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Dear GHSS Families,
Welcome back to Term 3 and how lovely it has been to start the term in our usual rhythm with full classes, our usual drop offs and pick ups, school assemblies back on, Playgroup happening and the School Shop once again open. I can't help but spare a thought for our fellow Australians over East and particularly in Victoria, who are being inpacted by a second wave of the virus. It serves as a timely reminder that we should continue with practices such as good hand hygiene, appropriate social distancing, coughing and sneezing into our elbows and remembering to stay at home when we are ill and where neccessary, seek medical advice.
The building component of our office upgrade is complete and next week, fingers crossed, phone and computer services will be connected. Then it is simply be a matter of moving in to our new premises. We look forward to welcoming you there and giving a tour.
Thank you to those staff and parents that attended the talk delivered by Horst Kornberger on Thursday evening. If you were ever in any doubt of the benefits of a Steiner education for your child, then hearing Horst speak on the structure of the Steiner curriculum and how it is designed to meet all aspects of the developing child at the appropriate time and in the appropriate way, would have left you in no doubt that you are gifting your child a truly amazing opportunity to enter the world as a well rounded citizen with much to offer.
Staff will be working with Horst and Jennifer Kornberger over a series of weeks on the topic of "Story Medicine: The healing effects of story and story making". Horst and Jennifer are also delivering on this topic through Denmark Arts for those who are interested in learning more. You will not be disappointed.
Our newsletter comes to you a bit later than usual this week as we held our Board AGM yesterday evening. Attached is a link to the Principal address and Chair report from the meeting. Our 2019 Annual Report is available for everyone to access on the website and also as a tile on the Home screen of our Schoolzine app.
Warm Regards,
Jacqui Hamblin
Principal
After my call out this week for P&F Committee Members we have had some wonderful offers of help, as well as two committee role nominations. Heath has nominated for the Treasurer role and Via has nominated for the Secretary role. We also have Tanya B as our Abundance Co-Creator. The P&F meetings will take place on the third Tuesday of every month at 1.30pm (meeting room to be confirmed). The next meeting is on Tuesday 18th August at 1.30pm. Class Carers are encouraged to come to the meetings or find someone else to attend in your place as a class representative. Thank you to everyone who has reached out. The P&F can continue to create a wonderfully supportive school community for all, be part of exciting events and continue to help with building of the Outdoor Classroom for Neal's biodynamic gardening classes.
Pen
P&F Chair
As our school lives come back to a regular rhythm the P&F would love to encourage all to embrace the daily colours. We have GHSS t-shirts available to buy from the Peppermint Cottage shop to make life easier. It really is about embracing the colours and talking to your children about it every day. A lovely way to teach younger children the colours and the days of the week. It could be a scarf, hairband or flower... anything. It is absolutely not compulsory.
The Makuru Hands in the Earth Day took place on Saturday, 25th July. A huge thank you to Kristi, our own wise woman, who gives her time & energy freely to make these days such a magical experience for all who are there. The children who are at the right age help to build the fire and keep it going, make damper together, and are given hours of free play together in a nature setting. It is quite hard to explain how fantastic these days are. The children are content and there are no quarrels to contend with. With Kristi's guidance our children are empowered to keep themselves and each other safe in nature.
In Kristi's own words...
"We shared around the fire, while children played in mixed ages, in the wild spaces around us.
We were the antennas of their playful noises and they ran free as kids have always been able to.
The safety net cast was a couple of strong lines that tied them together, "you go everywhere with each other and if one of you leave, you all know to where they have gone. If this is broken, you sit with the adults for the rest of the day. If a small child follows you, you bring them back". By making them responsible for each other, they become grounded and play well together. Then the adults can use their other senses for protecting and supervising, from a relaxed distance."
Our next Hands in the Earth Day is in Djilba on Saturday 29th August 2020 from 10am till 4pm. Come and join Kristi with the GHSS P&F to create a timeless space for children and their families to be in nature in the beautiful Golden Hill Bush River area. $5 per person for food or $20 per family. All food is vegetarian. Bring what you need to be comfortable in the bush area.
The P&F will be running a coffee and cake morning every Friday during school term when Kylie’s Nature’s Nest shop at Peppermint Cottage is open. Come and grab a Stash Coffee or Herbal Tea and a piece of healthy slice/cake for the bargain price of $5. Volunteers wanted and welcome to help serve and make slices.
Contact Pen for more information on 0437 663 002.
We would love some feedback from the school community about the GHSS Spring Fair, due to be on Sunday 22 November. Robyn has had a great idea for it to be a smaller affair and an Open Day, classrooms open, children performing, live music (musical families hear our call...), maybe some stalls, games etc.
Contact Pen if you have any ideas that you would like to run or feel that you can volunteer to make the day a lovely success.
