Week 10, Term 4

Dear CNPS families,

It is with mixed emotions, that I share the news that Sam Kerr has successfully applied for a role in the Bendigo Regional Office for 2025.  Sam will be an EIL (Education Improvement Leader), working with schools across a range of networks in our area, to implement the Victorian Teaching and Learning model, as well as supporting classroom teachers with their practice, particularly in Mathematics.  It is an exciting opportunity for Sam to diversify his experiences in education and we wish him well for the new role.  Of course, we will miss him greatly; not only does he entertain us with regular jokes and anecdotes, but he is also a brilliant instructional leader.  He has led the innovation of our approaches to planning, instruction, professional learning, assessment, and a wide range of administrative tasks.  I will personally miss his efficiency and ability to pick up anything new and learn it very quickly, as well as the generosity he shows to colleagues, to support their professional growth.  Of course, this also leaves a gap in our classroom teacher allocations for next year.  Sam was to be sharing a class with Ben Wilson for Semester 1; we will work on a plan to resolve this and communicate with families early next week.

On behalf of the CNPS Community, all the best Sam, and we will MISS YOU!  We look forward to welcoming you back in 2026!

THIS WEEK

It has been a lovely start to our end of year celebrations this week, with Nicci and the Grade 5/6 students sharing their Christmas-themed plays in their class time, with family members invited to attend.  It was impressive to see the students had written their own scripts, and with only a few sessions of rehearsal, provided a highly entertaining array of short performances.  Well done to the students, and to our fabulous Performing Arts teacher, Nicci!

The 2025 Prep students completed their final Transition session this week and are excited to have spent time with their Buddy in preparation for the new school year.  Thank you to Nicole and Miss Else for your work with the transition program and to the Grade 5 teachers for their support of the buddy activities.  A big Thank you also to Kimberley and Hannah, who have been flexible with their programs during transition, as we have needed to use the Silver Banksia and Art Room.

The Creative Christmas Expo yesterday was a colourful and varied display of creations throughout the school.  Well done to all, teachers and students alike, on your contributions.  I heard so many positive comments from our visitors.

At our whole-school Step Up session, some students in Grade 1/2 met a new teacher to CNPS – we welcome Laura Farrell, from Trentham PS, to our school for 2025.

NEXT WEEK - A big week ahead!

MONDAY – Regular Assembly at 9am

TUESDAY – Class Picnics and Pool Day – please see information sent out earlier.  We will send a reminder via the Parent Portal on Monday afternoon with times/details.  A yellow return slip should be back at school by Monday morning at the latest, thank you.

WEDNESDAY – Grade 6 Graduation – Evening.

THURSDAY – 10-11am – Silver Banksia Building – Christmas Singalong.  Students are invited to come out of Uniform in Christmas clothes/accessories.

FRIDAY – Staff v Gr 6 Softball – 9.30-10.30.  Final Assembly – 11.30-12.15 – Silver Banksia.  EARLY FINISH – 1.30pm

At our final assembly, we will farewell and thank some special people in our school community – please come along if you can.  The Assembly will run for about 40 minutes, and you may either take your child with you after that, or they can stay at school until official dismissal time of 1.30pm.

Here are some cute pictures of students enjoying our new stepping stones (logs) this week, as a result of our tree pruning program!

Have a great weekend,

Sam C

 Dear resident of Mount Alexander,

This is an invitation from the Community Engagement for Disaster Risk Reduction (CEDRR) team at the University of Melbourne. They are currently conducting surveys with residents in Mount Alexander to better understand how households view the risk posed by flooding and bushfire.

They are hoping to discuss your experiences of risk, any actions you have taken to prevent or prepare for a risky event, and what actions you might want to take in the future. 

They invite you to participate in a short (20-30 minute) online discussion with a member of their research team. The discussion and related survey questions will take place via Zoom, or over the phone if you do not have access to this program. If you choose to participate, CEDRR will donate $25 to a local school council of your choice (see list below) as thanks for sharing your time and experience. Then, six months later, if you complete a brief follow-up interview over the phone (5 minutes) you will raise an additional $25 for the school of your choosing ($50 total).

