How gloriously blessed we were with perfect days AND evenings for our Winter Festivals last Thursday and Friday!

Of course, awesome events like that don’t just happen without a lot of forethought and planning.

Many thanks to the organising committees and collective efforts of the staff in planning the Festivals and preparing the children so well.

I would especially like to acknowledge the following people:

Lisa, Sophia, Denise, Bruce, Clare and Merveena for preparing such a reverent evening for the Kindergarten classes on Thursday. Also to David Stockdale for his didgeridoo playing and to all the wonderful parents who prepared delicious soups for the evening. It was a truly magical gathering.

Friday had a true community feel about it as everyone pitched in to prepare for the night. Heartfelt acknowledgement to: Kristy McMullan and Teresa Beecroft for creating and holding the outdoor spiral space that allowed each of the classes to walk the spiral individually; Kristy again, for the creation of another spectacular bonfire and the way she was able to involve the children in its creation; Robyn and Mick Miller and the band of parent helpers from Class 3 who assisted with the creation of the outdoor community spiral; Katerina for the engaging story she delivered to the hall of parents, visitors and siblings; the Class parents that provided soup for the classes and hall; families that contributed greenery; Class 4 parents who lit the lantern walk; and Eliza and the Class 5/6 students for the way they performed around the bonfire. It is such an amazing rite of passage to witness our Class 6 students lighting the bonfire! Many thanks to those who attended and shared in this magnificent festival with us.

Congratulations to Robyn and the students of Class 3 for their fabulous Noah’s Ark play that they performed today. You were all fabulous!

As this will be our last newsletter before the holiday break of 3 weeks,  a reminder that we will have an assembly on the Friday, the last day of Term 3. Staff and students on Monday July 29^th. I wish all of the GHSS community a wonderful and cosy winter break and look forward to seeing you all in the new term!