ENewsletter

From the Principal

Dear Parents and Caregivers

It is with equal measures of sadness and excitement that I formally (but temporarily) farewell Ebony in this newsletter. Today is Ebony's last day with us before she embarks on Maternity Leave and then parenthood! Ebony joined Crafers Primary School in 2021 as the first Pastoral Care Worker ever. Since that time, she has woven care and support through our community via children, families and staff. We wish Ebony and her family the very best of early parenting experiences blessed with much sleep, easy feeding and only the necessary nappies. Ebony will return to us in 2025 and I'm sure will pop in for a visit sometime between now and then, perhaps with little extra bundle of delight.

Whilst Ebony is away, we are very pleased to welcome Amy Hepple into the role Pastoral Care Worker. Amy has worked in this capacity in other schools for the past four years. This week, she has been working alongside Ebony to get to know the children, understand the needs and support structures and begin to build relationships. We very much look forward to working with Amy and being able to share in her expertise and knowledge.

Speaking of new people, I would like to introduce our 2024 Governing Council. In doing this, we thank and farewell two members of Council, Penny Conor (Secretary 2023) and Laura Morgan both of whom were excellent contributors and will be missed. This year, we welcome a group of new Receptions parents, including Alice Roberts-Thomson (Secretary 2024), Marnie Innis, Carl Bowey and Nataliia Sergiienko. Together, with our existing 2023 members and again led by Dean Topham as Chairperson, we look forward to a positive and forward focussed year.

List of Members 2024

Deam Topham - Chairperson
Casey Hayes - Deputy Chairperson
Jamie Fry - Treasurer
Alice Roberts-Thomson - Secretary
Tara Graham-Cochrane - Facilities Committee
Sally Barton - Parents and Friends Committee
Asha Walsh
Marnie Innis
Carl Bowey
Nataliia Sergiienko
Staff - Chan Welfare and Kathy Smith

I would also like to thank Tara and the Facilities Team for organising a very productive Working Bee last Sunday. A number of families, complete with children attended. During the day, they were able to install the next platform to the cubby, dead head our agapanthus (no small job), de-cobweb in loads of places and flush out the water play area near the sandpit. Whilst Hannah does an absolutely excellent job of the grounds, they are quite extensive and this extra help makes an enormous difference. I receive many positive remarks about the gardens and grounds during school tours; it's lovely to be able to share how many people contribute to making it so.

I wish everyone a pleasant and safe break.

Kind regards

Chan

Introducing our Governing Council: Marnie Innis

New member of CPS Governing Council Marnie is a former ecologist turned high school science teacher. She was a public servant in New South Wales for the better part of a decade, working in the Royal Botanic Gardens Herbarium, and forestry policy and regulation. Marnie and partner Jarrah moved to the Adelaide Hills seven years ago, and have since been joined by Thea (5), Zoe (3) and Cleo (9 months). Jarrah is an emergency department nurse at Mount Barker Hospital. In their free time the family enjoys visiting Mount Lofty Botanic Gardens, or taking short bushwalks to observe local birds, plants, rocks, fungi, and the seasonal changing scenery of the Hills. Marnie has degrees in business, science, and teaching, and currently works as a relief teacher. She is passionate about literacy and learner engagement and motivation. Marnie brings a wealth of experience in policy, operations, and governance in environment and education spheres, and is looking forward to contributing to CPS Governing Council with diverse skills and experience.

An update from Ebony

As Easter approaches, so does an exciting time for me and my husband - the birth of our first child. We are looking forward to welcoming our baby in mid-April, and as a result, today is my last day at Crafers Primary School for now. I will be taking 3 terms leave and plan on being back at the beginning of 2025. In the meantime, I will leave you, your children and the school community fin the capable hands of Amy Hepple, who I have had the pleasure of showing around our school this week. Please see an introduction from her below.

Hey, my name is Amy.

I have been a Pastoral Care Worker for the past 3 years working in two different schools down south.

I really enjoy playing and drawing with my students, while having a good chat.

Fun facts: I love to sing, play chess, and draw.

My passion is for the wellbeing of everyone. Please feel free to contact me, my door is always open.

Days on site: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday.

My email: amy.hepple479@schools.sa.edu.au

From the Autism Inclusion Teacher

We have recently purchased a range of books that highlight the diversity of people with autism. They are also great resources for any classroom or home environment. Today I am showcasing three of them.

The first two - 'The Green-Eyed Goblin’ and ‘The Red Beast’ are helpful books that are dedicated to support neurodivergent children. One is about how to control feelings of jealousy, while the other is about ways to cope with angry feelings.

The third book is ‘My Friend with Autism', which has a lovely storyline which encourage tolerance and understanding with peers. It also highlights unique abilities and offers peers different ways to develop connections and friendships.

These will be shared in classes and will be available to borrow after the holidays.

Thank you,
Kim Atkinson

Dream and Lead Leadership Conference

On the 29th of February, 11 of our students - 8 being student leaders and 3 being additional students - attended the Dream and Lead Leadership Conference at the Adelaide Convention Centre. The adults who accompanied us were Matthew Summerton (Teacher and parent) and John Nielsen (Deputy Principal and teacher).

At the conference, we learned about different ways we can show leadership. We listened to six presentations, all by different people. The main hosts were Amanda Marshall, Wil Massara, and Bonnie. The guest presenters were Alexis MacDonald and Felicity Graham.

To start the day, we all met at school at 7:30 and drove to Belair train station to catch a train into the city. When we arrived, we walked into the auditorium and found our seats. After a few presentations, we left for a break to eat our food. After a 25-minute break, we went back inside to find our seats and participate in more activities. At 1 o’clock, we went out for our second break. During this break, some exciting things happened…

First, we ate our lunch, then we had some photos taken, and finally, we met some police who were on horseback! We all huddled around to pat them. After our lunch break, we went back inside to listen to a few more presentations.

Throughout the day, we played games, did activities, and most importantly, learned so much! Every student who attended had a great day. The conference was an amazing experience. We are very thankful to the hosts, guests, and crew who made this wonderful day happen. We are also thankful to the school and the teachers for allowing us to go.

Written by Izzy Fry, Gemma Barolo, and Evie Sutton

The Next Andy Warhol

In Room 10 this term we have been exploring the techniques of famous pop artists. We have looked at artists like Andy Warhol to Takashi Murakami. Students have delved into contrasting and complimentary colours and how this impacts art work. The results have been breathtaking, showcasing the creativity that is so rich in our cohort.

Room 12

Room 12 have been exploring the tricky arts of watercolour painting and narrative writing. in both cases we have been exploring how to have just enough but not too much of either water or words.

Room 12 Design and Tech

For this newsletter we would like to share some of the work we are doing in Design and Tech. At the moment we have two projects on the go. Project 1 is about recycling, being able to repurpose articles that might be put into landfill. The photo shows some examples of the repurposing we have done. Old containers have been turned into attractive containers for plants, or stationery. As you can see in the photos, there is a hanging basket made of plastic bottles, a stationery container made of a box or a can, a basket woven from paper, various plant holders and a model farm house.

Project 2, which is still in progress, is to design a land vehicle from recyclable materials using rubber band power. The photo shows two completed vehicles, which travel well and meet the criteria of using rubber bands as a power source.

To support our work we have done design briefs, which describe how we have built our models. We had to describe what materials were used and how the model or reuse was constructed.

While making our Design and Tech projects we had a lot of fun creating, and designing our projects.

Raife Kitt

Crafers Primary School

Newsletter 28 March 2024