Principal's Report

Can you believe that we are already at the end of another term! Even though it was only a nine week term, the students have had an action-packed schedule, with lots of great learning, incursions and excursions. Personally, the highlights for me were witnessing the growth of all students in their learning, responsiveness to new programs being implemented across the school, and the increased learning stamina. As Semester 1 draws to a close, I encourage all families to celebrate the success of their child/ren, have a conversation about their achievements from the first half of the year, and set some personal goals moving into the second half of the year.

On Tuesday this week our classroom staff had a planning day to prepare for Term 3. There was a real buzz at the planning session, staff are excited for what is to come in the term ahead. The Humanities and Social Sciences topic for the term is 'Social Justice', with the F/1/2 classes exploring Celebrating Differences, 3/4 exploring Someone Else's Shoes, and the 5/6 class, Care for the Kids. There will be a number of incursions taking place, beginning with the the Ecolinc excursion which was postponed from the last week of term, a garden incursion - where all students will participate in garden exploration and planting their own seed. In addition to this our Grade 2-6 students will participate in a Social Justice incursion. Our Grade 5/6 students will engage in the Life Education incursion focusing on healthy relationships, identity, puberty, and our a Grade 6s will further explore human reproduction. We know that the students will make the most of these learning experiences.

Thank you to the Junior School Council and Mrs Cavanagh for their organisation of Milo Day - check out the photos below. The students all enjoyed their warm milo, particularly in this chilly weather. The JSC have done a great job so far this year with their fundraising efforts, and have many more great things planned for Semester 2.

As mentioned to families early this week, we have employed an additional teacher to work alongside Mrs Bye in the F/1/2 classroom. We welcome Mrs Katie Watt to the staff beginning next term. Mrs Watt will work predominately with the Grade 2 students for reading, writing and maths, with Mrs Bye working with the F/1 students. Mrs Watt will be working Monday - Thursday, then all students will have Mrs Bye each Friday. Mrs Watt will be also be at Parent/Teacher Interviews supporting Mrs Bye, so all families will have a chance to meet her then. If you haven't booked in your interview, please ensure that you lock in a time on the Compass portal - the same place to view your child's Semester 1 Report.

On Tuesday I visited North Geelong Secondary College to watch our Grade 5 students, Aidan and Zoe, present to a room of parents and students for different schools around the region. Aidan and Zoe have been participating in STEM sessions each Tuesday, focusing on the exploration of all the STEM. At the presentation afternoon they shared their findings from an experiment. Congratuatations to both students on the way they represented Anakie PS.

North Geelong STEM

I wish all our students and families a wonderful break. If the last few days is anything to go by, Winter is well and truly here. Our last day arrangements are as follows:

1:00pm - whole school sausage sizzle, followed by lunchtime play.
2:00pm - whole school assembly - all families welcome
2:30pm - dismissal

Don't forget to check out our events to come at the following link: http://www.anakieps.vic.edu.au...

Many thanks,

Louise Kahle

Student Awards

Congratulations to the following students who have received an award for demonstrating our values over the past fortnight:

GRADE F/1/2: Maddison Court - Well done Maddison for Aiming for Excellence with your sentence work. You are careful and precise when unscrambling your sentence of the day. You then go above and beyond the task to ensure your handwriting meets capital letter, finger space and punctuation goals! Well done Maddison!

GRADE 3/4: Hope Bradley - Congratulations Hope, for being so dedicated towards your own learning, both at school and at home. Your commitment and hard work is truly paying off. Well done and keep up the amazing effort!

GRADE 3/4: Mathew Quarrell - For your dedication towards Art Club this term. You have demonstrated the school value of Responsibility in the way that you have gone about setting up and packing away the art supplies. Well done!

GRADE 5/6: Cooper Summers - Well done on Aiming for Excellence in your Writing, Cooper. Your application each lesson has paid off so that you have published a historical narrative that engages the reader with a sizzling start, figurative language and vivid vocabulary. Keep up the great work!

PRINCIPAL'S AWARD: Riley Rowe - Congratulations for demonstrating the school values of Respect, Resilience and Aiming for Excellence. You approach your schooling with a positive attitude, support others and always put in 100%. Well done, Riley! You should be very proud of yourself.

**** There are no specialist awards this week due to Mrs Thompson being on leave, and no Performing Arts this fortnight ****

Wellbeing Update

This week’s presentation fromThe Resilience Project focuses on Gratitude.

Gratitude is paying attention to the things that we have right now, and not worrying about what we don’t have. We practise this by noticing the positives that exist around us.

Research shows that practicing gratitude rewires our brains to overcome the negativity bias (which can lead to anxiety and depression) and see the world for what we are thankful for. It is also shown to broaden thinking, and increase physical health through improved sleep and attitude to exercise.

View the video here:

Gratitude:https://theresilienceproject.com.au/2023-parent-carer-hub-inspire-hugh/

There are many ways in which you can practise gratitude, including starting a gratitude journal. You can simply use a notebook to list three things that went well for you each day, or use a more comprehensiveWellbeing Journal, like those created by The Resilience Project.

Source:Psychology Today

For mental health resources and support information, visitThe Resilience Project’s Support Page.

Friendship Garden

We are excited to let families know that the planning and designing stage of the Friendship Garden is complete, and most works will be done over the holidays. If families are around the school over the break, please be aware that there will be trades working on the middle area - as well as completing general maintenance in the classrooms/grounds. We have ordered a number of items for the space that will be arriving towards the end of Term 3. Thank you to all members of the community who supplied crates for our mud kitchen - it is going to look amazing. If anyone has any old pots and pans lying around for our mud kitch, or cubby furniture - they are next on our list. The friendship garden will include a running creek into a fish pond, musical instruments, a buddy bench, cubby house, mud kitchen, yarning circle and lots more.