic | K Maroon | 20 |
Laila Cawthorne-Baker | K Maroon | 20 |
Lilly Rinaldi | K Maroon | 20 |
Lola Crozier | K Maroon | 20 |
Ruby Clarke | 1 Maroon | 40 |
Tane Te-Raki-Pitfield | 2 Gold | 40 |
Chelsea Mills | 2 Gold | 40 |
Joshua Adamson | 2 Gold | 40 |
Dorian Doherty | 2 Gold | 40 |
Tyrese Simon | 2 Gold | 40 |
Leah Monteith | 2 Gold | 40 |
Anna Brooks | 2 Maroon | 40 |
Matthew Jajo | 2 Maroon | 40 |
Everly Webb | 2 Maroon | 40 |
Kirra Nadin | 2 Maroon | 40 |
Sophia Clifton | 2 Maroon | 40 |
Lukas Tickle | 2 Maroon | 40 |
Mac Lambkin | 2 Maroon | 40 |
William Naughton | 2 Maroon | 40 |
Aaron Huynh | 2 Maroon | 40 |
Oliver Wing | 2 Maroon | 40 |
Angel Oliver | 2 Maroon | 40 |
Arielle Bergagnin | 2 Maroon | 40 |
Georgia Levick | 2 Maroon | 40 |
Marlowe Chapman | 2 Maroon | 40 |
Oliver Hayes | 2 Maroon | 40 |
Olivia Sleiman | 3 Gold | 40 |
Indy Cooper | 3 Gold | 40 |
Eli Te-Raki-Pitfield | 3 Gold | 40 |
Piper Webb | 3 Gold | 40 |
Stevie Hallam | 3 Maroon | 40 |
John Andary | 3 Maroon | 40 |
Gypsie Justice | 3 Maroon | 40 |
Alexis Carrigan | 4 Gold | 40 |
Haya Hamdy | 4 Gold | 40 |
Xavier Laurie | 4 Maroon | 40 |
Dakota Bowen | 4 Maroon | 40 |
Harrison Mills | 4 Maroon | 40 |
Larah Farr | 4 Maroon | 40 |
Jade Smith | 5 Gold | 40 |
Airlia Coulton-Donnelly | 5 Gold | 40 |
Riley Allport | 5 Gold | 40 |
Max Isbel | 5 Gold | 40 |
Tarickai Smith | 5 Gold | 40 |
Sophie Andrews | 5 Gold | 40 |
Grace Martin | 1 Gold | 60 |
Kovi Coulton | 2 Gold | 60 |
Aria Tull | 3 Maroon | 60 |
Georgie Hippe | 3 Maroon | 60 |
Jax Tull | 4 Gold | 60 |
Makayla Bowie | 4 Gold | 60 |
Isla Ware-McKay | 4 Maroon | 60 |
Mia Collins | 4 Maroon | 60 |
Summer-Rose Dalton | 4 Maroon | 60 |
Layla Price | 5 Gold | 60 |
Brady Clarke | 5 Gold | 60 |
Kaige Letcher | 5 Gold | 60 |
Amna Omar | 5 Gold | 60 |
Zoya Darzi | 5 Gold | 60 |
Rcco Lambkin | 1 Gold | 80 |
Isabella Sleiman | 4 Gold | 80 |
Year 6 Religious Literacy test
Congratulations to Year 6, the first Year to complete the religious literacy test online. This test was comprised of a multiple-choice section alongside a short answer written section. Year 6 did themselves (and the school!) proud with their performance, with their results being well above the average for the Diocese. Well done to Mrs Russell and Ms McKinnon as well, who did such a thorough and effective job of preparing their students for success.
Year 5 Leadership Day
In preparation for 2024 when they become the leaders of our school, Year 5 had their Leadership Day in week 7 before voting for our new school captains and SRC. Their Leadership Day was an opportunity to find out what it means to be a leader. We looked at leaders from around the world and throughout history, listened to their words and saw how they made a difference. We also learned about service leadership, about how this involves being dedicated to improving the lives of the others rather than making others serve you. A model that we try to live each day through our school motto of ‘Concern for Others’.
Of course, leaders don’t stand alone so throughout the day we had lots of games and activities that taught us the necessity of communication, respect and teamwork to be successful in achieving goals. It certainly gave Year 5 food for thought as they went on to prepare their speeches for the student body before the vote for our student Leadership Team for next year.
