GRAPEVINE
are pleasing and indicative of a community that values health and well-being, the spirit in which our students participate, and the positive way they represent our school and community, both on and off the field is something we can all be proud of. Participating with determination, effort, and striving, without hinging our self-worth on the outcome requires active attention (in all fields of endeavour).
Our Year 10 students on exchange in France are nearing the end of their exchange experience. We look forward to welcoming them back next term and can’t wait to hear about their adventures.
Congratulations to all students who have participated in Solo Concerts in the last 2 weeks and a huge thank you to the music staff that guided them through the process. It is a pleasure to watch and celebrate the students’ developing skills and witness their bravery in performing solo for a large audience.
The Spring Fair is the final weekend of October. Tickets for the Spring Fair Raffle have been sent home with this Messenger and we are encouraging families to sell these over the holidays. We are also seeking donations for prizes and can already announce that we already have an Electric Guitar &
Amp Package from the Polygon Music Group and Barwite Wine that will be part of the prize pool. Donations and ticket money can be submitted to the office which will be open during the holidays. Remember to record names and number on both sides. Please bring raffle ticket funds to the office.
The Spring Fair is a fun family day that showcases our wonderful community. The P&F fundraising element will this year go towards the installation of a permanent stage and curtain set up for our beautiful Melliodora Hall.
Glenn Hood
A huge congratulations to Eva Clydesdale who won the GVFNL 15 year old best and fairest. There are hundreds of netballers in this highquality league. This is a wonderful achievement for Eva. We are very proud of your efforts!
MORNING STAR Sandi Valerio
The Morning Star children have welcomed Lady Spring into our garden. As the weather warms, we have heard the story of Lady Spring and how it does take a little while to wake her up as the Spring arrives. We have been painting with lemon and golden yellow and listened to stories of the fairy that wanted to play with the silver and golden wattle flowers. We have modelled with gold and green bees wax and created wattle branches with blossoms and searched for Wattle trees on our Friday nature walks. Busy fingers are beginning to learn how to finger knit and some of the children have embraced this, making long rainbow chains in the warm sunshine . We are looking forward to our Spring Festival on Friday.
ROSA MUNDI Jack Finegan
Rosa Mundi have been spending time out in the yard watching the Princess of Spring work her magic on the flowers and trees as they seemingly spring back to life. The seeds we planted in the garden are also springing to life with the children excited to see what is to come. Our Morning Circle has changed with the season, as we prepare for our Spring Festival and sing songs of blossoms and warmer weather.
CLASS 1 Liz Morrell
Class 1 have been immersed in Aboriginal Dreaming stories drawing on fauna, flora and the landscape of various places around Australia. After recalling the stories, the class then explore vocabulary, write sentences and illustrate. Beeswax modelling and clay work has also been undertaken to enhance the story exploration. Number strategies continue to be practised with adding and subtracting 10 from any number, skip counting forward and backwards, along with doubles, near doubles and fact family recognition. Knitting has been a huge hit, with the completion of animals and very colourful scarves. Lunchtime craft with Lou is very well attended. Overall the class has completed a full and rewarding term 3.
CLASS 2 Amy Burns
The final week of term has welcomed a new group of friends to Class 2 ... our knitted gnomes! After an enormous amount of knitting and nattering, clicking and clacking, the knitted gnomes have donned their hats and beards and taken up residence in the laps of their adoring Class 2 friends. This knitting project has been a challenge on many levels for the Class 2 students. They have learned to follow a knitting pattern, to work with different coloured yarns concurrently, to use pearl stitch and stockinette styles of knitting, as well as increasing and decreasing stitch numbers to shape the gnome and its accessories. Students have used computational thinking and reasoning to problem solve mistakes and to invent their own accessories too, with many gnomes wearing scarves and belts designed by the students themselves without a prescribed pattern. To celebrate, a Gnome Picnic and bushwalk was held with our revered new guests, complete with gnome-sized treats to celebrate and congratulate the Class 2 children on their wonderful effort. The gnomes will live at school to bring a special cuddle and company to the children whenever they may need them.
CLASS 3 Ariel Stava
Class 3 have thoroughly enjoyed working with the next installment of Hebrew stories. The trials and tribulations of the Israelites and the struggle to leave Egypt this last week has made for excellent writing to end this term. The children have become very proficient at recalling ideas, selecting important events to form paragraphs and constructing their own sentences. They have enjoyed developing their cursive handwriting in their drafts book, using capital letters, full stops and practicing using nouns, verbs, adverbs and adjectives as well as experimenting with using speech marks. They have grown in confidence through the process of drafting, editing and receiving feedback with excellent independent work being added to their Main Lesson books. In the final week of term the class is very excited to be working with the concept of Money in their next Main Lesson in the lead up to the Spring Fair. They will discover how bartering and trade lent to the introduction of systems that have evolved to develop a currency in exchange for goods and services before embarking on a small market stall project over the holidays. They will learn about the different coins and the introduction of the decimal system in Australia.
