Dear Parents

It is with great excitement that we embark on some exciting projects this term.  Catrina from Millennium Kids has returned to conduct our second Millennium Kids Conference. During the conference she talked about a special water pump that is a roundabout wizzy that pumps water while the children play.  One will be set up by Millennium Kids and Mrs Tonia Ranford who is visiting the village of Ntshidi in South Africa during the school holidays.  Mrs Ranford will be using her professional development prize from the Year 5s’ participation in the Scitech 2008 Young Inventors’ competition.  To follow her and the Millennium Kids team as they venture to the African Continent log onto www.mklookingforwater.blogspot.com

During the conference, the students discussed how lucky we are to live in a country with clean water, clean air, good food, shelter, transport, education, modern technologies, good health and a robust medical service.  And it so important that we do not take all this for granted.

Having all these wonderful things comes at a cost to the environment, with water and energy consumption, and greenhouse gas emissions at a very high level.

Last year the students compared their own carbon footprint to those of a child living in a village in Africa.  They also compared their carbon footprint with their grandparents’ when they were children.  Both of these comparisons revealed some very big differences.  We can reduce our big carbon footprint by learning some simple things to do in our own homes.  Log onto www.acfonline.org.au and scroll down to Consumption Atlas, to see how we consume resources and how we emit pollution.  As Western Suburbs inhabitants, we rank very highly as the greatest consumers and the greatest polluters.  With this in mind, we are involved in the Big Switch Experiment, where students and their parents will monitor their consumption at home.

As part of the Sustainability focus, we have some other projects happening:
as a school we have adopted Ladner Park and are revegetating it with indigenous plants.  Students gave seeds to their grandparents and honorary grandparents on Grandparents Day to take care of until we can plant the seedlings.

Catrina guided the classes to look at ways in which we can investigate the local environment, such as looking for natural signs of life and by observing human impact on the local flora and fauna, in the past and in the present.  As a result the students have indicated that they wish to be guardians of the wind, sea, land, animals, plants, sun and soil so we will work on being advocates and work to make sure that these precious elements are cared for.

One of the ways in which we are looking after the air as well as developing fitness and sense of community is our St Hilda’s Walking Bus.  More students are participating and, after the very successful National Walk to Schools Safely and Host a Healthy Breakfast Event held on Friday 15 May, we are pleased to reduce the use of petrol and reduce car emissions.  We also have families who bus, train and carpool and students who ride their bikes to school.
A bike riding course has started at St Hilda’s to encourage students to use this as a mode of transport.  The students develop competent bike handling and bike maintenance skills as well as road safety.

Students can ensure that their parents have shopping bags in the car and hence reduce or even eliminate the use of plastic shopping bags.  This was promoted by Mr Phil Buzzard from our local IGA store who presented his reason for going ‘No Plastic Shopping Bags’ due to his concern for the animals that were affected by such items in the habitat.

There has been such a buzz around the whole school’s connection to the local environment. This rich learning experience provides  a wonderful vehicle for reading, writing, spelling, mathematics, science, geography, history, economics, cultural studies, getting fit and healthy, art, drama and even music and languages.

How amazing it is to be a student, parent or staff member at St Hilda’s.

Julie QuanSing-Rowlands

The annual Ecumenical Service was held at St Stephen’s College, Carramar in Week 4.  We were able to take the all Year 6 students to a service that proved to be memorable for them all.  The worship style, drama, music and venue were all quite different from
St Hilda’s traditions.

It is important for girls to experience something of the breadth and depth of the Christian Church, and to realise that most of our Independent Schools have the same faith as their foundation, though it may be expressed in diverse ways.  It was good to have the attendance of a large staff team including Mrs QuanSing-Rowlands, who supports the service every year.

The central message of the service was Remember the Lord, in the face both of beauty and fear, of security and discomfort, in good times and bad.  Year 6 students have been given an opportunity to consider the place of religious faith in a world where they are learning to make connections and build resilience to the challenges of life.

All seven Year 6 Sacristans attended the Sacristan Camp at the end of Week 2.  It was a great pleasure to take such an enthusiastic group of 15 students from Years 6-10 to New Norcia for the weekend.  As well as practising the skills of the job, students also enjoyed learning more about the life of a monk, the history of the religious community and its work with Indigenous people.  They attended three very different services in
St Gertrude’s Chapel, the Abbey Church and the Monk’s Chapel and learnt much from the spiritually-rich life of Australia’s only monastic town.  There was also time to relax and soak up the atmosphere.