Christmas Concert
After a few years off site, we are looking forward to hosting all our families in Holy Name for our annual Christmas Concert! Mrs Clifton has been hard at work with all our classes, helping them prepare for our performance!
The classes will be performing in front of the Mary McKillop hall. We invite families to bring along a picnic blanket or rug and set up on the playing field for an enjoyable evening! We will also be having a designated area for those who wish to bring chairs to sit on – this will be on the netball court and to the sides of the playing field, ensuring a clear view for as many people as possible.
We are asking families to be at school by 5.30 for a 6pm start.
Graduation Liturgy
On Wednesday 13th December we invite all families (but especially those of our Year 6 students) to join us for our Graduation Liturgy. This will take place at the school and will start at 11.30 am. As a parent of a child who graduated from Holy Name a couple of years ago, I highly recommend coming if possible. It’s a powerful moment as 7 years of Primary school come to an end and one where you’ll share a mix of emotions with your child. We bid them farewell and with them good fortune in their time to come.
Great Learning Happening in Year Two!
Each fortnight we like to put a spotlight on the great learning happening in a particular grade in our school. In this report the spotlight is on Year 2. During reading sessions Year 2 have focusing on Narrative texts written by Australian authors,
The students have been working hard to develop the skill of being able to make connections to find ways that students can personally relate to a text. Text-to-self connections is where we connect the text with our own experiences. Ask students to think about the following questions.
Focusing on text-to-self connections:
- What does this story remind you of?
- Can you relate to the characters in the story?
- Does anything in this story remind you of anything in your own life?
The students worked on using their ‘making connections skills when they read ‘The Amazing Australian Road Trip’ by Jackie Hosking & Lesley Vamos. Students were asked to write how to identify parts of the texts that they could relate to from personal experience.
In writing, Year 2 have been learning to write realistic narratives using skills they have learnt through their mini write lessons. The students have been working on character development and the importance of being able to describe the setting of a story using the five senses to make it more descriptive and engage the reader. The students are working to ensure that their writing includes:
- Use transition words to show the sequence of events.
- Choose vivid words to strengthen writing.
- Create a strong beginning and ending.
- Use conventions correctly.
- Revise, edit, and publish 2 realistic fiction narratives.
In Maths Year 2 are learning to describe the features of three-dimensional objects using the terms face, edge & vertex. They have been working on making models of simple 3D objects and recognise how 2D shapes are linked with 3D objects. Check out these awesome rectangular prisms our clever Year 2 friends constructed using straws and blutack.
In Science, the Year 2 students have had lots of fun engaging in great hands on experiments and investigations. The unit is titled ‘Materials are Used for a Purpose’. The students have been investigating the effects of mixing materials together as well as how materials can be changed or combined for a particular purpose. The investigations started with some hands-on mixing of materials to create icecream! Check out these photos are the Year 2 scientists in action!
In Visual art the students have been working on creating their own DIY gingerbread house using a cardboard template that need to be designed and cut into sections and then glued together to form the house. Students worked to make their gingerbread hose unique by adding their own special touches like candy canes, buttons, pipe cleaners, snow and tinsel. Check out some of their awesome designs.
Year 2 have also finished the year with a fun cel'YOU'bration activity where student names are chosen each day and they get to have a special fuss made of them. This includes reading out a special letter from their parents as well as: using gel pens and other cool stationary, cold drinking water, a special Chritmas chair cover and extra brain breaks.
Well done Year Two students, I know your teachers are very proud of you all!
Mrs Suzie Monks
Primary Coordinator
Mini Vinnies
Our Mini Vinnies team have continued to show up to our Thursday meeting and focus on doing good works for others. They are currently finessing their wrapping skills, wrapping presents and hampers boxes so that we can distribute hampers to those in our community.
Our wishing tree and hamper drive are being well supported, thank you to our families who have donated. There is still a little time before we share the donations with our community so if you’d like to donate please sending in a present or non perishable food items.
Breakfast Club
Monday morning Breakfast Club is a hive of excitement and brings a smile to my face each week. Students are always happy to share their weekend adventures and I love hearing their favourite time or sharing something they are grateful for from the weekend. This, combined with Milo and toast is a beautiful way to commence our school week. I am grateful we are able to share our morning, I am also grateful for the beautiful manners our students have.
