In striving forth towards the goal,

I feel new firmness in my soul.

The I-of-God in knowing sight

Fills all my will with gleaming light.

And in these hidden depths, this radiant glow,

By bringing light to darkness, makes the good fruit grow. 

Dear GHSS Families,

Our Virtue Focus this newsletter is flexibility and we are certainly getting the opportunity to practice that with the ever-changing, covid-related directives being imposed upon the school and broader community. 

Many thanks to our staff, families and children as they have continued supporting the school and demonstrating flexibility in adapting to changes that will ensure the best outcomes for all concerned.  This week our classes have largely moved outdoors.  We have purchased the necessary equipment to ensure protection from the elements and to allow us to complete our learning to the same standard as when we are indoors.  It is heartening to know that these are temporary measures and we all look forward to returning to our classrooms.  However, in the meantime, we are really enjoying the adventure of, where possible, adapting all our learning to the outdoors.

Of course, this change makes it all the more important that children come to school with hats, sun-safe clothing and sunscreen, as well as water bottles - and in the event of the ever changing weather of Denmark, it is always worth considering a jumper and rain coat for days that threaten rain.

The date for our Autumn Festival has moved to March 25th.  This  event will be held in school with staff and students only.  Should directives for schools change between now and then, we can be flexible enough to adapt and invite parents to join us.  We shall keep families informed.

We are delighted to be a part of a recently funded project with Green Skills called Growing Community Connections through Arts - Biodiversity Festival.  In the first week of Term 2, Classes 3-6 will take part in an excursion to Wilson Inlet to observe the flora and fauna of the local area.  They will then return to school to draw what they saw.  Over the rest of the week, they will then work with artist, Angela Rossen, to create large murals depicting the flora and fauna of the area.  These, along with some of the individual artworks created by the children, will form part of the Festival exhibition. 

Permission forms for the Growing Community Connections project will be put up on the Schoolzine app shortly and it will be imperative that these are completed and returned before the end of this term, as our excursion will be on the first day back at school for Term 2, Tuesday April 26th.

Stay safe and well! 

Kind regards,

Jacqui Hollingworth

Principal

Each newsletter we will be sharing a virtue that will be the focus in our school over the following three weeks.  

What is Flexibility? Flexibility is being open to change.  It means not always having to have your own way.  It is being open to the opinions and feelings of others.  With flexibility, you are willing to change your mind.  If something doesn't work, you try a new way.  Flexibility is making changes for the better.

Why Practice it? Without flexibility, people keep doing things the same old way when new ways are needed.  They become rigid.  They get angry and upset when things don't go their way and try to control other people.  When you are flexible, you adjust and adapt.  You bend like a tree in the wind.  You keep making positive changes.

How do you practice it? When you practice flexibility, you let go of bad habits and learn new ones.  When you see a need for change, look inside and find the virtue you need.  Then practice it little by little, day by day.  Try new, creative ways to get things done.  Accept the things you cannot change.  Go with the flow.  When you are flexible, you enjoy surprises.

Signs of Success Congratulations!  Your are practicing flexibility when you...

• Learn from your mistakes.
• Are willing to change bad habits.
• Try imaginative new ways to do things.
• Don't insist on always getting your own way.
• Can adjust when something unexpected happens.
• Go with the flow.  Trust the unexpected.

"I bend but do not break."  Jean de la Fontaine

Thank you so much for sending your children to school with their masks, as per the mandate.  Please know that we value your child's presence at school and as such if your child forgets a mask, their mask is in the wash or they happen to lose their mask on the way to school we ask that they come to the office where we can lend them a washable mask, or provide them with a disposable mask for the day.

Thank you!

After our attempts at fishing for Djilgis at the start of term, we were grateful to Kylie Cook, Bea and Eleanor’s mum, for bringing in a variety of djilgis, yabbies and marron to both Bush School and Bush Kindy, as well as setting traps in the creek so we could discover what was living there.  Kylie lives further up Scotsdale Rd and the same creek runs through her property as the children spend time exploring at Bush Kindy/Bush School.  We learnt how to identify the difference between yabbies and djilgies, and caught a variety of djilgies and some pygmy perch in the traps. Thanks heaps Kylie, the children loved it!

The Bush School children spent their first session at the wonderful Earth Station last week, and had a great time rediscovering the many interesting nooks and crannies of that space.  They painted banners, built with bricks and went collecting wild blackberries, among many other exciting things.

