Help needed

We are preparing for an OHS audit and want to do a clean up around the school.

Kate is working in the art room on Monday 1st December and would love one or two people to help sort some excess things in the store room.

We need people to take things to the tip shop, ewaste and the recycling area in Castlemaine. 

Can you take our soft plastic to the Castlemaine Transfer station?

Can you take some ewaste to the Castlemaine Transfer station?

Can you take some textiles to the Castlemaine Transfer station?

We have a number of things we need help with over the next month. We understand how busy everyone is, but do ask you to give us a few hours where you can!

• Weeding garden beds

• Cleaning out the music end of the Art Room storage: Can you help  Monday 1st December? 

• Raking leaves and leaf litter 

Free: bikes

We have a number of used bikes which are surplus to our needs. We used to keep bikes as spares for our bike rides, but all of our riders now have them, so we are happy to give excess away. Please see Bernadette

Coloured sand update

You may be aware of a recent alert about coloured sand products that may contain asbestos. For current information about the recall, including a list of products, visit the ACCC website. Current advice from national and Victorian health authorities is that there is a low risk to human health from these products. 

We are taking the steps set out by the Department of Education to collect and dispose of the products. We have collected all the sand at school and will package it up for collection by the department as soon as possible.

If you have the product at home, however, the advice from the health authorities is that you should stop using it and follow the safety advice published here: Safe disposal and health information for consumers with recalled sand products | ACCC Product.

Please contact the school if you have any questions.

Support your child to travel safely to and from school

As a school community, we’re committed to supporting safe travel habits from the very beginning of primary school. Through the TAC’s Safe Migration Project we’ll be sharing practical tips and resources with parents and carers to support you and your children to travel safely to and from school - whether by walking, riding, scootering, or driving. We encourage you to take a look at the fun and engaging resources on offer, designed to spark important conversations about safe travel to and from school. You can watch the TAC’s Safe Migration video here. And click here to read the fact sheet (available in multiple languages) for easy to follow safe travel tips. 

Grade Prep-1 Learning Update

We’ve been very busy bees in Prep/1 over the past couple of weeks! Students have been building their persuasive writing skills and have discovered the power of a catchy slogan—such as “Don’t be a Hater – Save the Pollinators!” After learning about the important role bees play in our world, as well as some of the challenges they face, the Prep/1s created their own slogans to raise awareness across the school. We even held a peaceful rally to share our learning, and we were so proud of how confident and articulate the students were at assembly.

This week, students are bringing that same enthusiasm to a persuasive topic of their own choosing. They are gathering facts to support their writing and will soon be learning how to transform their information into a poster using word-processing software on their computers.

In Inquiry, we’ve also begun our much-anticipated end-of-year project… Mini Golf! Students are working in pairs to design and build a hole for our Prep/1 miniature golf course, using recycled materials. This project brings together our learning from our Unit on Belonging, where students explored the different roles they play in their families, school, and other communities, along with how we help others and the rules we follow to stay safe and have fun.

We can’t wait to invite you to come and play a round on our course—stay tuned for more information!

Bee crafts and Mini Golf planning

Prep-1 Persuasive Texts: Save the Bees Peaceful Rally!

Grade 2–3–4 Learning Update

It has been a vibrant and productive few weeks in 2–3–4 as students have been sharing their Passion Projects in Inquiry. Each student selected a topic of personal interest and some have begun presenting their learning to the class. We’ve enjoyed an impressive range of projects, including:

●       The history of the West Coast Eagles AFL team

●       Manga and Studio Ghibli films

●       The K-pop group Blackpink

●       A student-created card-game universe, Cutie Cards

●       How the inside of a computer works

●       Different types of phobias

●       Student-designed electronic sensors

●       The history of Zelda and how to play the game

●       The magna cater

●       All about chickens

●       Birds of Lake Jubilee

Students demonstrated creativity, confidence, and deep knowledge—showing how engaging learning becomes when it is connected to their passions.

In Mathematics, we have been exploring mass, including estimating and measuring using formal units such as grams and kilograms. Students have enjoyed the hands-on nature of this unit and have been developing strong skills in comparing and reasoning about measurement.

Over the past few weeks, students have also been completing a range of assessment tasks to show their growth across literacy and numeracy this semester. It has been wonderful to see their progress and reflect on how far they’ve come.

We are very proud of their effort and enthusiasm across all learning areas!

Grade 5-6 Learning Update

This fortnight Grade 5/6 showed their leadership during the Bike Education trail ride as well as leading the whole school in fun PE rotations.