My thanks are due especially to Mrs Belinda Hill and Mrs Kerry Satchwell from the RAPS Department, who gave their time to supervise the dormitories and run activities, and to the Outdoor Education staff, who helped me with the huge task of starting a new camp.

Later this term, students in Years 4-6 will be asked to begin considering whether they would like to start receiving Holy Communion at School services.  More information will be mailed to parents nearer the time, but I encourage you to start thinking about this in your family context.

As we continue to celebrate the Easter season, I wish you all the joy of the Resurrection and assure you of my prayers and support of your spiritual journey.

Father Toby - School Chaplain

Welcome
The Junior School welcomes Mrs Penny Gilmour to Junior Kindergarten and Extend-ED, Mrs Nicola Coupland to Year 6 Science, Mrs Lisa Craddock to the Year 3S classroom and Mrs Andrea Kurasho to Japanese classes.  These teachers are replacing staff who are on long service leave.  They come with great expertise, experience and are familiar with St Hilda’s.  All new teachers have made the transition very smoothly and it seems that they have been part of the School for years!

We wish Mrs Atkinson, Mrs Fitzgerald, Mrs Stubbs and Mrs Whittle all the best for their long service leave during this term and thank them for their long service and dedication to St Hilda’s.  Their commitment has been very much appreciated and we hope they enjoy their well-deserved break.

Best Wishes
We wish Mrs Trish Jakovich all the very best as she approaches motherhood in the very near future. Her last day will be Friday 12 June and we look forward to the arrival of baby number two.  We welcome back Mrs Claire Thomas who has been in during this term taking the class and being part of some of their events.  Mrs Thomas is a very experienced, dedicated teacher who taught at St Hilda’s last year in Year 5.

Junior School Uniform
Thank you to parents and students for the wonderful efforts in maintaining such a high standard of uniform.  We are so proud of and are often complimented on how distinctive the St Hilda’s uniform is and how beautiful the students look when performing, on excursion, at interschool events such as the Ecumenical Service, at Chapel, Assemblies and when accompanying parents to the shops or other venues straight after or before school.

The teachers regularly remind students of what is required but it is the parents’ support that makes the real difference.  So thank you for your assistance and for helping your children develop organisational skills.

Please note a list of the full uniform requirements for Junior School students can be found in the Junior School Curriculum and Information 2009 brochure, which was handed out on Parent Teacher Evening at the beginning of the year.

Private Lessons during School Hours
St Hilda’s supports cocurricular activities to support the development of an all rounded education program.  However, please be reminded that students are permitted to leave class for only one lesson per week.  If your daughter is involved in more than one activity such as music, drama, singing or other lessons, please review these times.  You may need to arrange for after-school or weekend times.  

National Walk to School Safely and Host a Healthy Breakfast Day
Congratulations to the all the students and parents who participated in this national event. We had approximately 70 students depart from the Owston Street/Bay View Terrace corner.  This was ably led by Mr Roy Woelke, Mrs Hodder, Mrs Beaver and a band of merry parent helpers.  Approximately 40 students and parents departed from the Tom Perrott Reserve with Mr Murdoch and parents guiding the way. Ten students indicated that they would walk directly from home.

Thank you to all the lovely parents who helped by serving the healthy snacks.  The walkers were joined by 80 students who took part in early morning Minkey and Netball who were unable to join in the walk to school.

We also had approximately 30 students who rode their bikes, or caught the train or bus.

All in all it was a fantastic success and we hear that some of these walkers have joined Mr Woelke’s Monday and Tuesday walking group. This was a mighty effort to promote fitness, care for our environment and reduce the cost of fuels etc.  Due to popular demand we may have our own walk to school event more regularly.

Grandparents’ Day
The Junior School hosted its biennial Grandparents’ Day on Wednesday 20 May.  Over 700 grandparents or honorary grandparents joined their grandchildren for some school activities, visited the classrooms and enjoyed some delicious St Hilda’s refreshments. 

As the School has grown so much, the day offered two programs.  The morning session was for grandparents of Junior Kindergarten to Year 2 children.  They were entertained by the Year 2 strings, Year 1 singers who sang Grandma Speedy and Possum Trouble; two solo singers Lucy Goodrick  singing Wouldn’t it be lovely?, Grace Fermanis performing Consider Yourself’ and two songs, Geronimo and We will Rock You, wereperformed by the Junior School Concert Band.  The afternoon session for grandparents of children in Years 3 to 6 included a music concert with the Junior School Concert Band, Lucy and Grace, the Junior School String Orchestra, and the Year 4s singing, Never too Old and Rain Dance.