Speaking of which, the Bush Kindies went on their first expedition to the paperbark forest for the year last week, and also collected enough blackberries for a small feast at morning tea time. We even collected enough to freeze some to have with pikelets later in the year when it is campfire season again. 

At the time of writing, we are due to have a visit from our Noongar Elders Aunties Eliza Woods and Annette Eades.  They have come to visit us several times over the years, and have also joined us on camps at Nowanup.  We are very grateful to have them join us before the inevitable restrictions that will come with the border opening.

Together we touch the ground of the land 

We reach for the sky that covers the ground 

We touch our hearts in care of the land 

Friends together, hand in hand 

Here we stand on Nyoongar land 

In Karri Kindergarten we begin our day with this simple acknowledgement of country, which grounds us all in awareness that we are on Nyoongar boodja.  It is a part of our daily rhythm that is unchanging.  Before we leave for home we speak this verse, before going our separate ways to re-join our families; 

The earth is firm beneath my feet 

The sun shines bright above 

And here stand I, so straight and strong 

All things to know and love 

Goodbye everyone, goodbye everyone 

Rhythm is an essential underpinning for all of Steiner Education.  Modern inventions such as electricity enable us to adapt, but as human beings we are deeply connected to the natural rhythms of the universe; the rising and setting of the sun, the moon cycles, the seasons, as well as our bodily rhythms, the heartbeat, breathing and digestion. 

Our kindergarten day mirrors our natural rhythms; activities are ordered in a “breathing” rhythm, a quieter, more inward activity followed by a breathing out.  Rhythm is different to routine or a timetable in that it has a flow.... it is often apparent by observing the children, when they are ready to move to a different activity, and rhythms can change to meet the needs of the class. 

As well as a daily rhythm, we follow weekly and seasonal rhythms too.  Seasonal rhythms are reflected in our stories and circles and also in the nature table which incorporates little gifts from nature found in the garden or brought in by the children.  It may just be the children noticing that the crabapple tree leaves are turning golden and falling, so a new time of the year is on it’s way.... 

As it is not a strict routine, sometimes we can change things around to allow for something wonderful and special to unfold.  Today we are promised a visit from Aunty Eliza and Aunty Annette, Nyoongar elders, so our  daily rhythm will be slightly changed so we can still enjoy our bread for morning tea; Wednesday morning tea would not be the same without it!  

Warm wishes 

Denise 

Class 1 has had an adventurous few weeks – winding along the creek like the belly of the Waakl at Bush school, discovering the origins of paper in Ancient Egypt and fashioning amulets engraved with Hieroglyphs thanks to Class 5, as well as, climbing Thumb and Pointer Mountain in search of treasure as we learn to cast-on.

In Class 2 last week we celebrated the end of our Celtic Tales main lesson by making traditional Irish Soda Bread and making our own butter in a jar.  Everyone's arms got tired shaking the cream until it turned into delicious yellow butter.  We enjoyed eating soda bread, butter and jam under the peppermint trees with our teddies. 

The children enjoyed painting the Sword of Light from the King of Ireland's Son story, and drawing into these paintings with their crayons to bring out the form of the sword.  We've used our beautiful rainbow watercolour paintings to cover the King of Ireland's Son reading books the children have worked so hard to write and illustrate.

For health we have been talking about how we can be a kind and caring friend.  We read the book Have You Filled a Bucket Today?  This book uses the analogy that we all have an invisible bucket that we can help one another and ourselves to fill up or dip into, guiding valuable lessons about giving, sharing and caring.  It's a lovely book we will revisit to remind us of the benefits of positive thinking and positive behaviour and to remind us that showing kindness and appreciation of others goes a long way to making this world a happier place for everyone, including ourselves.  Some of the children after reading this book asked to pick some flowers for Tegan on their way to take a note to the office.  They came running back and joyfully announced "We just filled Tegan's bucket!"

We have started our new main lesson, this Mathematics main lesson explores the times tables, geometry and number patterns.  For this main lesson I have been writing a continuation of the King of Ireland's Son that will take us on a quest through magical lands, meeting dragons, merfolk, dwarves, fairies and deciphering Ogham writing... to uncover the magic of the times tables and number patterns.  I've enjoyed writing it and I hope the children are captured by it.  The children have been exploring the multiplication clocks and discovering the different patterns that the times tables create in a circular form.

