Week 4, Term 1

BADGE PRESENTATION AT ASSEMBLY ON MONDAY!

CAMPS, SPORTS & EXCURSIONS FUND (CSEF) 2026

School camps provide children with inspiring experiences in the great outdoors, excursions encourage a deeper understanding of how the world works and sports teach teamwork, discipline and leadership. All are part of a healthy curriculum.

CSEF is provided by the Victorian Government to assist eligible families to cover the costs of school trips, camps and sporting activities.

If you hold a valid means-tested concession card or are a temporary foster parent, you may be eligible for CSEF. A special consideration category also exists for asylum seeker and refugee families. The allowance is paid to the school to use towards expenses relating to camps, excursions or sporting activities for the benefit of your child.

CSEF payments cannot be used towards voluntary school charges, nor towards books, stationery, school uniforms, before/after school care, music lessons, etc.

The annual CSEF amount per student is $400 for primary school students.

HOW TO APPLY:

New applicants should contact the school office to obtain a CSEF application form.

If you received CSEF funds at your child's school in 2025, you do not need to complete an application form in 2026 UNLESS THERE HAS BEEN A CHANGE IN YOUR FAMILY CIRCUMSTANCES.

You MUST complete a new application form if any of the following changes have occurred:

·        NEW STUDENT ENROLMENTS; your child has started or changed schools this year.

·   CHANGED FAMILY CIRCUMSTANCES; such as a change of custody, change of name, concession card number, SIBLING/S HAVE MOVED ONTO SECONDARY SCHOOL (and need to be deleted from your Application) OR NEW SIBLING/S have commenced school this year.

We cannot apply for the CSEF on your behalf - check with the school office if you are
unsure.

Applications must be received by 30th April, 2026.

NO LATE APPLICATIONS CAN BE ACCEPTED

FunRaisers

Hello from the Prep Rooms!  

This week in Literacy, we met Milo Monkey’s friends, Peter Penguin and Tim Turtle. We learned their sounds, ‘p’ and ‘t’, and have been practising the correct formation of these letters in both uppercase and lowercase. We have begun listening for individual sounds in words and matching those sounds to the correct letters. It is an exciting milestone when we can start putting these sounds together to read words independently! 

In Maths, we explored the concept of time by sequencing familiar events from our day. We created a School Routine Book and ordered important parts of our daily schedule, such as our morning routine, what we do at the end of recess and lunch, and our end of day routine. The students had lots of fun acting these out and practising them, which helps build independence and confidence in knowing what to do next. Your child has brought their book home today, we hope you enjoy reading it together and hearing them explain our daily routines!

As part of our Big Question, we explored family communities through a range of picture storybooks. We recognised that every family is unique and special and then drew pictures of the different activities we enjoy doing with our family members.

In our Wellbeing program, we focused on our Play is the Way concept: “Pursue Your Personal Best – no matter who you work with.” We discussed how we come to school to always try our best while learning to work with different people. In small groups, we practised working collaboratively with our peers as we completed puzzles, discussing what helped us work well together and what did not help us. 

Next week in Literacy, we will meet two more characters invited to Milo’s surprise birthday party and begin practising spelling simple words using the sounds we have learned. In Maths, we will start exploring counting and early place value concepts.

Have a lovely weekend,
Nicole and Laura

Halo Grade 1 and 2 Families! 

Wow! Week four already.. We are nearly halfway through the term. We have been doing some very exciting things this week in grade one and two. We have been making monsters, reading about goldilocks (who also lives in the Enchanted Wood) and learning more about our big question, “How can we contribute to community?”. Grade 2 parents please make sure that camp notes are returned and signed by Wednesday at the latest so we can finalise numbers. If your child is unable to attend boomerang camp, can you please advise classroom teachers of this.  

During literacy this week we have continued reading book called The Enchanted Wood. This week, we met Goldilocks and The Three Bears. We have also been learning about pronouns this week and students have been writing sentences with pronouns such as 'they', 'he', 'it' and 'her'. We have also looked at who students can go to for help at school. We had a discussion about how different staff in the school could help us such as education support staff, teachers and principals. This correlated to our Big Question of “How can we contribute to our community?”. Children also wrote sentences about who they could go to for help at school when they needed it.  

In numeracy, we have been exploring place value. Students have been playing different place value games which have required them to identify numbers in the tens and ones places. One of the highlights for students was playing “Battle”. This is where they get two cards and try to make the highest number out of these cards. We have also done activities that have required students to practice their recognition of two-digit numbers on a number line and hundreds chart.

During Wellbeing sessions, we have started with playing Dead Ants, which is part of the Wilson Games. We have also been looking at what it takes to be pursue your personal best no matter who you work with as part of our school philosophy. We read a story called “Stone Soup” by Kathy Bates, and students worked together to create their own delicious soups in groups of four.  

Next week, we will continue to read “The Enchanted Wood” and will be looking at basic addition in Maths. In Wellbeing, we will be looking at students abilities to be sensible for our value of “It  takes great strength to be sensible”. Grade two parents, please don’t forget to bring back camp notes on Wednesday. 

Enjoy your weekend and stay cool! 

Lauren, Claire, Sarah and Peter

Welcome to the Silver Banksia Building.

This term, our learning has taken us back to the fascinating world of the Age of Exploration and the search for the famous Spice Islands. Students have been investigating the many challenges explorers faced, including treacherous seas, unpredictable weather, and fierce competition from powerful traders who held monopolies over key trade routes. We have explored how, despite these dangers, explorers continued to push boundaries in their determination to discover new lands and secure valuable spices.