After the concerts, grandparents joined their grandchildren in the classroom for various activities on sustainability and the children learned how their grandparents truly cared for the environment while saving money, being thrifty and practising the ‘reduce, recycle, reuse’ approach.  This activity revealed some interesting insights such as ‘You didn’t have air conditioning!  How did you cope?’  Did you play that old fashioned Game Boy?’ ‘No take-away on weekends!’ You only had one school dress!

The children then presented their grandparents with a pot of seeds to be nurtured and brought back to school when they are seedlings so the children can revegetate the adopted Ladner Park.  This is part of our whole school project with Mosman Park Town Council to caring for the local environment.

It was an absolutely wonderful day and we look forward to hosting another such day in 2011.

Holiday Program
The Winter Fun holiday program for 3 to 8 year olds will be running from Monday 6 to Friday 10 July.  Two sessions will be available daily from 9.00am-12:30pm or 12:30pm-4.00pm.  Cost per day is $80 and $45 for a single session. 

Flyer and enrolment forms will be available on the website and at Junior School Reception towards the end of Term 2.   Please read Friday Flyer for more details.

Assembly and Accolades
At the Year 3 Assembly on Wednesday 18 March, the following students received Honour Certificates for their efforts in class:

Year 1:
Josianne Belyea, Grace Hobson, Tiffany Sarich, Clare Yeap

Year 2:
Stella Hall, Portia Kirtlan, Kathryn Lampacher, Jessica Leeming,
Beatrice Millar, Abbey Templeton

Year 3:
Ella Girdler, Alexandra Ho, Lydia Peh, Maya Stampfer

Year 4:
Sophie Colton, Grace Fermanis, Summer Fullwood, Grace Mead, Taylor Rawson, Tamara Van Den Hurk

Year 5:
Olivia Ferres, Montana Giacci, Henrietta Grayling, Georgia Strydom,
Kate Swallow, Isobel Yates

Year 6:
Jasmine Browning, Mika Kemp, Freya Laws, Hayley Read, Mira Sertorio,
Jaime Slabbert, Tara Sweetman, Harriet Templeton-Knight

Assembly and Accolades
At the Year 5R Assembly on Wednesday 1 April, the following students received Honour Certificates for their efforts in class:

Year 1:
Athene Douglass, Sophie Gray, Emma Hadi, Isla Innes, Asta Preston

Year 2:
Emilie Brochstedt, Isabella Di Giovanni, Rinoa Hicks, Natasha Moschetti, Francesca Rogers, Ramona Zare

Year 3:
Georgia Blankenburgs, Nicol Rindel, Taylah Simmons, Rianna Smith

Year 4:
Kendal Bowes, Emily Forster, Charlene Green, Bethan Holloway-Strong,
Lara Plowman, Bianca Shah

Year 5:
Matilda Birchall, Chloe Dutton, Lucy Goodrick, Natasha Mehl, Madeleine Sandl, Francis Schulz

Year 6:
Emma Bond, Sarah Costello, Brittany Crawford, Christina Grant,
Kimberley MacFarlane, Rachel Puglisi, Emma Wittenoom

Assembly and Accolades
At the Year 4M Assembly on Wednesday 13 May, the following students received Honour Certificates for their efforts in class:

Year 1:
Sarah Daniells, Sarah Girdler, Ella Green, Summer McGrath

Year 2:
Marnie Allan, Aria Kyriakou, Jacqueline Naidoo, Mia Platt, Leisa Russell,
Lauren Smith

Year 3:
Javita Colli, Annabel Innes, Elina Lester, Caitlyn Rindel

Year 4:
Sofia Bekir Fuente, Ella Fitzpatrick, Lucy Hall, Mary Rose Robertson,
Katherine Robson, Ariela Steinberg

Year 5:
Ella Crust, Isabel Kasten, Montana Lane, Mahala Longley, Georgina McCabe, Eleanor Shenton

Year 6:
Julie Baddock, Lucy Bishop, Zoe Craig, Siobhan Kenny, Leila Kint, Emily Lockett, Ashley Skead, Denver Young

Have Some Fun Mathematics Problem Solving Competition
Congratulations to the two teams of students for their great results in the competition run by the Mathematical Association of Western Australia on Saturday 4 April.

Teams consisting of two Years 5, 6 and 7 students spent Saturday afternoon competing against other schools.