CLASS 4 Lou Pullar
Congratulations to everyone who performed last week for the solo concerts. The students gave us such joy to hear them play their tunes which they had obviously worked hard to learn and perform. Class 4 are in our Human and Animal Main Lesson at present hearing stories of how the animals have wonderful specialisations in relation to humans and that each one has its place in the world. We have also been focused on our handwriting ahead of receiving their fountain pen to write with in Term 4 Main Lessons. Well done to all the athletes who competed at district athletics last week and best wishes for the next round in Shepparton on Wednesday.
CLASS 5 Samantha Charlotte
In Class 5’s study of Wonder by R.J. Palacio we explored what kindness is, and how it feels to give and receive kindness. We created a ‘wonder wall’ full of precepts (or: “rules for life”), spent time imagining what life might be like from another person’s perspective, and thinking about if that changes how we are with them. We spent time thinking about the individual value that each of us brings to the world, and what type of person we want to be. We used dictionaries to find the meaning of unfamiliar words, and thought about how we can represent abstract concepts, such as kindness, artistically. We’ve begun our Geometry main lesson, beginning with circles. We’ve found circles in our world, conversed about our observations of ‘circular things’, remembered when circles have appeared in our learning and living, and drawn, drawn, drawn, ever-more beautiful circle forms. As the main lesson progresses, we’ll explore shapes that can be derived from the circle, such as the triangle. It’s been a wonderful few weeks of full-time time together! How much we will miss each other when Clare returns next term!
CLASS 6 Jacinta Walker
Our second Rome Main Lesson has brought the students the story of Hannibal crossing the alps with his huge army (including elephants) and how even though
nearly half perished in the cold or from accidents on the mountains, they still conquered much of the north of Italy before resting in the south. Unfortunately for Hannibal, his army enjoyed their rest too much and were then in no shape to attack Rome itself. Later, more northerners (the Germans) came over the alps and in contrast to Hannibal’s troops, delighted in the snow and cold weather. Similarly they conquered much of the north of Italy before coming up against Marius who defeated them. It is interesting how much climate has to play in these conquests and also the politics – as we learn about plebeians and patricians, the advantages of living at the top of the hill vs the valleys, and of the various personalities involved in Ancient Rome. We also harvested some of our broccoli this week and made a creamy broccoli and lemon sauce for pasta – a very ‘on topic’ food for the rest of the year!
YEAR 7 Seamus Kavanagh
The Year 7s have been investigating the lives of various explorers and navigators during their current Main Lesson, the Age of Exploration. From Western navigators like Christopher Columbus, and Magellin, to lesser known, but equlally impressive explorers such as Ibn Battuta, and Kupe. Starting with exploring the impulse to leave, explore, and return, we looked at the Crusades, and medieval life. The importance of the seasons, and tidal fluctuations has aided students in understanding the rotation of the earth around the sun, and the significance of time within our lives. Most recently, students have been practicing their mapping, learning how to make portolan charts, creating a globe with Longitudinal and Latitudinal lines, and concluding with creating a settlement in the best location possible.
YEAR 8 Dion Hall
In this main lesson students will have had an opportunity to build a deeper understanding of the relationships between organs in the body and how they form a synergy together that form the characteristics of life. Students began by exploring the systems that are pivotal to respiration, the lungs and trachea of the respiratory system and the stomach, small and large intestine of the digestive system. This led to a focus on the circulatory system and the role and importance of the heart not just through the lens of modern medicine, but also its pivotal place in variety of cultures and religious stories told throughout history. Artwork: Jessica Cassels IB DIP 2023
YEAR 9 Kate Hood
Year 9s having been working hard to create their own Clay Head in their own image. It is an emotional process where perfectionism and reality are in conflict. Heads can topple and skulls get knocked in, ears fall off and eyes appear crossed. There are many times where the Heads experience the metaphorical life of a teenager. However, clay is forgiving and until you decide ‘it is done’ everything can be re-shaped, re-considered, re-positioned. A powerful lesson to be learned heading towards upper secondary schooling.
YEAR 10
Nicholas Koschitzke
For their final official Main Lesson, Year 10 have been diving into the art and craft of poetry in their Main Lesson The Art and Craft of Poetry. They have looked at poems in various styles such as Middle English, Shakespearean, haikus, Romanticism, blank and free verse. Using this new knowledge, the students are creating their own anthology book of poetry of their very own. The books are already looking great and the final product will be fantastic.
MUSIC Celeste Cleason
We enjoyed two nights of fabulous music at our primary solo concerts this week. Rousing renditions of old favourites such as Twinkle Twinkle and Mary Had a Little Lamb were heard as well as fiddle tunes, Bach and the 12-Bar Blues.
It was wonderful to see the children hold themselves with such poise and grace in front of a large and supportive audience. Thank you to all the music staff for their excellent work with the students in preparing them for the performances.
This week, the secondary students will take to the stage on Wednesday and Thursday night at 6pm. All are welcome to attend.
Mansfield Steiner School 26 October 10am - 3pm 2024