By participating, you are helping to build understanding and resilience towards risk on behalf of your household and community:

·         Castlemaine North Primary School, Castlemaine Primary School, Castlemaine Secondary College, Castlemaine Steiner School and Kindergarten.

·         Campbells Creek Primary School, Chewton Primary School, Elphinstone Primary School, Harcourt Valley Primary School, Langley Primary School, Maldon Primary School, Newstead Primary School, Taradale Primary School, Winters Flat Primary School.

·         Olivet Christian College and St Marys Catholic Primary School.

To sign up to participate: Scan the QR code below. A member of our research team will then be in touch shortly to arrange a time to do the survey. For more information about our project, please visit www.communityriskreduction.org.au.

 Wow, what a packed week full of fun and celebrations in the Prep rooms! We’ve been busy completing Christmas activities, which we showcased at the Christmas Expo. We loved visiting the classrooms to see the creative Christmas activities in each room, especially the amazing gingerbread creations in the Grades 3–6 rooms. It was wonderful to share our own creations with family and friends in our room. 

On Tuesday, we participated in a step-up session where we met our 2025 teacher and classmates. There was so much excitement about this new chapter for next year! Students also brought home their learning journals, showcasing their incredible growth and achievements this year. We hope you enjoy sharing these special books together. 

Next week, our final week of school, will be just as busy! Please check emails and the newsletter for more details about these events: 

• Tuesday: Whole school picnic and swimming day at the Castlemaine Botanical Gardens and Outdoor Pool. (Please return your note if you have not already done so.) 

• Thursday: Christmas singalong. 

• Friday: Grade 6 versus teachers’ softball game and 1:30 pm finish. 

We hope you all have a lovely weekend and get some rest before the busy and exciting week ahead! 

Did someone say Christmas??  

There was such a buzz around this school this week as we were preparing for our expo.  We had a lot of ‘teacher pride’ listening to your children talk so confidently about how they could design a sleigh to overcome the friction of our Aussie roofs.  The children loved sharing their designs, creations and scientific thinking with our community. Thank you for visiting if you could make it! It really lifts the student work if they know they will be sharing it.  

Maths and Literacy was very Christmas focussed as well. We identified locations on maps to try to help Santa find his way. We read ’The Grinch’ in Literacy and practised using connectives to create our own sentence. An example of these prompts was: 

The Grinch detested Christmas because… 

The Grinch detested Christmas but… 

The Grinch detested Christmas so… 

Can you have a go at finishing these sentences at home?  

Please remember to return the form for our swimming day next Tuesday. If your child is moving into Grade 3 next year they’ll also have a swimming form to complete for 2025. How about Carly being so organised?! We will also have our Christmas concert (organised by Nicci) to look forward to on Thursday.  

It was an exciting day on Tuesday finding out what class the students will go to next year. We’d like to congratulate all of them on their positive mindset in thinking about next year. We know it can be a tricky time. From our point of view, we have all LOVED teaching your kids this year. What an engaged and creative bunch we have had the privilege of teaching.  

What an exciting and jam-packed week we’ve had!  

There was much excitement and anticipation (and maybe a smidge of apprehension) on Tuesday as students participated in our ‘Step-Up’ program, and joined their 2025 teacher and classmates for an hour after recess. While it’s always a bit sad to leave current classes after building such strong connections, we’re sure everyone will have a wonderful year with new friendships and relationships to be formed. 

After working on designing, baking, assembling and of course decorating our gingerbread, the day we had been preparing for finally arrived! On Thursday we showcased our marvellous gingerbread creations at the Creative Christmas Expo. Each Grade 3/4 class decided on their own theme involving an area of learning from the year. 3/4CN recreated the settings from Treasure Island, 3/4L focused on the Olympics, 3/4H took inspiration from Space, while 3/4PS created a timeline of all our learning across the year! 

As we head into the final week of school, we hope you enjoy looking through students’ Learning Journals and reading their end of year reports. We are so proud of the achievements and progress students have made, it really has been a wonderful year full of laughter and lots of learning. 