Team 1 finished in 1st place.  Team 1 members: Year 5:  Natasha Mehl, Emily Parkinson, Year 6:  Leila Kint, Laura Peh, Year 7:  Clara Forbes, Julia Schulz

Team 2 finished in 4th place.  Team 2, members:  Year 5: Andrea Ho, Vania Carolina,
Year 6: Katherine Roche, Lara Edmands, Year 7: Emily Leung, Beatrice Ho
2008/9 Premier’s Summer Reading Challenge
Congratulations to Jessica-Monique Bolanjac (KD), Portia Kirtlan (2J), Rianna Smith (3M), Annabelle Elias (3S), Alyson Cox (4N), Emily Benson (6PO), who participated in the Challenge.

Each of these students was presented with a certificate acknowledging her commitment to reading over the summer school holidays.

Music
The Music Department is invisible at the moment as the activity is so energetic that everything is a blur! 

Grandparents’ Day Concerts
The visiting Grandparents were treated to two music concerts during their visit.  In the first concert, Year 2 girls amazed everyone with their rich, strong tone and excellent musical discipline when they played some of their beginners’ pieces conducted by Mr Adrian Wayte and Miss Amber Day.  Year 1 sang a wonderful song about a very busy grandma, Grandma Speedy, followed by an energetic rendition of Possum Trouble.  Two delightful singing solos followed, absolutely charming the lucky audience.  Grace Fermanis from Year 4 gave a very confident performance of Consider Yourself from Oliver.  Lucy Goodrick, Year 5 displayed her multiple talents by singing and tap dancing during her gorgeous performance of Wouldn’t it be Loverly?  The last item was the Junior Concert Band which playedQueen’s We Will Rock You followed by Geronimo, conducted by Miss Lois Mitchell and directed by Mr Matt Kidd.

The second concert in the afternoon was very similar with the addition of the wonderful
Year 4s who sang, Never too Old and Rain Dance (obviously this was very successful if the amount of rain falling the next day is the measure!).  The Junior String Orchestra, conducted by Mr Wayte also played a tuneful and richly toned Goblins’ Rondo.

Year 5s Perform at the Perth Convention Centre
Our wonderful Year 5s will be singing and dancing around the maypole in a Spring Extravaganza as part of the biannual IPSHA Festival of Performing Arts.  They have been working very hard to perfect this performance which is sounding and looking wonderful.  They will be singing the lovely arrangement of All Things Bright and Beautiful by John Rutter and Spring Spring Spring by Gene De Paul.  This will be brilliantly topped off by an amazing piece of choreography by our own dance teacher, Mrs Janie Golovoda.  The stage will be filled with three different groups of dancing happening simultaneously to the exciting Celtic drumming music of Michael Flatley.
Performance date: Wednesday 10 June 7.00pm. Tickets have almost sold out.  Please see Miss Bladen if you haven’t sent in your order (Year 5 parents only).

Year 6 Production, The Storybiz
Rehearsals for the 2009 Year 6 Production are well underway. The students are working very hard to learn their lines, dances and songs.  Many costumes are already made and the backdrops are being painted.  Evening performances will be held on Tuesday 18, Wednesday 19, and Thursday 20 August.  Tickets will be on sale next term.

Physical Education
Welcome back to another active term in the Physical Education Department.  This term from Kindergarten to Year 6, students will be looking at body control and awareness through gymnastics and fitness. 

Minkey
The 2009 Minkey season has started with St Hilda’s again entering nine teams.  Times are as follows for each of the Year groups and will remain the same throughout the season.  

Juniors (Year 1) and Nines (Year 4)             9.00am – 10.00am
Intermediates (Year 2 and Year 3)             10.15am – 11.15am

Congratulations to all our St Hilda’s Minkey teams the Hurricanes, Tornados, Hotshots, Hawks, Ninjas, Warriors, Hunters, Strikers and the Rockets for their great start to the season.
 
Training continues on Friday mornings at 7.15am for Years 1 and 2 and Thursday mornings at 7.15am for Years 3 and 4. Training will be held rain, hail or shine.  If you cannot attend training or a game please let Miss Wood know in advance.  Thank you to the parents for their support and encouragement to all participants. 

Netball
The 2009 winter netball season has also started. Games began on Saturday 2 May at Matthews Netball Centre in Wembley Downs. Fixtures have been distributed to all students. The Years 4 and 5 students will play at 8.15am with the Year 6 students playing at 9.15am. Training will take place every Friday morning  from 7.00-8.00am all term, on the hard courts at Chidley.  If you are unable to attend any training sessions or games, please advise Miss Wood or Mrs Nicholls in the PE office as soon as possible.  Thank you to all the parents for their support of the winter netball season.

City to Surf
Some advance warning for all our runners and non-runners who would like to start training.  Once again St Hilda’s will be entering a team in the annual City to Surf.  The event will be held on Sunday 30 August.  Please join us for either the 4, 12, 21 or 42 kilometre run.  Stay tuned for more information in the Friday Flyer and in our next Newsletter.