Figs, dates, pomegranates, wheat, barley, olives and grapes!  These were the staples of Ancient Hebrew cuisine.

We were happy to identify some of these trees and leaves and then taste each of the seven foods as we finished Part 1 of our Hebrew Main Lesson.

Painting images from the stories, reciting poetry and singing has helped to bring this topic to life.

Our spelling words each week come from our main lesson topic.

During the week we complete colourful activities to help us remember the spelling of the words before a spelling quiz and dictation on Fridays.

This tests our memory to see if we can remember how each of the words look.  We are building up words that we know how to spell to help us with our Journal Writing each week. 

Sprouting seeds in gardening with Matthew has fit in well with the beginning of our Farming Main Lesson.

As I write we are looking forward to our excursion to Beatrix’s Farm.  We are lucky to have a farming family in our class with a beautiful local farm. 

We are looking forward to visiting cattle yards and learning about cattle care, silage and seeing the tractor.

We will see the sheep yards and feed the sheep some lupins, feed the chooks and pull the yabby traps.  Bea is hoping we can do some yabby racing for fun, if we have time!

We will also see where the creek and dams have been fenced off and replanted which helps capture nutrients to improve water quality in the inlet. 

There is so much to learn about farming!  So far we have considered how farming began, as well as how the seasons affect farming, what farms provide for us and what farmers actually do. 

It is humbling to think of all the skills and work of farmers in hand with the sun and rain and seasons that brings our food to market and shops for us.

Next week we will turn cream into butter and grind grain before baking bread.

Cubby building in the paperbark forest is a time of teamwork, creativity and cooperation on Bush afternoons. 

We are enjoying the days of late summer;

Bunaru

Sun hot, sky blue

I hear the black cockatoo

Eating honkey nuts high in the tree

Raining their meals down on me

No rain, no rain, its hot and dry

Wildflowers burst into the sky

The coolest place the shade or beach

A thunderstorm just out of reach

Lisa

In Class Four, the first part of our voyage through Norse Mythology is now complete.  We can speak and sing in Old Norse, read the ancient runes and know many stories of gods and giants.  We have gained some of the wisdom of Odin and the strength of Thor as our crew learned how to work together as a team.  We have even begun to learn the mesmerising Voluspa dance!  All we need now is to design and make our Viking swords and shields during our upcoming freehand Geometry main lesson and we will be ready for the next exciting part of our journey.  There may be rough seas ahead but we know we are ready to face them with courage!

Class Four has also been on excursion to view ‘The Miracle of Shorebird Migration’ exhibition at the Butter Factory Art Studios.  We had a fabulous day despite the hot walk back!  Thank you to Jacqui, Steve and Rebekah for their help on the day.  We saw a vast array of birds on the walk in, helping us to connect with the artworks Nikki Green shared with us at the exhibition.  The excursion was a great stimulus for writing recounts, which our class constructed both individually and collaboratively, while also playing with writing our recounts in past, present and future tenses.  The artworks we enjoyed at the exhibit will inform our Friday art lessons, where we will continue looking at the artwork of Michael Leunig to inform our own portraits of birds, focusing on birds from the Great Southern region.

Wishing all of our community courage and peace in these challenging times.

Renee and Ashley

In numeracy each day we are focusing on skills to enable us to work out larger sums in our heads and trying to avoid long procedures.  Lots of ‘math tricks’, when working with larger numbers and putting into practice what we already know.  Math mental for now has been replaced with math dictation and time given to revise previous main lessons.

Our camp, which was planned for Week 4, had to be postponed due to restrictions so we have booked in surfing lessons at Ocean Beach for 4 weeks.  Our first lesson was some practice paddling and board maneuvering in the inlet before we hit the waves.  Some very tired children but lots of smiling faces.

We finish each week with handwork.  For many a certain favourite and it is wonderful to see their skills built on each year.  Projects are being completed as we begin to prepare for the Class 6 sewn felt elephant.

A little thank you for all the support my family have received after losing our house in the recent fires.  Our school community is truly wonderful.

Robyn

xx

Please know that as a school we are always open to feedback should you wish to provide it.  We are constantly striving to refine our processes and make improvements where necessary.

Feel free to contact us via phone (9848 1811), email - office@goldenhill.wa.edu.au or principal@goldenhill.wa.edu.au) or come in and make an appointment to speak with someone.

Positive feedback especially welcome!