Around the Grounds

Happy Friday, Woodleigh!
It's time for a long weekend, but we'll be back to finish the year with the good stuff: Spring Musicale, exhibitions, exams, Valedictory and more - it's all coming at us in the next few weeks, so rest up, then gear up. 

To Know: It's Halloween! The origins of jack-o'-lanterns weren’t pumpkins - they were turnips! The robust pumpkins' pale, wonky friend. True story.
To Read: Minimbah's Lead Teacher, James Clapham, has students examine how authors and illustrators develop their personal style and voice.
To Watch: Claire in Year 6 reading her prize-winning poem.

Poetry Prize!

Earlier this year, Minimbah students entered poems to the ISV Poetry Competition, alongside 1300 other Victorian student entries. The theme was 'gratitude' and our very own Claire won (watch below), Avery was a finalist, and Gus was an honourable mention. We are thrilled for the three of you and for all those who entered. 

Final Woodleigh days

Woodleigh's Class of 2025: Assembly, Carnival and Reflections for our Year 12s were held over their final days on campus. Gratitude and good memories were shared, stories from their Minimbah and Penbank days remembered. And to sum it up...
"We realise the gift we’ve been given in our Woodleigh education. And as we graduate, I know many of us will use this immeasurable gift, to build a better future. To enrich as many lives as we can, to live gently on the earth, and to continue to care for each other, ourselves and our world.” Char Palmer – Year 12, 2025 

Party Planning by some magical 9 and 10-year-olds

To the untrained eye, Minimbah’s much-anticipated Kitchen Garden Concert might have looked like a recipe for disaster. An entertainment extravaganza, all catered, ticketed and coordinated by nine and 10-year-olds? 
But things aren’t always as they seem. Year 3 and 4 students applied their learning from the How we Organise Ourselves unit to plan and run the event, raising $2,934.90 towards a hothouse for the school's kitchen garden. An outstanding effort! Perhaps they can now transfer their skills to organise a family Christmas event?

Reunions!

GET BACK! Classes of 1975, 1985, 1995, 2005 and 2015.
Woodleigh alumni from across the generations gathered at Senior Campus for a good old catch-up and reminisce. There's nothing quite like the good old days. 
With each reunion, bonds are strengthened and friendships are rekindled. It was a great day, enjoyed by all. 

Pesta Day

Pesta Day is a celebration of Indonesian language and culture, and of Woodleigh campuses coming together. Students from the Junior and Senior Schools joined in to share learning, laughter, connection and delicious food. A special highlight was having Year 9 students from the Senior Campus visit to lead exciting activities and games. They were kind, patient and helped make the day extra special for everyone.

Henry in Year 6 said that 'Pesta Day was fun! The food was really amazing because they cooked the rice well, and I thought there were worms, but it was crunchy potatoes! The Year 9s ran some great and engaging activities. I liked the one where El and Rufus helped us put food together to make a recipe.”

Terima kasih

Libray at Minimbah

Across the school this term, all our students are inquiring into the transdisciplinary theme, How we express ourselves. In the Library, this is an exciting opportunity to go deep, looking at authors and illustrators and the way they develop personal styles, voice and express their ideas in diverse and creative ways.

To begin with, our Year 1/2 students have been looking at the author/illustrator Oliver Jeffers – a favourite of students at all ages and stages (and adults for that matter). Oliver Jeffers approaches his craft with humour, deep thinking, musings on the world, with a whimsical approach to both the craft of writing and illustration.

The first two books we looked at in depth have been ‘The Dictionary Story’ and ‘There’s a Ghost in This House’. Students utilised the thinking routine ‘See, Think, Wonder’ to engage with these texts, noticing some similarities and differences. They noticed that he utilised mixed media for both of these books – words and definitions from dictionaries to help illustrate ‘The Dictionary Story’ and old magazine pages to form the backgrounds for ‘There’s a Ghost in this House’. They were amazed at his creative approach and the unique style he brings to his picture books – and noticed that you can look at a book and just know it is one of his!

As the term progresses, our students will be inquiring into Shaun Tan – another incredibly talented and unique author/illustrator. Shaun’s style and voice are very different to Oliver Jeffers – students will have the opportunity to compare and contrast these styles and learn about how different people approach their craft.

It will be exciting to see our students utilising these skills to enhance their own expressions of creativity as the term continues!

Reading widely!

There is nothing more exciting than getting a new book, or new series, into a child’s hands. We work hard to keep our collection current, follow student interests and recommend books that we think students may enjoy. If your child is stuck in a bit of a reading rut, please reach out and let me know so I can support them to find their next great adventurous read.

James Clapham
Lead Teacher

Until we go around the grounds again next week...