CODES OF BEHAVIOUR FOR PLAYERS AND SPECTATORS
At St Hilda’s, staff encourage life-long participation in sport and provide nurturing environments in which your children participate.

It is important that all players and spectators respect each other and behave in an appropriate manner according to a code of behaviour. Please take a moment to read the following information carefully

Codes of Behaviour for Players:

• Be a good sport. Applaud all good plays whether they are made by your team or the opposition 
• There should be no interaction with the umpire about decisions – an umpire’s decision is final
• Treat all participants in your sport as you like to be treated
• Players should concentrate on play rather than focusing on the score and participate for their own enjoyment
• Cooperate with your coach, team mates and opponents.  Without them there would be no competition

Codes of Behaviour for Spectators (Friends and Parents):

• Encourage good sporting spirit
• Show enthusiasm and encouragement for all players
• Reward the efforts of the players rather than the outcome of the game
• Show respect for the rules and those in authority by word and example
• Encourage the players to adopt a healthy attitude towards winning and losing by demonstrating a controlled, disciplined approach towards competition
• Applaud good performance and efforts from all individuals and teams. Congratulate all participants on their performance regardless of the games outcome.
• Make positive, motivational comments - never ridicule or scorn a young player for making a mistake.

 
Codes of Behaviour for Dealing with Coaches:

• Parents should avoid asking the coach to clarify a decision during the course of a game, and must always support the coach in front of other parents and supporters 
• If a parent wishes to seek clarification or talk with a coach after the game, then the following guidelines should be applied:
• Do not discuss the issue in front of students
• Allow high emotions to subside before engaging in any discussion
• Listen
• Avoid interruption
• Clarify the issue
• Obtain closure
• Leave the door open for future discussion
• Parents should leave coaching to the coaches.  Players should be able to hear the coach’s instruction, from coaches only, during play, half-time and practice sessions
• Parents should find opportunities to recognise the effort their child’s coaches put into developing their children in the sport.  Without the coaches, your child could not participate
• Avoid speaking negatively about the coach, especially in front of your child

Codes of Behaviour for Dealing with Officials:

• It is unacceptable to question or abuse officials during or after a game - remember that officials are doing the best they can
• In most instances, officials have received training and have a sound understanding of the rules 
• Officials make mistakes, as do players.  They are not perfect
• Officials may have a different view of the game and may see something that spectators cannot, or vice versa
• Most officials are volunteers who give up their time to do the job.  In fact, many officials are out there because nobody else will offer to do it 
• Remember, without officials there would be no game.  Abusing officials will not change the outcome of the game but it will lead to fewer and less qualified officials.

(Material sourced from the Department of Sport and Recreation Western Australia Keep it Fun program)

Upcoming Events
Tuesday 23 June           Year 5 Winter Sports Day at Mathews Netball centre and
                                        Pat Goodridge oval.

Wednesday 24 June      Year 6 Winter Sports Day at Mathews Netball centre and
                                         Pat Goodridge oval.

For information and training schedules please contact Miss Wood in the Physical Education Department or have a look at the new physical education noticeboard.

Miss Emma Wood
Junior School Physical Education Coordinator

Parents’ and Friends’ Association

Autumn Bazaar Thank You
Congratulations and thank you to Emma Wittenoom, Robyn Glennie, Tara Sweetman, Mika Kemp and Lara Edmunds for their very capable assistance with the Café held during the 2 May Autumn Bazaar. They were most efficient, calm and polite to all the people who attended and they handled the demands for the appetising array of goodies so well.

The best muesli ever! The annual Rowers’ Muesli is on sale again…..
The Rowing Support Group makes and sells fabulous muesli each year to support the rowing programme. This gourmet muesli comes in four delicious flavours Berry Bravado, Mango Madness, Apricot Applause and Apple Adventure and only a limited number of bags are produced each year. Each 500g bag sells for $8.00. If you would like to purchase the muesli and support our rowers, please visit the Shop, the Development Office or Senior School Reception.

Entertainment Books
Entertainment Books have arrived! Buy yours today and start enjoying your discounts. Spend $65 now and save money for the next year. Lots of holiday activities for the kids at discount prices, great restaurants in Perth and Margaret River, good accommodation deals – it’s got everything. See a sample book at Reception, and make your purchase with Marie. This supports the P & F, so don’t delay.

There are no community notices this issue.

There is no quiz corner this issue - We'll be back with a new brain teaser next issue.

Dates for your Diary