Enjoy your weekend, 

Louise, Hannah, Mr Scott, Claire and Nicci 

Happy Friday from the Silver Banksia, 

What a week! Our classes have built, rebuilt, fixed and decorated their incredible gingerbread constructions this week. Working together, they used their problem-solving skills to overcome challenges and, in some cases, defy gravity. The gingerbread was presented to the school community on Thursday at our Creative Christmas Expo. It was lovely to see so many parents visiting and sharing the excitement with their children.  

This week also saw many Grade 6 students visit CSC for their step-up transition day on Tuesday. Grade 5 students also visited their 2025 class and teacher, some made Mondrian Christmas baubles and wrote letters to their new teacher. 

There was a healthy smattering of softball practice, graduation dance practice, some final WIGU filming and watching the movie of our class novel, Wonder. 

Next week will be another huge one! Our final week of the year. Monday and Wednesday will expose students to a high-school style timetable, with teacher rotations and lots of moving between classrooms. Tuesday is our pool day! Make sure notes are back please. Wednesday evening is the Grade 6 Graduation ceremony. Thursday is the whole school Christmas singalong, from 10:00am – 11:00am. And Friday will be the last chance for our graduating students to lose to the teachers in softball (haha). 

Have a great weekend everybody. 

From the (exhausted) 5/6 teachers. (with help from Jay’s amazing, patient students) 

 Performing Arts News

Well done to all Grade 5/6 students who showed such courage when delivering their performances. Thanks again to the parents who made it in to support them.

PE News

Swimming 2025 Gr 3-6 

Thank you to the many families who have returned the permission form already. Please return these forms by Tuesday, so we can complete our planning before the end of the year. We are especially looking for parent helpers to get us along to our first session on Friday 31st January. 

Also, check out the Vicswim flyer on our community noticeboard below if you’re interested in your child attending some affordable, summer, intensive lessons at a local (or holiday destination!) venue. Suitable for 4-12 year olds. Highly recommended for beginners. Locally, Castlemaine, Harcourt, Maldon and Newstead still have places available. Chewton also often have summer holiday lessons, but you will need to contact them directly. 

Prep E 

Whole class - Thank you for a wonderful year. It has been amazing to see your courage, wonder, passion and thoughtfulness. You are all amazing. 

Prep N 

Whole class - Thank you for a fantastic year full of kindness, curiosity, courage and laughter every step of the way. You are all amazing! 

1/2 S 

George C - Good luck at your new school, George! It has been great having you in our class. 

Whole class - Thank you for a year filled with passion, thoughtfulness, courage, wonder, laughter, and learning! 

1/2 SB 

Theo D - for the joy you bring to the classroom each day. It is lovely to be around. 

Arlo D - For the dedication you have shown to your reading and writing this year, well done.  

1/2 W 

Jasmine T - Jasmine, you hit the ground running and settled into our class beautifully. 

Whole class - For the wonder and delight you bring to our classroom every day. You are all amazing. 

3/4 CN 

Brynna H-A - We've loved having you in our class. Best wishes at your new school. 

Whole class - Thank you for a wonderful year full of laughter and learning. You should all feel proud of everything you've achieved. 

3/4 H 

Whole class - For making my first year at CNPS so memorable, full of laughter and fun. Thank you. 

3/4 L 

Whole class - for filling my heart with joy each day. I have loved working with each and every one of you. Thank you.

3/4 PS 

August B - For your kindness and warmth during group activities. 

Arlo S - For your continued brilliance and enthusiasm during end of year activities. 

5/6 HG 

Orlando F-W - For the generosity and kindness you displayed when supporting your buddy. 

Rory H-A - For the work you have put in to improve your reading, you should feel so proud of yourself! 

5/6 J 

Max S - For seeking teacher help when you needed it. 

Whole class - For your commitment to improving everyday. 

5/6 R 

Thalia A - For going above and beyond when cleaning up our classroom after making gingerbread. 

Louis H - For the way you overcame challenges during gingerbread construction. 

5/6 SL 

Whole class - Thank you for such a wonderful year. You have been a delight to teach! Keep up the passion and enthusiasm for your learning in 2025. 

Indonesian  

Sunday R - For your mature and respectful approach towards your learning, Well done on a great year. Bagus! 

Performing Arts 

All of the 5/6s - For all of you who got up and performed your plays to an audience.