Art Club
Finger knitting has been all the rage at Art Club lately. I love seeing our students master a new skill and then help up skill others, it is our school motto ‘Concern for Others’ in absolute action. The smile on students faces when they delight in knowing they can finger knit is pure joy for me to watch! It definitely is the little moments that make a big impact.
We have also been colouring lots of Christmas art using paint sticks, a clever and wonderful medium that is a no mess paint alternative.
Playgroup
Lots of our 2024 Kinder students have been visiting Playgroup over that past fortnight. It is lovely getting to know these early learners and their families. I can see each week that our early learners are becoming more familiar and relaxed in our school setting.
Our Year 5 students who will be next years buddies popped in for a visit yesterday and it is beautiful to watch them engage with these new little people who will join is next year.
Wellbeing
As we move into the busy time of Advent and Christmas I hope you are able to take a moment each day, pause, reflect and find little joys to be grateful for. I am grateful to share my day with so many amazing and wonderful young people. It makes my heart happy and it makes me smile, everyday.
I shared the Smiling Mind app and website earlier this term and thought it may be worth another share. I encourage you to check it out for you or your children.
https://www.smilingmind.com.au. Smiling Mind, an Australian-based organisation, offers a wonderful online platform dedicated to the well-being and mental health of primary school children. Founded with a vision to empower young minds with mindfulness and resilience, the website provides a wealth of resources and tools that cater specifically to children in their formative years. Smiling Mind's programs are designed to be engaging and age-appropriate, incorporating playful activities and guided mindfulness exercises. Through this website, primary school children can access an array of content that helps them build emotional intelligence, reduce stress, and develop skills for self-awareness and self-regulation.
The benefits of Smiling Mind for primary school children are numerous and invaluable. The platform promotes mental well-being, an increasingly important aspect of education as young minds grapple with the pressures of modern life. It equips children with practical techniques for managing stress, anxiety, and emotional challenges. By integrating mindfulness into their daily routines, children can improve concentration and focus, ultimately enhancing their academic performance. Moreover, Smiling Mind encourages empathy, kindness, and emotional resilience, fostering an inclusive and compassionate school environment.
Kristie Banham
Pastoral Care Worker
The Virtual Academy is an online platform, where high potential students in Years 5-8 across the diocese engage in regular learning throughout the year. This is led by dedicated staff at the Catholic Schools Office, where the students participate in weekly video conferences and connect with like-minded peers. The Virtual Academy offers students the opportunity to be challenged and to develop skills across disciplines to solve real-world problems.
This year, Holy Name has had four students in the Virtual Academy – Oscar Yeates, Madeline Todd, Max Isbel and Sophia Whitehouse-Miotto. These students shared their learning at the online showcase last Friday and should be commended for the quality of their work they have completed and presented this year.
Each child’s real-world problem they researched is listed below:
Oscar – Our beaches
Madeline and Sophia – Noise pollution
Max – The danger of driving
Congratulations on a great year of learning!
We love to connect with the happenings at St Clare's through. Please check out what's been happening at this wonderful school through reading their newsletter.
As a reminder to our families, parents or other adlts dropping off and picking up children at school should not hang around the playground or near classes for longer than is necessary. You must never approach another student on the playground and if you see something you are concerned about, please bring it to the attention of one of our staff. This is part of our commitment to the safety of all children in our care and we appreciate your support.
Just a reminder that Carawa street is the preferred street for dropping off and collecting your children. This entrance is much more accessible and not as busy as using the Lake St entrance. A Kiss and Ride zone is in operation in the mornings.
Your children's safety is important to us.
Overall Canberra was our favourite school excurison. At Canberra we had a great experience with fun and interesting activities throughout, these included: the National Zoo and Aquarium, the Deep Space Centre, AIS and many more. But above all, Geoscience stood out to us the most. Geoscience is a fun, interactive and educational institution. We got to see many different crystals like bismuth and malachite. But the main thing we learnt about was earthquakes and how they are made, and, later on, we made one by stomping on the floor. We had two very kind tour guides that helped us explore the building while teaching us. That’s why Geoscience was the best. GRACE ZARATE
Canberra was very interesting and fun. We did lots of interesting things, but my top 3 favourite things we did in Canberra were definitely Deep Space Centre, Ice skating, and the War Memorial. They were all equally fun and I cannot decide which was the best. The funniest thing about Canberra was the rooms - everybody was very crazy in the rooms.
