Toorak Campus Newsletter - Exceptional Education

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Toorak Campus, Geelong Grammar School, 14 Douglas Street, Toorak, 3142 Tel: 03 9829 1444. Email [email protected]

Toorak Campus Newsletter

EDITION 36 Thursday 4th December2014

An Anglican Coeducational Boarding and Day School

Visit us at www.ggs.vic.edu.au

The ‘In Wonderland’ production was a collaborative process that involved the

whole Prep - Year Two team, from specialists through to classroom teachers and of

course the children. Our central idea for this inquiry was ‘Through collaboration

creativity evolves’. The powerful learning has been a direct consequence of the

collaboration between the Classroom, Drama, Music and Art combined and the

creativity that has emerged has been imaginative, unpredictable and of course

very curious!

Head of Campus

Music Matters

Page 2

Deputy Head of Csmpus Page 3

Year 6 Camp: Wilsons Promontory Page 4

Year 6 Camp: Wilsons Prom cont.

Year 3: Japanese

ELC 4A: The Giving Tree

Page 5

‘In Wonderland’ Production photos Page 6

Glamorgan Association News Page 7

Notices Page 8

DIARY DATES

DECEMBER

Thurs 4th Prep - Year 2 Production, 11am—1pm

Fri 5th Bump Up Day, 9am - 10am

Prep - Year 6 Assembly, 2.30pm - 3pm

Mon 8th Carol Service - St John’s Toorak, 6pm

Wed 10th Family Picnic, 4.30pm - 7pm

Fri 12th Year 6 Final Assembly, 10.30am - 11.30am

END OF TERM 4, 3.30pm

EDITION 36 Thursday 4th December 2014 P a g e 2


From the Head of Campus

‘In Wonderland’, the Prep to Year Two Production, has captured all of our imaginations this week. How lucky we

have been in the past few days to be part of such fantastic performances. The children have been performing this

wonderfully creative and curious musical that embraced the central idea, ‘Through collaboration, creativity

evolves’. Indeed there was a huge amount of creativity and collaboration taking place between the year levels,

between colleagues and parents and friends supporting this Production. I would like to pass on my grateful thanks

and congratulations to everyone involved and especially to Catherine Spehr, Head of Music and Rebecca Bettiol,

Head of Drama, who have ensured that once again all has come together to create this successful event.

So many compliments have been paid to so many individuals involved – quite rightly too. It has been an outstanding success.

Whilst on the theme of gratitude and thanks, I am sure that many parents have had an opportunity to see the various initiatives

that are taking place around the campus such as the ‘Giving Trees’. It is at this time of year that we should feel grateful and

thankful for what we have, the lives we lead and the friends and family we have. ‘Gratitude’ is one of the VIA Character Strengths

and Year 2 have a wonderful display on their wall (pictured above). There are some profound statements in their display, which

encapsulate the feel of gratitude among the children.

I am pleased to announce the class teachers and year levels for 2015, ahead of Bump Up morning tomorrow:

Year 6. Catherine Hutton and Brendan Scroggie (coming from Mount Eliza North Primary, pictured right)

Year 5. Sonia Lewis and Jacqui Moses

Year 4. Richard Munro and Jen Ryan

Year 3. Georgie Karamaloudis and Ben Woodworth

Year 2. Jonathan Auditore and Ange Renwick* (Semester 1) Carmen Cairns** (Semester 2) *Ange Renwick will be taking LSL in Semester Two **Carmen Cairns will be taking LSL in Semester One

Year 1. Lucy Freer and Georgie Jonsson

Prep. Brigette Vallance, Catherine Ross, Adele Delahunty / Kirsty Wood

ELC4A Ainslie Burling and Alex Murray

ELC4B Bernadette Gioia (coming from Trinity Grammar—pictured right) and Emily Wassink

ELC3S Simone Duffield and Lisa Na

ELC3M Meg Reed (coming from Kingswood College—pictured far right) and Susan Coffey

Also, I am pleased to inform that I have appointed Kay Bridgman to take over the Reading Recovery role from 2015.

Next week is our last week of Term 4 and the school year. This is always very busy, with our Carol Service and Family Picnic

taking place. I do hope that many families will be present at both of these events – I look forward to seeing you there.

Garry Pierson

MUSIC matters Conclusion of Music Programmes Please note the Classroom Instrumental, Private Tuition and Ensemble Programmes conclude at the end of this week (Friday 5th

December). Students who have borrowed instruments as part of the Classroom Instrumental Programme are required to return their

instruments to their Music teachers during their lesson.