Our 5/6 reading study has included further work with memorable speeches. These investigations have informed the preparation of our own persuasive presentations. Prior to going on camp we sent a letter to the novelist Wayne McCauley who is looking forward to answering questions about our mentor text. Students have been mapping the site of the housing estate in which the novel is based. The writer favours rolling complex sentences leading the students to improve their conjunction skills as well as expanding their vocabulary.

Students continue to work on their fictional business ideas during Inquiry,  creating working models and budgets across goods and services. We pitched a business in the format of Shark Tank this week including role playing the feedback from potential investors.

During sustainability we are working towards a day of action for kangaroo protection in the area and we look forward to sharing more news about this soon. Check out this expressive illustration from Orlando Buckle.

Grade 5/6 has informative incursions with Dhelkaya Health to deliver Preparation for Puberty. We also had visits from the Castlemaine Secondary College  Year 7 leaders to answer all our curious questions about transition day and the arrangements for 2026. We would like to offer a huge thanks to Uncle Ron Murray for coming in this before camp as part of our First Nations Ways: Country and Place learning.

I would like to thank all the parents and teachers who contributed to the success of the  Anglesea Camp.

Soft Plastic and Textile recycling trial in Castlemaine

Mount Alexander Shire Council is trialling a soft plastics and textile recycling service.

Residents are now able to drop off soft plastics and textiles at the Castlemaine Transfer Station.

These recycling services will be available to households free of charge during the six-month trial. The goal of the trial is to gauge the level of community uptake and the costs involved. The outcome will determine whether fees will be required or whether council can absorb the costs and subsidise the service.

Soft plastics will be sent in bulk to APR Chemcycle on the outskirts of Melbourne and turned into a recycled plastic resin, which will be used to make new food-grade packaging.

From a chip packet, back to a chip packet, this is a circular solution for soft plastics.

Soft plastics recycling reduces reliance on fossil fuels and helps to address the global plastic waste crisis.

Mount Alexander Shire’s Mayor, Cr Rosie Annear, said that the soft plastics and textile recycling trial is the next step in Council’s commitment to sustainability and climate action.

“Reducing waste and protecting our environment is something our community cares deeply about," said Mayor Annear.

“This trial gives residents an easy way to recycle textiles and soft plastics that often end up in landfill.

“By working together to recycle more and waste less, we’re creating a sustainable future for our shire.”

The Castlemaine Transfer Station will accept plastics that can be scrunched up into a ball in your hand, such as bread bags, food packaging and bubble wrap.

Residents’ damaged textiles will be sent to Textile Recyclers Group where it will be sorted by fibres and colour, baled, shredded and spun back into yarn.

The recycled yarn is used to make tote bags, cushions, gloves, socks, rugs, throws, blankets, felts, underlay, insulation and furniture filler.

On average, Australians create around 27 kilograms of textile waste each year and 93 per cent ends up in landfill. That's more than 100 t-shirts per person.

Textiles accepted include:

• clean clothing such as pants, skirts, jackets etc. that are not fit for op shops

• linen items such as sheets, pillow-cases blankets, towels, cushions and pillows, doonas

• pairs of shoes

• fabric and yarn off-cuts.

Textiles not accepted include:

• swim wear and underwear

• backpacks

• mattresses and mattress protectors

• curtains with hooks and eyelets

• re-useable shopping bags.

The number of transactions, kilograms recycled and all costs will be recorded.

Learn about soft plastics recycling at www.mountalexander.vic.gov.au/Recycle-soft-plastics.

Learn about textile recycling at www.mountalexander.vic.gov.au/Recycle-textiles.

https://www.mountalexander.vic.gov.au/Council/News-and-updates/Council-starts-soft-plastics-and-textile-recycling-trial 

Songlines and Seasons Exhibition

Dumawul, Hargreaves Mall, Bendigo

 First Peoples connections and information

You can find out more about Yoorrook here

https://yoorrookjusticecommission.org.au/ and Four Corners have an excellent program on Yoorrook. 

https://iview.abc.net.au/show/four-corners/series/2025/video/NC2503H008S00 

We also heard about the current Treaty work being undertaken in Victoria. You may have heard that Djaara have begun Treaty negotiations with the Victorian government.

Sushi Dates for 2025

http://www.schoollunchonline.com.au 

14/2

14/3

16/5

13/6

8/8

12/9

24/10

14/11

12/12