ENewsletter

From the Principal

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

As the term comes to an end I would once again like to take this opportunity to celebrate all of the wonderful things we were able to achieve together in this wonderful school community;

Our students continue to demonstrate their commitment and courage towards ‘having a go’ and ‘giving their best effort’ on a daily basis, as well as engaging in student led learning alongside their teachers.

Student Leadership and Agency: Continues to go from strength to strength with student led assemblies, New Family and Principal tours, and community connections including; lunch time clubs (huge participation rates and support from staff), Buddy Class programs, and peer mediators in the yard.

Continued staff professionalism, work ethic and support in providing engaging and individualised learning opportunities for our students.

Pre-Service Teachers: Congratulations and thank you to our four pre-service teachers (Veniss Yap – Room 1, Savannah Boag – Room 2, Karen Smith – Room 6 and Alexandra Murphy – Room 7) who have been with us for the past five weeks. Their collective efforts in providing engaging and hands on learning for our students has been wonderful. The future of teaching is in very good hands!

The importance of Mindsets: Fabulous results are coming for our students in Year 1-6 who have participated in Progressive Achievement Testing (PAT), NAPLAN, and Phonics screening testing. Well done!

Respect Value Focus: A fantastic process to bring our values to life through visual posters, social stories, and awards acknowledging those who go above and beyond in actioning what it means to model respect in our school community.

Kindergarten Visits: We had a wonderful visit from 25 students and staff from the Stirling District Kindergarten. Thank you to Mark and the Crafers Primary Concert Band, Elke, Kathy, Caitlyn, and our student teachers for providing a fun-filled morning of music, play, and the ‘Crafers way’ of enjoying our school.

Mid-Year Receptions: Our 16 wonderful students have settled exceptionally well in to school life thanks to the caring guidance and expertise of their teachers Katie and Kathy as well as the support of our wonderful senior students.

Assemblies: A terrific showcase of public speaking, instrumental music, and quality learning opportunities.

Book Week Parade and Grandparents/Special Friends Morning: A fantastic showcase of student leadership, learning, colour, creativity, and fun.

Year 3-4 Volunteer Club: A great initiative that see the future of our school leadership in a positive and engaging way.

Festival of Music: Our Choir, Band and Orchestra members have been out in force over the past fortnight. From the mid-north to the Adelaide Entertainment Centre, they have literally delighted audiences over and over again with their artistic skills and brilliance!

Volunteers: Thank you for generously donating their time and expertise in providing wonderful experiences for our school community to enjoy, including listening to our students read, attending excursions, camps, as well as running lunchtime clubs.

Parents and Friends: Working hard to promote and prepare our Father’s Day Breakfast, Book Week Stall, and School Disco events.

Pedal Prix Parent Team: Training and coaching our students each Tuesday and Thursday morning. We are National Champions and that is something to be immensely proud of!

Uniform Shop: Continuing to keep our stock up to date and keeping our students looking sharp.

Facilities: The first water bubbler has been installed and it looks amazing!

Happy Holidays Please take the time to enjoy the upcoming break and hopefully some sunshine. We look forward to seeing you all again Term 4.

Kind regards
Shaun Barber

New Water Bubbler!

Doesn't the new water bubbler looking spiffing! Thanks to the wonderful fundraising efforts of our Parents & Friends Committee and a generous anonymous donation which has largely contributed to our purchase, just in time for summer.

Upcoming Events

At Crafers Primary, we show Respect...

This term, we have concentrated on our core value of ‘respect’ and its significance within our school community. Together, we created posters and a social story to illustrate what it means to show respect for one another and our environment. Please enjoy and share with each other over the holidays.

A Social Story

A note from Ebony

As the school holidays and warmer weather approach, it’s a wonderful time for students and families to unwind, connect with each other, and engage in activities they love. We have had a big focus on respect this term, and I’d encourage you to find ways these holidays to continue that conversation and support your children to find ways to show respect at home or in the community. Some ideas for this at home are listening carefully, helping out with jobs around the house, using manners, sharing and respecting house rules and expectations. Ideas for showing respect in the community are greeting people kindly, taking turns, picking up rubbish and not littering, being kind to others and volunteering for local events.

Our Science Experiments - Room 8

In Science this term we learnt about fair tests. A fair test means you only change one thing (the independent variable) and you keep everything else the same. The things that change because of the experiment are called dependent variables.

Our first experiment was about seedlings. We gave different plants different amounts of water to see how they would grow. The ones that got too much water flooded and didn’t even germinate, and the ones with only one or two millilitres a day didn’t grow either. We found that the right amount of water is very important.

Our second experiment was about mould on bread. This wasn’t really a fair test because everyone brought in different bread on different days, so the results were a bit messy. Some bread grew mould quickly and some took longer, but it wasn’t reliable because we didn’t control the variables properly.

