This term, our school has collaborated with an advertising agency to roll out an exciting new promotional campaign. Together, we’ve created a compelling video, digital images, and engaging taglines, along with written content for social media, indoor and outdoor banners, bus advertising, digital posters, postcards and bumper stickers. We extend our sincere thanks to the staff and students who have been involved in the creative process.

The campaign will run for six weeks, and we hope that both prospective (and current) families will start to notice our marketing efforts throughout the Hills and on social media. We’ve chosen PINK as our hero colour to ensure we stand out!

Think Further is our tagline for this campaign, and we believe it brilliantly encapsulates the endless opportunities that our Montessori education provides.

Our School Marketing committee thought it would be fun for students and families to play a game of BINGO during the holidays! We have recently sent home to each family a BINGO sheet along with our new bumper sticker. Keep your eyes peeled and try to spot the various places where our school is being advertised. From buses to banners, and even postcards, how many can you find?

We hope families will stick the new bumper sticker on their car (or even their garbage bin), as the support from current families helps spread the word about our school.

Word of mouth is one of our most powerful marketing tools, and with your help, we can continue to grow our community.

In anticipation I thank you for your support.

Cathy France

Principal

The first Thursday of this month marked a milestone for our school as we hosted our inaugural Yultiwirra Exhibition of Work and Learning. The event was a vibrant celebration of our students' dedication and creativity, with each student excitedly sharing their projects and progress with parents, relatives, and guardians.

Classroom Visits: Parents and guardians were warmly welcomed to visit their child’s classroom and explore the impressive displays of student work. It was a fantastic chance for families to see firsthand the Montessori materials and methods that support our students' learning.

Common Room Highlights: The Common Room buzzed with excitement as specialist teachers Lyndal, Ellis, David, and Attila showcased their work in Indonesian, Music, and PE. It was a great opportunity to see the breadth of learning experiences our students engage in.

Choir Performances: The day was a testament to the hard work and enthusiasm of our students, culminating in a memorable performance by our Cycle 2 and Cycle 3 choirs. Their spirited singing  highlighted the incredible talent within our school community.

Closing: Following the choir performances, families had the chance to revisit classrooms and continue exploring the exhibits. The exhibition left everyone with a sense of accomplishment and pride in the students' achievements.

A heartfelt thank you to everyone who participated and made this event a resounding success. Your support and enthusiasm helped make the inaugral Yultiwirra Exhibition of Work and Learning a truly memorable experience. 

4.11.1957 – 3.09.2024

It is with much sadness that we grieve the loss of our long standing staff member, colleague, Life Member of our school and friend Maree Clarke.

As many people in our community would know, Maree fought a tough, hard battle with cancer for many years, always staying positive and hopeful to the end. She was brave and incredibly inspirational in overcoming so many moments of adversity over the past seven years, always leaning in to her wonderful sense of humour.

Maree started in our school in July 1990 and taught Cycle 1 and Cycle 2 classes until she took on the role (with great enthusiasm) of Music teacher at Yultiwirra from 2006-2021.

Maree was a strong advocate of Montessori Education and The Hills Montessori School. She has touched the lives of hundreds of our students over her 31 years associated with our school. We are sincerely grateful for her input and friendship over the many years and we will treasure the memories.

Our love and thoughts are with Brendan and Harry.

This term we have been doing a continent study of Europe. The students have diligently been completing their ‘contract work’. This has entailed the children identifying their chosen country on a map, researching facts and presenting work in various ways. Some of the things the students have created are posters, flags, travel brochures, menus, cartoons, songs and conducting questionnaires which were represented on a graph.

This is what some of the students had to say about the work they have been doing:

Corey: I enjoyed researching about the Common European adder

Valentino: I learnt new things like Finland has fast, comfortable, speedy trains

Pippa: I learnt that gazelles are native to Turkey and I made a jingle about Turkey

Florence: It was really fun!

Madeline W: I learnt that Portugal has lots of different fish

Elsie: I learnt all about food in Poland

Madeleine D: I researched about Berlin where my Nana comes from

Sophie: I think it was really fun and I got to learn lots of new things

Scarlett: I learnt a lot about Russia and I made a travel brochure.

Ariella: I liked making a menu of food in the UK

Mila and Iris: We enjoyed researching and making posters about European hedgehogs

Riley: I researched facts about Hungary

The Montessori Young Entrepreneurs (MYE) Market was a resounding success! This wonderful event showcased the hard work, creativity, and dedication of our students, who put their entrepreneurial skills to the test in a real-world business setting.

The students devoted significant time and effort to create quality, sustainable products that were  thoughtful in design and function. Each team enthusiastically crafted their business plans,  delivered persuasive pitches to investors and spent time making and marketing their products.  Their eye-catching market stalls drew in a crowd, and their impressive sales skills helped drive a whopping profit.

The success of the MYE Market was made possible through the unwavering support of the volunteers, mentors, and school community members who generously donated their time and resources. Their guidance and expertise were invaluable in helping the students grow and learn. A heartfelt thanks also goes out to all the shoppers who visited the market, providing essential support to these budding entrepreneurs. 

The students were rightfully proud of their efforts, and their smiles and excitement throughout the day were infectious. They look forward to celebrating their success and carrying these invaluable lessons into future ventures. 

Cycle 2 has been enhancing their coding skills through Scratch, developing engaging games and animations. Students have participated in tutorials and, more importantly, applied their problem-solving abilities to experiment with block-based coding algorithms. A key advantage of the three-year cycle is that experienced coders mentor newcomers to block coding, while simultaneously tackling more advanced coding challenges themselves.

Cycle 3 has ventured into the exciting world of Tinkercad. Following several tutorials on the 3D design platform, students have embarked on free-choice projects, gaining confidence in their abilities. They are now designing their own 3D characters, which can be used as board game pieces. These creations have been outstanding, demonstrating both creativity and technical skill.

Semester Two sees a considerable shift in the music teaching focus. Students have been deeply engaged in rhythmic exploration and we now move this set of skills into a more melodic and harmonic focussed realm. Students engage with concepts of rhythm, married to harmony, melody, form and texture. Students begin identifying patterns and shapes of which music is mathematically and geometrically littered. This set-order becomes a recognisable set of patterns, that I hope children will begin to see when away from the music space, applying the lessons of and from nature, of which music is one, across their entire life-experience.