Music Instrument Holiday Hire Students who are intending to continue private tuition at GGS - Toorak during 2015 and are currently hiring an instrument from the

school are encouraged to take their instrument home for the holidays to practice. We trust that students will take care of the

instrument during this time and will return the instrument on the first day of school next year. Please do not be tempted to fix any

breakages; simply pack the instrument away and we can attend to repairs on return to school next year. Alternatively, the instrument

may be returned to the Music storeroom for storage over the holiday period.

2015 Music Lessons

Parents are reminded to return the music form in order to confirm private music lesson placements for 2015. Please indicate

on the form if your child wishes to commence, continue or discontinue music lessons for next year.

Farewell At the end of this term, we sadly farewell three of our Instrumental Music teachers: Emma Rudin

(strings), Michelle Priestly (woodwind/piano) and Kaye Duffel (flute), pictured from left to right. I

would like to take this opportunity to thank these music staff members for the care and expertise

they have shown as part of the Music Department and wish them well for the future.

We also say farewell to Laurien Kennedy and Mark Benson, who have taken on cello and

guitar lessons whilst other staff were on leave. I am most grateful to Laurien and Mark for the support and encouragement

they have provided to our music students in their time at the GGS Toorak Campus. In addition, we also farewell Rebecca

Rouse, who has been teaching Classroom Music during term four (pictured right). She has also contributed to our

Classroom Instrumental Programmes and directed the Junior Choir. We are most grateful for her enthusiasm and input,

and wish her all the best for her future teaching endeavours.

Upcoming Events:

♫ Carols Service – Monday 8th December 6:00pm St John’s Anglican Church Toorak Catherine Spehr

Head of Music



YEAR 2 BASKETBALL TEAM

After only their first year in the competition, the Red Dogs came

runner up in the Grand Final at MSAC last Friday!

A great time was had by all.

Week 9

What a week! So many highlights and sadly some

things finishing up for the term. The Prep - Year 2

Production was an outstanding example of the

collaboration that exists at the campus and the way

in which staff work with the children to develop so

many skills. Positive Education, building resilience,

tapping into character strengths were all prevalent

during the performances that many of us have

been fortunate enough to experience this week.

Thank you and congratulations to all who have

been involved with this process.

Running Club

This week was the final week of Running Club and the session was held at The Tan running track. A huge congratulations to all of

the students who have been involved in Running Club this term (pictured above). Your commitment and dedication to being

involved in this has been wonderful and I have truly enjoyed seeing your fitness develop as the term progressed. Thank you to all of

the parents who have supported Running Club this term. Without your support, this popular event could not take place. I look

forward to seeing many of you in Term 1 2015 for Running Club!

Assembly

Tomorrow we will be holding a Prep – Year 6 Assembly. Starting at 2.30pm in the Isabel McComas Hall. As this will be the final P –

6 Assembly for the year, it could run slightly over 30 minutes. All are welcome and we hope to see you there.

Kylie Griffiths, Deputy Head of Campus

LIBRARY NEWS

Lyn and I can hardly believe that we’ve completed an academic year, at the Toorak Campus. We would like

to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has contributed to making it fly or more fittingly soar. It has

been a wonderful year, full of new developments and friendships. We would like to extend a special thank

you to all the parents who have helped us throughout the year by covering books, volunteering at the book

fair and providing valuable feedback on our programme.

In this hectic Christmas season, feel free to escape the madness and relax by the fireplace with a great

book. We’ve purchased some wonderful new Christmas Picture story books. You can see our Christmas Book

Tree and enjoy Lyn’s 12 Days of Christmas Parody Display featuring some great reads!

Fiona O'Rourke, Teacher Librarian

YEAR 3 BASKETBALL TEAM

The boys worked really hard all term and should be

commended for their determination and commitment.

A special mention goes to our coach, Hayden Stockdale and of

course all the parents for their support.



During camp I felt like I was being an inquirer because before I got to camp I did not know much about Wilsons Prom.

