Archive | August 2015

Discover University Day!

Thank you to all the parents and students for their participation at the University of Newcastle today. We had a really enjoyable day taking part in music, engineering and physiotherapy activities. Thanks also the wonderful Aim High crew members for their enthusiasm and for looking after us during the day. Have a great weekend!

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Write On!

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Congratulations to Joe who was selected as our Stage 3 representative for this year’s Board of Studies Write On competition. Using the image stimulus below students had to write an imaginative, persuasive or informative text no greater than 500 words. Well done to everyone who completed an entry. Joe’s story, Rough Edges can be found below. 

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“I can’t see, let me through, I want to see!” I squirm through the crowd trying to catch a glimpse of the miraculous machine! The soft sand of the beach filled my shoes and all the shouting blocked out what the man was saying! More people gathered and shuffled making it harder for me to see. I tried to climb up someone’s jacket only to be thrown off, landing in the sand firmly.competition-2015-pic

After failing several different ideas I tried to move towards the road so I could climb up those rocks and get a better view. I climbed about half way up one of the rocks facing west and stared endlessly at the massive object. It was like a plane except it was slower and more appealing… it was amazing!

It paraded around in circles for hours and surprisingly nobody left. In fact more people came every minute! It was spectacular, it glided through the sky effortlessly. Flying higher and higher it became impossible to hear the man. He was shouting something but the object drifted too high. After a few minutes the aircraft floated so high it was merely a spot in the clouded sky.

The tiny silhouette in the sky drifted higher and higher although it would drop a few metres every now and then and people would gasp and hold themselves hoping that the men wouldn’t fall out. There was a loud whistling sound as one of the parts of the aircraft fell and stuck upright in the sandy shallows of the waves. The people where astonished and looked up to see what would happen next and surely enough they did. The aircraft jolted to the right and spun wildly in the air.

The wild struggle to stabilize the aircraft was intense. It twirled around and spun dangerously, but after a while they held it still only to be thrown around inside while it started spinning again. The people below covered their eyes not able to watch what could happen next.

The aircraft spun like a merry-go-round as it became larger the closer it came to the ground. One of the men climbed up on to the edge of the basket like carrier as the other one hung on for dear life. The aircraft crashed to the ground just after the man on the edge jumped out. The other was not so lucky and was crushed under the massive weight of the aircraft, his limp body partially covered by the large plastic balloon. People fled in horror while some stayed and looked at the horrific sight with astonished eyes and gaping mouths.

As I knelt beside the wreckage the crowd began to disperse. I felt hot tears trickle down my face. That was the last time I would ever be with my brother at the beach.

 

 

Newcastle Perm Maths Competition

Well done to all of our Yr 5 and 6 students who participated in the Newcastle Permanent Maths competition today. There were many challenging questions that put students’ problem solving skills to the test and I commend everyone on their fantastic effort. Everyone received a participation certificate for taking part and results and awards will be sent out next term. 

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Writing Winner!

free glitter text and family website at FamilyLobby.com
free glitter text and family website at FamilyLobby.com
We received some exciting news in the mail this morning – a special certificate for Sarah announcing her as the winner of the School Magazine My Word! Writing competition. The OC took part in this competition at the end of last term and it’s always a delight to have one of our students recognised for their achievement. Sarah will have her piece of writing published in next month’s issue of Touchdown. 

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Premier’s Spelling Bee

Well done to everyone who had a go at our annual spelling bee today. It takes a lot of courage to put yourself forward and spell some rather tricky words in front of an audience. Congratulations to Dan who was our overall winner, Adrian who came 2nd and Elijah who placed 3rd. A terrific result! Thank you to Joe and Sarah who were great helpers with time keeping.
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Aim High – Careers Through Reading

Last Friday our Year 5 students were joined by students from Islington PS and the University of Newcastle to participate in the Aim High Careers Through Reading program.

The Careers Through Reading program seeks to provide a connection between University students and primary school students around the theme of tertiary education and professional careers. Over the course of the day, University students read books about careers related to the degrees they are studying to students. In the final session, each student received a copy of HOPE, a children’s book written by Matt Lumb from the AIM High team.

Thank you to Kirrily, David and Selina for their wonderful organisation of this event and to all the students for their enthusiasm and efforts. Thank you also to the University for supporting our pizza lunch fundraiser. 

Chess semi-finals

Yesterday our top 5 chess players from last term were invited to participate in the Interschool Chess Challenge semi-final event at Coal Point PS. Jack, Zane, Adrian, Cala and Dan dressed to impress in their blazers and ties battled it out against some fierce competitors. We finished in 6th place overall with only a few points and half points in between the top places. Well done to the team for their great efforts today and for being excellent school representatives.

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