In Literacy, students have been asking important questions about whose voices are included in historical texts and whose are missing. This week, we turned our attention to the role of women during the Age of Exploration, examining the diverse and often overlooked ways women contributed to families, trade, navigation, leadership, and cultural life. These rich discussions have encouraged students to think more deeply about perspective, bias and historical representation.

Our reading inspired our first Big Write for the year. Students crafted persuasive texts aimed at convincing readers not to embark on dangerous voyages in search of spices! They used dramatic language, historical facts and clever arguments about sea monsters, storms and trade rivalries to strengthen their case. We were so impressed with the creativity and persuasive techniques on display.

In Maths, we have been exploring data. Students have been identifying the mode and range in data sets and analysing the overall shape of data, determining whether it is symmetrical or skewed.

In Wellbeing, our focus has been on the Wilson concept "Be Brave, Participate to Progress". Students have shared thoughtful reflections on what bravery looks like in everyday life, from trying something new in class to speaking up with an idea. It has been wonderful to hear so many encouraging stories and see students supporting one another to step outside their comfort zones.

Finally, a reminder that next week is our last week of swimming! A big thank you to all of the parents who have helped with walking us to the pool each week.

Swimming Grade 3-6 

Our final day of Swimming Lessons is next Monday, 23rd February, at the Castlemaine Outdoor Pool. This final session will be our water safety day. Students can bring additional clothing to wear over their bathers and we also encourage them to go without their goggles on this day to simulate scenarios that might happen when we’re not expecting or prepared to enter the water.  

Parents/carers are required to walk the class to the outdoor pool and back – please contact your class teacher if you can help. 

Class schedule: 

3/4S depart 11:00, class 11:30, return 12:30 

3/4L depart 11:35, class 12:05, return 1:00 

3/4JC depart 12:00, class 12:30, return 1:30 

5/6R depart 12:40, class 1:05, return 2:00 

5/6PS depart 1:05, class 1:30, return 2:30 

5/6BN depart 1:40, class 2:05, return 3:00 

5/6HT depart 2:05, class 2:30, return 3:25 

House Swimming Carnival 

Congratulations to Green Laver House – this is their third consecutive win in swimming! Check out the gallery – especially our House Captains in their dress ups for the novelty event. 

Goldfields Division Swimming 

Students in age-groups 10-13 have been selected to participate in Goldfields Division Swimming on Friday 27th February at Bendigo East Outdoor Swimming Pool. Permission notes have been distributed. Please return notes by Tuesday 24th February. Students will meet at school under the grapevine in the central garden at 8:45, ready to travel on the bus with a teacher. We will require the assistance of parents/carers to travel with us and we usually provide a timekeeper on the day. Please let Carly know as soon as possible if you can’t attend, so we can find a replacement for our relay teams.  

School Sport Victoria Team Vic State Representative Teams

The Team Vic representative program provides a development platform for Victoria’s emerging student athletes to participate in the annual School Sport Australia Championships. School Sport Victoria coordinates the selection process for Team Vic teams in partnership with relevant state sporting organisations which is delivered by a network of more than 140+ Team Vic Officials. Depending on the sport and team, the selection process involves: State trial/s, progressive or conference model, results from event/s, or based on rankings/results or talent identification. For further information and sports registration dates please see https://www.ssv.vic.edu.au/team-vic. Please note that for some sports the registration closing date is February or March. 

Castlemaine Gift Athletics 

Present the flyer below in the community noticeboard for free adult entry with a junior runner. There’s also a handful of flyer hard copies on the school office foyer table – please help yourself. 

Sunday, 22nd February at Camp Reserve. Junior sprint heats for 5-13 years olds begin at 10am. Turn up on the day. All junior runners receive some giveaways. The handicap final for junior heat winners will be on in the afternoon.

Prep L

Gretel F - for noticing that someone was feeling lonely and kindly inviting them to play.
Myles M - for the way you encourage your classmates during our Wilson games.

Prep N

Molly A - for the confidence, enthusiasm and focus you show in your learning each day.
Oliver K - for the strong choices you make each day and for being a positive role model to others.

1/2 CS

Alfie M - for showing kindness and care towards a new friend.
Gillian C - for always challenging yourself and striving for your personal best.

1/2 E

Cassia W - for your impressive concentration, effort and focus during writing sessions this week.
Ari R - for your impressive maths work this week.

1/2 S

Raeka G - for showing great bravery and courage when starting your learning in the morning.
Noah D - for showing passion in identifying events from The Enchanted Wood.

3/4 JC

Ben E - for your enthusiasm and achievements at the pool.

3/4 L

Louis S - for participating in our maths lessons with passion and enthusiasm.
Arlo T - for seeking support when needed.

3/4 S

Winton H - for the brave way you pursued your personal best at the swimming carnival.
Frances B - for the thoughtful way you wrote a heartfelt and meaningful Acknowledgement of Country.

5/6 BN

Freida B - for the subtle and creative way you wrote your persuasive letter to the medieval newspaper.
Pavin K - for always being willing to share your knowledge about history and the Spice Islands.

5/6 HT

Takisha C - for the passion you've displayed during our Big Write, using persuasive techniques and emotive language.

5/6 R

Emmett L - for your hard work and the bravery you demonstrated by aiming high during your Big Write.
Aveline C - for your kindness and dedication to taking care of your Prep buddy at lunchtime.

Indonesian

Digby F - for working on new words with lightning speed, with positivity and great focus.

Performing Arts

Beatrix V - for your quiet confidence as you choreographed your medieval dance sequence.

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