Filter Content
Year 5 Artists
On Monday, our Year 5 Artists experimented with depth and tone using charcoal to sketch some images of animals. We have a bunch of talented artists in Year 5! "Let every created thing give praise to the Lord." Psalm 148:5










Drive Through Project






New Covers For Entry Ways






North Wing Update




Welcome back to Term 4, 2019. I almost can’t believe I am saying that. Our Year 6 and 7 students are about to enter their last couple of months of Primary School, the little ones who started school in January will finish their first year of school about nine weeks from now. Life seems to zip by. We have had a busy time here at school over the school holiday break. Work has continued on several development fronts, particularly while we had less students and teachers around. This term is definitely going to be one of inconvenience as far as parking and drop off/pick up is concerned, however, the final outcomes will be worth waiting for.
As I have been reflecting on the challenges and inconveniences we are working through here at school, it got me thinking about how we can use this as an example for our kids in discussions around building resilience through successfully navigating situations that aren’t particularly comfortable. Let’s face it, life is all full of these challenges. We are definitely living in an age of getting what we want as soon as we can and not having to wait for very long and I don’t think that is always for the best. I think of my expectations around email, for example. When I hit send, I think somewhere in my head, “I should hear back soon,” and if my time frame expectations aren’t met, I SMS thinking it should somehow speed up the process. I often recall that Stanford University experiment from the 1960s. ”In the study, children were placed in a room with one marshmallow on a plate. The lead researcher gave the children an easy instruction: You can eat the marshmallow now, or wait 15 minutes and receive two marshmallows. The researchers found that the children who were able to wait for the second marshmallow without eating the first one scored higher on standardized tests, had better health, and were less likely to have behaviour problems. . . Delayed gratification is one of the most effective personal traits of successful people. People who learn how to manage their need to be satisfied in the moment thrive more in their careers, relationships, health, and finances than people who give in to it.” (Psychology Today, 2017)
Working through difficulties and challenges and coming out the other side is a wonderful discussion to have with our kids (as well as with ourselves) and I would encourage you to use things like the inconveniences around the school at the moment, as a starting point for the conversation.
I would like to thank you all for your patience and ask for continued patience and understanding as we deal with the changing landscape of school this term.
Welcome back and have a great week with your kids,
Mark B
The Road Less Travelled
The dreaded long weekend holiday traffic we experienced on our return from the York Peninsula was terrible. Google maps showed the red road congestion line getting longer and the time to our destination ever growing. Now some see this as an annoyance, but my awesome wife sees this as a challenge! Her skills in navigating using Google maps could have seen her as a rally car navigator, but for the fact she gets car sick.
Instead of following the long, slow line of traffic along the main highway to Adelaide, we made a choice to take a road less travelled. We hooked a left onto a dirt road and eventually came to an intersection. The dilemma…. turn right onto the bitumen road and follow the other cars back towards the main highway, or go straight ahead onto and even narrower and rougher dirt road.
As the cars in front peeled right following the crowd, we decided to continue straight ahead down the dirt. Clearly it was not an option for most cars, except for the Volvo with the large camper trailer that we met down the road.
As we came closer to the Volvo, we could see a frazzled lady trying to help her husband perform a 300 point turn on the rough and narrow dirt road. They had obviously tried to escape the holiday congestion, but were now second guessing their decision, choosing to turn back.
The lady saw us approaching which made her even more frazzled. Although I’m not much of a lip reader, the words that appeared to be coming out of her mouth indicated that she was less than impressed with her husband. They had obviously been trying turn around for quite a while because there were 2 young boys out of the car, happily exploring in the dirt on the side of the road. As the husband maneuvered the vehicle up the side of the bank, she waved us through.
With my expert navigator studying the maps, we plowed on into the SA farmland. It was a beautiful drive, the road became narrower and more of a track, however the scenery was amazing. We passed sprawling open farmland, old farmhouses and beautiful wildlife. It was a peaceful and enjoyable detour.
When we finally joined the other cars on the highway, we didn’t care if we had made up time or not, because we had avoided the stressful congestion and experienced a lovely drive through the countryside together as a family. We had made the right choice!
Sometimes it is not about the destination, it is about the journey. Choose the road less travelled and enjoy the experience of new adventure and learning. Always trust in God that He will direct your paths.
Chaplain Phil
Upcoming Changes
During this term, we will be experiencing some changes and interruptions to our regular school site to accommodate the exciting building and development that is happening around our school. We will be sharing information with you over the next couple of weeks and ask for your patience and flexibility when addressing these interruptions.
The side driveway to the school will be closed off for car and foot traffic in the next little while. Please see the image below that outlines some alternative entries to our school grounds.
If you are finding it difficult to get a park in the back car park, we kindly have been given permission to access and use the Uniting Church Car Park opposite Para Vista SDA Church on Nelson Road. Please familiarise yourself with the areas in which to park, avoid and the direction of travel in the image below. Nelson Road can be a busy road and we ask for your upmost care when crossing this road. Students must always be accompanied by an adult onto our school grounds.
Thank you for your patience in this matter.
Science Week
Fun Run
The cut off date for Book Club orders is the 30th of October. Please ensure your orders are in before this date.