Our third experiment was swabbing places in the school and growing what we collected on agar jelly in petri dishes. We found heaps of bacteria and fungus on things like keyboards, iPads and door handles. Even people’s hands had lots of different colours of bacteria, and some still grew even after washing hands! This test wasn’t really fair either because the only things we kept the same were the heat, light and agar.

In the end, we learnt that doing science experiments is actually pretty hard. You have to be careful with your measurements and your variables or else your results won’t be clear.

By Eamon and Harvey

Regional Festival of Music Concerts

On a bright Monday morning, excitement filled the air as our students prepared to display their remarkable talents. Our students showcased their talents at the Morning Breakfast on Monday, September 8th, before heading to Gladstone Primary to meet Indra Benson and the McLaren Flat choir. There, they performed alongside the talented Simon Smith on piano. We then arrived at Napperby Campsite on Monday to settle in for the week.

On Tuesday, we attended the Northern Festival, where we had the pleasure of performing with the Port Pirie School Choirs. Under the watchful guidance of our conductors, Ben Graefe and Indra Benson, we rehearsed while Miss Shephard served as stage manager for two nights.

On Wednesday, we performed at Napperby Primary School under the attentive supervision of Cathy Lange, the Assistant Director of Music. Our magnificent conductors led us through the 2025 songs. Later that afternoon, we took the stage with East of the Ranges schools for a rehearsal and concert, once again under the expert guidance of Ben Graefe and Indra Benson.

On behalf of the school, I would like to express our heartfelt thanks to the talented Mr Simon Smith for being our accompanist once again this year. We thoroughly enjoyed collaborating with you and eagerly anticipate working together in 2026.

We also extend our gratitude to Thyra Wilton, Tammie Christie, Tanja Barton, Aimee Thurley, Cara Oosterbaan, and Mr Nielsen for providing transportation to and from our events.

Additionally, I want to thank the parents and families of all the children who traveled to support our regional concerts. A massive shout-out goes to Indra Benson, her team, and the McLaren Flat choir for joining us; we truly enjoyed the experience.

We are grateful to the Port Pirie and East of the Ranges schools for inviting us to share the Northern Festival Stage with them.

I can hardly wait to showcase our talents at the music concert on November 4th. I sincerely hope that the entire community will join us, and be inspired to participate next year!

Pam Shephard
Choir Director

"Going to Port Pirie was amazing. We performed at different schools and they loved our singing. Being behind the curtain was scary but it was amazing to sing to the crowd. I encourage the year 4s to go next year!" Freya H

"I enjoyed going to the schools in Port Pirie and performing." Grace F

"I enjoyed performing at the schools and the walk." Eliza D

"Great experience, and meeting new friends." Matilda O

"The opportunities we got to be a choreographers, and the icecream!" Hannah B

"We made new connections and had fun bush walks through the gorge." Summer W

"I enjoyed the opportunities we got as soloists." Pippa C

"I loved the experience, meeting new people, and eating ice cream." Harriet B

"I enjoyed the beautiful scenery, meeting new people and friends and having fun!" Raife

Congratulations to Lachie Topham!

A heartfelt congratulations to Lachie Topham for taking part in the 100 Strong Festival of Music Orchestra! Participating in this program requires countless hours of rehearsals and practice, along with unwavering dedication and attention to detail. We are incredibly proud to have Crafers Primary represented at such a remarkable event as the Festival of Music 2025.

Junior Primary Indonesian Classes

This term in Indonesian, Junior Primary Students explored colors through songs, games, and artistic activities. In this instance, we are focusing on the color “ungu.” Can you guess what color that might be?

2025 Pedal Prix

Well, that is a wrap on the 2025 Pedal Prix season. What an adventure it has been.

For our last event, a condensed number of students took The Comet to Murray Bridge to compete in a 24 hour long marathon race. It was a wild ride! We were challenged to go beyond our comfort zones, we pushed hard for safe consistent speed in the trike, we experienced sleep deprivation, we raced blindly around a congested track in the dark, we were asked to act in a manner befitting of a Crafers Primary School representative despite being so tired and exhausted!! We may not have come home with the win this time, but wow, we truly did such a great job.

So with that, I thank the effort of all the children and parents involved in Pedal Prix this year. We have experienced and learnt so much. All the kids are stronger, fitter, more resilient, more compassionate, and more respectful. We race as one, we raced as the Crafers PS Pedal Prix team.

*Watch this space, we need riders for 2026! If your child is currently in year 4 or 5, then they are ready to join the team. We will arrange both parent and student info sessions next term, and look forward to answering all and any questions, as the opportunities that arise from participating in Pedal Prix are invaluable and far reaching.

Jess Topham
Pedal Prix Coordinator

Crafers Band Seeks Fresh Faces!

Mark Hudson oversees the Junior and Senior bands, welcoming new members who play brass or woodwind instruments. Joining is free for interested children.

The band plays crucial music during assemblies and various events, and embarks on trips throughout the year to perform at nearby kindergartens and schools.

Discover why children have a blast in this promotional video: Why CPS Band?