Snake alert! Please take care walking around the school.

Working Bee

Sunday 13th November 9:30am- 12pm Mulching and weeding

Election Day Fundraiser

We are having a BBQ and cake stall fundraiser on Election Day, the 26th of November. Please add this to your calendars!

We will need a minimum of 12 volunteers on the day for 1 hour timeslots. Get in touch if you can help out. A roster will be available in the staff room to add your name to.

Donations of baked goods and preserves are greatly appreciated and can be delivered to the school on Friday the 25th of November or on the morning to the stall.

We need another 8 volunteers for this event!

Prep 2023 Transition Dates

22nd November 9-11:30am

29th November 9-11:30am

6th December 9-11:30am

13th December 9-2:30pm

Remembrance Day

We remember the Frontier wars here in Australia

We remember the wars our soldiers fought in across the world

We remember the hardship, the bravery, the suffering

We remember the people who cared for the soldiers, at war and at home

We remember the generations of victims who have suffered and continue to suffer in conflicts around the world

Lest we forget

Join us tomorrow at Memorial Park, Chewton tomorrow at 11am for the Chewton Remembrance Day ceremony.

Here are some of the poems our students have written to commemorate the event

Lest We Forget

By Tycho

Aboard the stuffy boats.

Above the raging ocean

Until the thump of metal on sand

Soldiers falling all around.A

beach devoid of hope.

Bullets rain down upon men. Maiming and killing everything that moves.

Death and horrors beyond those of the darkest nightmares. Boats landed with fresh soldiers, leaving the shores full of wounded, unable to come to their aid.

Eight months of hell and thousands of deaths. They are immortalized in their struggle.

WE WILL NEVER FORGET

Gallipoli

by Oscar C

As the sound of gunshots rang out through the darkness and the smell of burning flesh filled the air, 60000 brave soldiers fought.

As shrapnel ripped and mangled the bodies lining the beach, and the whistle of shells drowned out all attempts of communication, 7000 men died and their blood soaked the sand as those that remained, wished they were dead too.

A Missing Soldier

Dark clouds smoldering into red ,

While down the craters morning burns,

The dying soldier shifts his to catch the glory that returns,

Where brightness breaks into flame,

Radiance reflected in his eye,

A slitent name in his breath a memory never to forget,

By Ana

What The War Was

On familiar land they did not fight.

Darkness killing all the light.

They all new bloodstained sand may be their final sight.

The mournful cries of the ones who died will taunt those who survived

Forever they stay with us.

Never will they be forgotten.

Trapped

Behind, ocean.

Beyond guns.

Beside, my fallen comrades.-

Above, bullets and dark clouds.

Underneath, bloodstained sand.

Throughout the war we are trapp

By Zach

THEIR LAST BEACH by Cody B

Beneath the melancholy skies of Turkey

Aboard the boats silently passing through the waters

The muted air filled with creaks of oars

Along with hearts beating all quarters

Silent, until the boats stopped

Across the beach flew bullets piercing the water

Inside the men the deep thought of this being the last beach they set foot on…

The Last War

Aboard the timber boats

Above the murky black water

Against the looming surf

Beyond the colossal mountains lies nothing but hell

Beside my fellow soldiers

Beneath the blood red sky

All sound is muted except the sound of my heart beating in my eardrums

Along the matt water we silently slide

Until there is a dull thunk and all is silent.

By Frankie N

Lest we forget

It was cold and blurry

And I could hear screams of pain

I could see rifles ready to attack,

And smell blood of millions of soldiers

We remember the ones that fought.

We remember the ones who risked their lives for us.

The ones who fought for good.

The ones who helped us.

Lest We Forget.

By James

What's happening in Kimochis this week? from Linda

Frustrated

This week, your child learned about frustration and the Kimochis^® kotowaza—or Japanese proverb—that accompanies this feeling: “Bounce back.” This kotowaza inspires and encourages children to be resilient when faced with frustration. Frustration is the tense, unhappy feeling that results when you can’t do something you should be able to do or want to do. Outbursts that look like anger can be triggered by frustration because young children do not have the language to express their frustrated feelings. It is important for children to persevere with tasks to completion. However, they also need to learn that they can ask for help when they have tried to alleviate frustration on their own, and they do not make progress.

Your child learned the following four steps as a way to help work through frustration:

1. Stop and take a breath.

2. Say, “I’m frustrated.”

3. Take a breath and try again.

4. Ask for help if they need it.

Your child also learned that sometimes adult help is needed, and that is okay.

See below for ways your entire family can learn from this week’s lesson!

Common Language

Bounce back: An encouraging way to help children not fall apart when disappointed, but to cope and rebound

Coaching Frustrated Feelings During Daily Activities

• Before performing a task that is likely to create frustrated feelings, prepare your child by saying, “Remember that when things get hard, it is easy to feel frustrated. What is one thing you can do if you feel frustrated?”

• Acknowledge when you observe your child trying to manage frustrated feelings: “You know just how to make your frustration smaller and better.”

