Pesta – Festival time – have a party and celebrate!

Pesta, co-ordinated by Year 9 students, was a wonderful Indonesian celebration of reciprocal teaching and learning held at Penbank last week. Games, art, musical activities, and a delicious luncheon encouraged children to immerse themselves in the Indonesian language the whole day. Such a colourful and bright celebration. I thank Ibu Prue and the Year 9 students for their organisation of Pesta at Penbank. It was a most enjoyable time for all. The next Indonesian event is the Colour Run, 25 November, raising funds to save the orangutans.

Dreaming with Open Hearts

We are in the serious preparation stage for our exciting End of Year Penbank Finale – Dreaming with Open Hearts. All groups have created their own item with performances involving acting, dance, music, movement, and storytelling. This experience enriches and extends the skills and ideas of all children. A collaborative effort involving staff and children, they have worked towards a major performance arts expo derived from the unit of inquiry, How We Express Ourselves. All children from Foundation to Year 6 are involved.

This Finale is a wonderful family event. The evening will begin at 5pm with families invited to picnic on the Bunjil play area. Food trucks will provide delicious food options; however, families are welcome to bring their own picnic. Students will head to their classrooms at 6:30pm to prepare and change into costumes before the Finale begins at 7 pm. We anticipate this relaxed and social atmosphere will be a wonderful way to conclude the year with a celebration of the Arts at Penbank. A very important calendar date - Thursday 24 November – do keep this one free!

Chess Championship

Congratulations to the seven students who joined the Minimbah students for a Chess Championship. All students performed extremely well with Max H Y3 and Rufus G Y6 both achieving 3rd place in their divisions. A very big congratulations!

Surprise, surprise!

Last week, we also welcomed seven newly hatched little chickens. They have brought such enjoyment to the children. Year 5 students, Benjamin S and Chris P spoke about the care of the chickens at School Meeting and invited all children to be a part of the naming process by placing a suggested name in the naming box!

Many children spend time visiting our chook enclosure during playtimes. Our chooks provide a wonderful opportunity for children to nurture and care for living things, teaching many fundamental values and skills that connect to the environment and sustainability. I thank Lisa Cox for her involvement with our students and chooks!

Orientation

Orientation Week commences in Week 8, beginning with an evening for new parents, Tuesday 22 November, followed by an orientation session for all students, Wednesday 23 November. By the end of this week, parents will receive information concerning the next year’s teacher and the combination of students in groups such as Years 5 & 6.

Wugularr Visit

I was delighted to visit Wugularr School and the Beswick community during the Melbourne Cup weekend. The purpose of my visit was to work with staff to plan the next Wugubank experience to Penbank by the Wugularr children. The children will predominantly be in Years 5 & 6; however, the teachers from Wugularr are very keen to include some of the present Year 6 students who befriended our Year 6s this year. I will also make every effort to involve our current Year 6s when the Wugularr mob are with us.

It is also a pleasure to support Wugularr teachers and families with the learning program, which we can do from time to time. During Week 4, Cadie from our Early Learning team spent a week supporting the Early Learning teachers at Wugularr with the Assessment and Rating process that pre-schools nationally are required to undertake. I thank Cadie for her support to the Wugularr School and wish them the very best of luck with their recent assessment. One of my special moments was meeting with several young mums who had been to Penbank as Year 6 students. They love speaking to me about their memories, and I’m told, spend hours looking at the Wugubank publications. Very special!

The Halloween gifts that were kindly donated to the Wugularr children were very much appreciated. The school decided the gifts would provide terrific inspiration to the Art program, so they creatively utilised the costumes, flashing lights, pumpkin masks and other assorted items that provided great fun and laughter during their Halloween-inspired Art lessons. They enjoy telling spooky stories, playing tricks and especially enjoyed the treats – lollies, of course!

Important Calendar dates

• School Meeting – all parents and friends are welcome every Thursday at 8.50am
• Orientation – Week 8
• Penbank Finale – Dreaming with Open Hearts – 24 November starting at 5pm
• Indonesian Colour Run – Friday 25 November
• Perberkoong – Meaning ‘Come Together’ is a whole school celebration held in the Bush Chapel at the Senior Campus – Wednesday 30 November
• Arty Market – Friday 2 December – A community market encouraging entrepreneurship for students, and anyone interested in promoting their latest artistic business creations and ideas
• Year 6 Graduation – Wednesday 7 December
• ELG Break-up parties – Thursday 8th & Friday 9 December
• Final day picnic and sports day – Prep to Year 6 – Friday 9 December

In the spirit of festivities, my thanks and kind regards,

VIVIENNE WEARNE
Deputy Principal – Head of Penbank Campus