When I got there I made sure to find out some information. At the end of the first day I had already gathered heaps of facts

about the national parks just by walking through one of them. During camp I learned a lot of facts about the animals, the

parks, bushfires and floods. After being on camp for a week I could sure say that I was really being an inquirer. I now know a

lot of solid information about Wilsons Prom. Charlotte Kelly

At camp I believe I had confidence. I guess you

need confidence for camp if you want to

succeed well and get through tasks easily, but

sometimes it’s just having the courage to ask

someone something or convince yourself into

doing something. That is basically the main

understanding of confidence itself. Richard Burt

Throughout the week, during activities and free

time, I felt I was open-minded and really took in

what others were saying, which really helped me

get past many obstacles. Some examples would

be taking in Miss Hutton’s encouragement while

abseiling, working with Aden and sharing

strategic ideas when canoeing and listening to

advice on how to catch waves while boogie

boarding. Overall, being open-minded really

benefitted me at camp and without it, I wouldn’t

have been able to properly learn some of these

skills I can use for life. Matteo Mancini



YEAR 3: JAPANESE

Year 3 students had a 'Japanese Party', which relates to the Unit of Inquiry,

'Invite friends'. Students organised their party by making their own paper

plates with origami folding. They prepared fairy bread, Onigiri rice balls and

Karaage Chicken, and used gloves to ensure proper food handling. During

the party, some students organised quizzes about Japan, and others danced

and sang as entertainment. It was a wonderful, happy lunch!

ELC4: WHAT DOES THE CHRISTMAS GIVING TREE MEAN TO YOU?

"It's for giving presents like books to someone who doesn't get

presents at Christmas. The presents are given to kids, now the kids will

be able to read and play with the presents." - Iris

"It's for people that don't get many presents at Christmas. The

presents are for lots of children and they get to open them." - Nellie

"It's to give people presents if they don't have any presents. Toys are put

under the tree for kids!" - Eddie

"Well the Christmas tree has tags stuck to it and presents under it. The

presents are for people who don't have enough money to buy gifts for

their kids. it makes children happy if they get presents too." - Chili

During the Year 6 Camp at Wilsons Prom I

believe I was caring for others. I believe

I was caring because I helped my friends

whenever they needed support. I believe

I was very supportive for people who were

a bit nervous about abseiling. I cheered

them up and gave them mental support to

help them feel less worried. I also was

nice and helpful to my roommates. I was

by their side when they were feeling down

or homesick. I also helped around

cleaning up and packing bags. I believe

being caring doesn’t only benefit others, it

also benefits yourself. Having this attrib-

ute really helped me to fit in better at this

camp. Sharron Yuan

I feel camp allowed me to express my risk-taking skills. There were multiple camp

activities that I wasn’t too sure about, but I gave them a go anyway and found I

really enjoyed them. Abseiling was a good example of this. I have an insecure fear

of walking down steep ledges or stairs, so climbing backwards down an almost

vertical rock face was a challenge. I found I really had to trust Mike, the

instructor, as he was connected to the safety cord that was connected to me. I

feel over the duration of camp I was able to participate in lots of risk-taking

activities that I thoroughly loved. Serena Malatesta





GLAMORGAN ASSOCIATION NEWS

Election Day Sausage Sizzle and Bake Sale Our Sausage Sizzle and Bake Sale on Saturday was a HUGE success!! Thank you to all who contributed,

both with their time on the day and with baking the yummy and delicious items for sale! It was a bright sun-

ny day and we all had lots of fun interacting with the local community. It was great to see so many school

families also visiting and supporting our stalls! I'm thrilled to announce that we raised just over $1,400 on

the day and we could not have raised this amount without the generous donation of rolls and sausag-

es from Woodfrog Bakery and Hudson Meats across the road in Toorak Village. Please be sure to go

across and say hello to them! Danny from Woodfrog Bakery will also be kindly donating bread for our

sausage sizzle at our Family Picnic next week. Thank you also to the Kelly Family for their kind donation

of the bacon and egg rolls and to the Davis Family for their kind donation of Emma and Tom's juices.

Family Picnic This year we are starting our Family Picnic slightly earlier at 4.30pm, with the finishing time at 7pm (please refer to the ad on

page 7 of this newsletter). Can we please remind families to assist us in the clean up at the end. We have always been blessed

with lovely weather, however in the event of inclement weather the event will unfortunately be cancelled. We are however

aiming to go ahead and there will be a new surprise attraction this year for children of all ages on the oval!! Thanks to Sarah

Sefton for all of her co-ordination with this. Please contact myself on 0408 668 888 or Antonietta Acquaro on 0432 329 823 if

you have any queries.