The food there was an improvement from last year's food at Ausie Bush Camp. The first night that we stayed at our accommodation we had some sort of Chinese food. It had this sort of chicken stuff and spring rolls. After that we went back to our rooms had showers and then it was lights out. But that does not mean that we all went to sleep. JACKSON PAINE
On the second day of camp, we visited Canberra's National Zoo. We first separated into two groups and went to the aquarium first on a tour. There we saw many different types of fish and reptiles, we even got to hold a blue tongue lizard. We continued the tour and visited two bears. We also stopped by monkeys who we could communicate with by raising our eyebrows and, if you showed your teeth, they would take that as a sign of aggression. Next on the tour we got to feed deer's and an emu. Finally, we got to go off in small groups and wander around the zoo. Some of the animals we saw included zebras, rhinos, giraffes, meerkats and penguins. It was an amazing experience, which is why it was one of our favourite places. ARTEMISIA LAURIE & KYESHA PUCCI
When we went to the Australian War Memorial, I got to see my great granddad’s plane that he flew in War World 2 in the Air Force. So that was a nice place for me and that is only one example of why it is one of my fave places at Canberra when we went. We also learnt that purple poppies are meant for animals in the war. MACKENZIE ALLEN
On the first day of camp, we went to AIS (Australian Institute of Sport). It was our second activity and by far the best one. When we went in the activity room there were so much fun things, but I rushed straight to the soccer penalty shootout. You had to try and kick the ball the hardest, and it would say how fast you kicked it in km an hour. There was also this thing where you would see how long you could hang from a bar.
There were so much other sports like a basketball hoop, an arm-wrestling thing, a bike race, a rowing race, a footy place where you would kick the ball into the tee post and a ski race. After we were done the guide man took us around the sports places like the swimming pool and the gym. It was so cool looking at where they train. CHRISTIAN BOTROS
Due to the amazing experience, I had at Questacon, it leads to it being my favourite thing in Canberra. What I liked about Questacon was all the fascinating science experiments and all the interactive things we could do. Also, the gift shop was pretty cool, it had a lot of cool science stuff that I bought home and had a great time with. Thanks to the tour guides, we had a great time. RYDER COULTON
It is always great to have the support of the Parliament and Civics Education rebate Rebate. This rebate covers $45 for each student to attend Parliament House, the War Memorial and the Parliamentary Education Office as well as other attractions in our nation's capital.
Year 5 went to Aussie Bush Camp this week. They thrived in participating, and sometimes competing, on the activities that we did. The students worked extremely well as a team, encouraging each other and using their leadership skills to ensure everyone was included, working together to complete challenges and using kindness with each other when we were exhausted.
Some of the students, very tiredly, wrote what their favourite parts were, thank you notes to our instructors or a review of the camp itself.
Sara – The best part of the experience at camp was doing the activities. There were many funny stories such as, rolling down the sand dunes, and when people were screaming “minions tonight we steal the moon!” on the giant swing. The activities were the sand dunes, rainforest walk, archery, lost island (mud run), the giant swing, high ropes, rock climbing, and the power fan.
Zac - The power fan is a 15 metre telegraph pole the you climb up with a partner and when you get to the top you jump off. It feels like you are falling until you get close to the bottom and the fan catches you. It is so fun!
The food was a lot better than I expected. My Favourite was the mac and cheese and chicken with garlic bread which was so good. We also had other foods like hot dogs and spaghetti Bolognese and on the last day we got a soft drink.
Brady – I will give Aussie bush camp a four star rating because the food was bad for me.
The good stuff is the activities, cabins and the games. The activities were giant swing which is really good and you go flying, rock climbing which you need really good team work to do it and archery where there is three different archery places to go shoot your arrows.
The mud run was dangerous because there were rocks in the mud that could make people slip and fall and hurt themselves. The instructor told us to wear shoes which is good so we don’t hurt our feet. There was showers to wash the mud off us but the water was cold.
Zoya – Dear Hayley,
Thank you for dealing with us for three days. You helped me discover I am extremely scared of heights. We all enjoyed our time at camp. Maybe the food wasn’t the best, but we had the best time. Thank you for giving us a break from school.