• Model how you handle frustration. Tell your child what you are doing. “I am going to take a breath and stop for a minute because I am feeling so frustrated.” Additionally, model asking others for help when frustrated. Tell your child you asked for help to make your frustration smaller.

Family Fun: Playful Ways to Practice

• I Spy Frustration. Help your child pick up good communication habits by observing how others handle upset feelings (at school, in the community, at home). Plan an “I Spy Frustration Week.” When you see someone who looks frustrated, whisper, “I spy frustration.” Watch how the person handles the frustrated feelings. Give each other a thumbs-up if you think the person handled it effectively. Later, talk about what seems to make frustration smaller or better.

• Count the Feeling. It might be interesting to measure how frequently each family member gets frustrated and manages the feeling. To get a realistic idea, give each family member a cup. Use pennies or other small items and keep them near the cups. Each time you notice feeling frustrated, put a penny in your cup. Periodically, check in to see how much frustration everyone in the family has experienced. Ask if there is anything you could all say or do to comfort one another during frustrating moments.

• Frustration Friends. Decide as a family that when you see or hear frustrated feelings in each other, you will gently say, “You look frustrated. Can I help?” Ask family members if they would prefer to have help or would rather be left alone. Help your child to understand that we all have different ways of coping with frustration, and it is important to honor these differences.

A lovely afternoon was had by all when the Grade 3-4s visited the Chewton Senior Citizens on Thursday afternoon!

What's happening in STEM?

Here's a video on biodiversity and sustainability that Arkie produced this week. The past fortnight classes have looked at biodiversity and its importance for sustainability. We've also explored the school and grounds identifying different kinds of lifeforms including mammals, reptiles, amphibians, birds, fish, insects, plants, fungi and algae.

Community Notices

Boorp Boorp Boondyil Exhibition

Market Building Castlemaine

Boorp Boorp Boondyil invites people to share in Djaara stories and teachings, one of the world’s oldest continuous living cultures.

This permanent cultural exhibition will take you on a journey of learning about Djaara culture and connection with Country.

Boorp Boorp Boondyil (passing knowledge to our children) is a name gifted to the project by local Dja Dja Wurrung senior Elder, Uncle Rick Nelson who was instrumental in the exhibition’s creation. It is pronounced ‘Boorp’ as in ‘torpedo’ and ‘Boondyil’ as in ‘book’.

The exhibit will provide residents and visitors with an opportunity to walk through an interactive space, where they will learn the history of the area, including the story of the Eagle, the Bat and the Crow, the Creation Story of the Dja Dja Wurrung in the Mount Alexander region, as well as important cultural lessons about living on Country and bush foods and medicine.

• Experience a virtual ‘Welcome to Country’ ceremony

• Get interactive and discover Dja Dja Wurrung language and Djaara stories and teachings

• Connect with nature and learn about bush foods, medicine, waterways and weavings

The exhibition will be on display from November 2022

Castlemaine Visitor Information

Market building, 44 Mostyn Street, Castlemaine

Free entry: Open 7 days a week

9am – 5pm (except Christmas Day)

http://www.mountalexander.vic.gov.au/BoorpBoorpBoondyil

https://djadjawurrung.com.au/boorp-boorp-boondyil-exhibition/

Uncle Rick Nelson at the opening of the exhibition

REMEMBER THE DIGGERS’ 1851 MONSTER MEETING

CELEBRATE THE 20 BIRTHDAY OF THE CASTLEMAINE DIGGINGS NATIONAL HERITAGE PARK.

SUNDAY 11 DECEMBER @ CHEWTON

MONSTER MEETING SITE GOLDEN PT RD

1.30 JUNIOR RANGERS PROGRAM

3.00 TRADITIONAL WELCOME & MUSIC & WORDS FROM THE DRAY

Again we will are gather at the Monster Meeting site in the Castlemaine Diggings National Heritage Park to remember the Diggers who began a democratic protest movement that spread across the goldfields and kick-started the development of parliamentary democracy in Victoria . Their Meeting is a part of the Park’s unique history.

The Park, on DjaDja Wurrung land, is the largest historic mining landscape in Australia, and 20 years ago, in December 2003, it was listed in the Victorian Heritage Register . It uniquely still shows authentic traces of the tens of thousands who came to find gold at Forest Creek, the richest shallow alluvial goldfield ever discovered, and changed the land of the Djaara people who lived there for thousands of years and left the gold unwanted in the ground.

At 1.30 we will there will be some gold panning organised by Parks Victoria for Junior Rangers – pans will be provided.

At 3 pm there will be a traditional Welcome and then we will celebrate the Diggers’ Meeting with music from the Brasselmania Brass Band, including some of the music that the Saxe Horn Band played to the Diggers in 1851. And speakers will tell the Diggers’ story from the dray, including with the words from 1851.

Remember. Bring a hat ,water & a chair if you don’t want to sit on the grass.

Organised by Chewton Domain Society & Parks Victoris.

Dja Dja Wurrung websites

Dja Dja Wurrung Clans Aboriginal Corporation https://djadjawurrung.com.au/

Nalderun Education Aboriginal Corporation https://nalderun.net.au/