Live Auction of Douglas Street Car Park

This year the auctioning of the Douglas Street Car Park (outside the Cottage) will be conducted by Garry Pierson at a Live

Auction at the Family Picnic around 5.30pm. For those who are unfamiliar with the car park, it is situated on Douglas Street

(just down from the main school entrance) presents a unique opportunity to have stress-free 24/7, year round car parking!!

Phone pre-bids will be accepted. Please contact Antonietta Acquaro on 0432 329 823 if you wish to undertake this by prior

arrangement.

2015 Glamorgan Association

Please see listed below our Committee Members and Class Representatives for next year. I would like to take this opportunity

to thank all of our Committee Members and Class Representatives for all their hard work and input they have put in this year. I

really has been a wonderful year. A special welcome to our New Members and Class Representatives for next year. We are

looking forward to a productive and energising year together with plenty of fun and laughs along the way!

2015 Glamorgan Association Committee

Denise Wong President

Sue Lester Secretary

Charmian Huggett Treasurer and Public Officer/Family Camp Co-ordinator

Rachael Kelly Class Representative Co-ordinator

Antonietta Acquaro Family Camp and Family Picnic Co-ordinator

Amanda Muir Special Events Co-ordinator

Yolande Phillipson Mother's Day and Father's Day Stalls Co-ordinator

Anabelle Guest Events and Fundraising Co-ordinator

Lara Snell-Bliss New Member

Eliza Mantello New Member

Garry Pierson Head of Campus (ex officio)

Jacqui Moses Staff Representative (ex officio)

2015 Class Representatives

ELC 3 Sarah Freeman and Sasha Robertson ELC 4 Carrie Clanton and Allis Sardellis

Prep Sarah Barras, Suzie Guest and Amanda Pembrooke Year 1 Eliza Mantello and Juel Riggall

Year 2 Georgie Coombe-Tennant and Lara Snell-Bliss Year 3 Catherine Gunn and Sophie Sangster

Year 4 Antonietta Acquaro and Charmian Huggett Year 5 Jessica Purbrick-Herbst and Sayuri Thomson

Year 6 Rachel Armstrong and Kathy Mitrangas

Denise Wong, President



Monday 15th of December to

Thursday 18nd December 2014

Clinic runs from 9am – 1pm Daily

$200 per child

Please pick up your registration form at reception

Any queries please contact Darryl on 0418 500 780

UNIFORM SHOP NEWS

Extended Shop Hours The shop will be open from 8am to 3pm on

Mondays for the remainder of the term, as well as

from 8am to 11am on Friday 5th December (Bump up day),

in addition to normal shop hours: Tuesday and Thursday,

1pm to 4.30pm.Parents shopping for a full uniform for their

child/children are strongly encouraged to make an

appointment at a time which is convenient to you. ADMINISTRATION

REMINDER:

Please ensure all

2015 student forms,

including updated

information,

authorisations and the

Excursion Form are

returned to the Office

Att: Marita Hogan

by no later than

tomorrow, Friday

5th December

(Bump Up Day).

Thank you.

Reminder: GGS is an Allergy Aware School

A number of students and staff at the

Toorak Campus have been diagnosed with

Anaphylaxis – a severe, rapidly progressing allergic reaction

that is potentially life-threatening. The most common

allergens in school aged children are peanuts, eggs and

tree nuts (eg cashews).

We seek your ongoing cooperation by providing food and

treats that do not contain known allergens as even minimal

exposure may cause an anaphylactic reaction. This

includes all food for events and functions.

There are also some students with allergies or intolerances

who are not anaphylactic. As an Allergy Aware School we

need to be aware of allergies and intolerances, and the

reactions they cause to individual students. Your help in

keeping the school aware is much appreciated.

For many years, my family and I

have run toy drives through our

community, bought and stored presents and have

distributed Christmas toys to over 200 less fortunate

families every year in rural Victoria.

I have always wanted the opportunity to include my

school in giving a helping hand to any family doing it

tough around Christmas time, but I always suggested

my idea too late or someone else had taken the

chance. Being a leader in the school and this being my

final year in the junior school, I made sure that I didn’t

miss the occasion to be able to step up to the plate.

This week I’m hosting a toy and food drive for the

Anglicare Charity. Boxes will be distributed to the Year

3 to 6 classrooms which will enable easy access for

anyone who would like to drop off and donate new and

near new toys and non-perishable food.

Together let’s make a difference!

Conrad Noonan-Barros

Year 6

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Toorak Campus Newsletter - Exceptional Education