From Zoya (Your Favorite)
Chase – On the giant swing all your friends have to pull you up to the top of the swing and then you need to pull a string and you will drop. Once you have dropped you will start to swing back and forth. You have to put on a full body harness.
It was really fun on the giant swing. It was also a little bit scary because you had to pull a rope that made you drop. At first when you drop it is really scary but after 2 seconds its fine.
Max – I went to the Great Aussie Bush Camp for the last 3 days. Here are some of the best bits!
My favourite part was the ‘commando’ game where you run around and try not to get caught by teachers, also you try to get these stick things called” hostages” that the teachers hid. A funny thing that people kept on doing was screaming “minions, tonight we steal the moon!” and then everyone would yell “yeah!”. A thing that was hard was the “power fan” where a fan powered winch (I think) helped you climb a ladder and then you jump off from a 15.5m drop. Don’t worry, you get slowed down by a special cable. I had trouble getting up the pole (it’s harder than you think it is!) but I did it!
Jade – My favorite Activity was lost island, We had to make our way though an obstacle course with muddy water, with rocks and sticks in it. My second favorite Activity was the rainforest walk, We walked though the rainforest and got told facts about the trees around us.
Caleb – Hayley is best worker and thank you for the chocolate and for the hug and thank you for the support. Thank you for letting me help on the giant swing.
Zia – My favourite activity at camp was lost island because we got to go in wet mud which was so much fun and get splashed with mud by our instructor. We got to go on obstacle courses and slides which squirted water at us and got in my ears. My favourite part about it was jumping off the tires into the mud for the first time. The best thing about the whole camp in the night was that we got to play commando but sadly the teachers won the game.
Layla - Hayley is excellent at her job. She is very nice, hard working, pretty, Friendly, Thoughtful, Helpful, Trustworthy, Cheerful, Passionate, caring, sweet, and courageous. I just want to say thank you for everything.
Sophie - Thank you Brayden!
· Thank you for making us laugh and making us happy
· Thank you for letting us have seconds on the power fan and helping us get ready on activities
· Thank you for letting us play soccer and playing it with us
· Thank you for helping us on activities and guiding us on them
· Thank you for letting us keep going on our team activities by looking away on purpose when we got “out”
Tarickai - The giant swing because it was high and fun. I could see everything, and it was so fun. It felt like you were free falling for 5.2 seconds. I was the first one to say “Minions, tonight we steal the moon!”
Mike - I had a great time at Bush Camp in Australia. It has activities that I like and food that I like. When we finished dinner, they gave us our favorite ice cream. Camp Bush in Australia was there when we were tired. It will bring us joy. Camp Bush in Australia is a very good camping place, but I have a valuable suggestion. I hope you can put some shower gel and shampoo in the bathroom because this can wash clean things. This camping trip I will never forget it, thank you.
Kaileirah:to: Hayley and Braiden
Thank you for letting us come to this event I really enjoyed it especially the sand dunes. That was my favourite because I learnt some indigenous stuff such as knowing that they caught fish, and they cooked it and ate it putting it underground just in case they went extinct and knowing there’s evidence. But going up the sand dunes was hard but going down it was the best fun, and I was going fast. Thank you for motivating us to go on scary things and guiding us to all the activities!.
From Kaileirah.
Hayden – I think the best part about Aussie Bush Camp was the power fan because you climb up a telegraph pole then jump off then the fan pullie grabs you and makes you fall slowly. Every time someone went on the giant swing they would yell “minions tonight we steal the moon!” then everyone would scream loudly.
Airlia- To Hayley and Brayden,
thank you for helping us do most of the activities. It was so fun, and the food was great. I really enjoyed the hot dog and the Pepsi. Hayley i really enjoyed your singing it is amazing. What i loved the most was the lost island but the bad thing is that all the mud went in my hair.
Amna -
BRAVE
RESILIENT
AWESOME
YOUNG
DASHING
EXCELLENT
NICE
Rhys - We joined in on many fun games such as Mud World, Giant Swing and the Power Fan. I didn’t enjoy many of the activities so I took photos and videos that everyone can now look back on. The bus ride was long and took forever.
Kaige – The food at Aussie Bush Camp was amazing. The burgers we had were delicious at because we could choose what we had on it and if we wanted to have salad or not and had choices of sauces and stuff. It is my second favourite food because mac & cheese and chicken and garlic bread is my first favourite food we had there.