REMEMBRANCE DAY
On Monday, 11th November, our school commemorated Remembrance Day at the town square, as part of the community event organised by the Greenock Village Community Association.
Our students made us all exceptionally proud. We had numerous members of the public telling us, after the ceremony, how impressed they were with the students and how well they behaved. Janice Roberts, Education Lead from our Gawler Office, also asked for her congratulations to be passed along for their exemplary behaviour.
Prior to the event, all students helped to create our school wreath. The green ‘leaves’ are made from the hands of all our students and staff. On the back of each of the poppies, children wrote one of the names of each of the local men and women who served. Our wreath is now part of Tam’s Remembrance Day display in the library.
Anthony McLean from the GVCA must be commended for his organisation of the event and for his lead role in the ‘bring them home’ project, which has resulted in 150 names being added to the Greenock war memorial. These ‘lost’ names are men and women from the local community who served in World War 1 and World War 2.
Anthony was keen for our students to feature in important roles during the ceremony. He acknowledges that our students are the future leaders of society, so it important for them to understand our history, to make connections to their community and to learn from the mistakes of the past.
STUDENTS WITH ROLES:
* Ode: Jordan
* Flag marshals: Spencer, Luka, Jett
* Wreath orderlies: Asha, Anika
* Names of the fallen: Madison, Otto, Asha
* Wreath bearers: Henry, Jacob
These 10 students all did an outstanding job in their roles: we could not have asked for better representatives of our school. Our students are pictured below with:
* Anthony McLean - Greenock Village Community Association
* Ashton Hurn – Member for Schubert
* Bill O’Brien – Mayor of Light Regional Council
Gail Holland
Principal
Hello,
Welcome to week 5! I hope that you have all been travelling along ok. Children have been asking me if my Christmas tree is up and somebody told me that it is 41 days until Christmas. My goodness I can’t believe we are thinking about all of that already!
Our FOG group has held a couple of events over the past couple of weeks. We have had another successful pancake breakfast, they’ve helped at sports day, held a uniform pop up shop and we have had a morning tea. Our playgroup continues to meet on Tuesday mornings. There always seems to be action in all corners and ways to meet people and be involved. Thank you so much to the families who continue to serve our community to make it a safe, welcoming place. If you would like to be part of this group, know how to help or just what’s happening, please join the FOG group.
I was speaking with a friend the other day and she told me this story. She was at a checkout and there was a person who she knew was on a disability pension. This person could not afford to pay for her groceries so they started to get their carer to put things back. When my friend saw that they were taking out all of their fruit and veggies, she couldn’t let that happen so she offered to pay. A lady at the next checkout saw all of this unfolding as well and she too also offered to pay something towards this person's shopping. By the end, the person could buy everything and they were all in tears. My friend said it was such a beautiful moving moment with total strangers, but she felt that she needed to offer this person help. She may never see them again, but she knows that she made a difference that day.
Have you ever been on the receiving end of a random act of kindness? How did it make you feel? What about when you perform a random act of kindness? How does that make you feel? It can be an uplifting feeling can’t it? These actions can be big or small and generally unexpected, but it is often the small gestures that can make the biggest impact on a person's day. These simple generous acts can bring joy, hope, happiness and make somebody feel special.
By performing random acts of kindness you show people that you care, that they are important, they are worthwhile, they are appreciated and supported. This care brings optimism and boosts happiness. Think about a time when this happened to you? Did you feel valued? Worthy? Happy? Safe?
Small acts of kindness can make a big impact not only on other people’s lives but on our own too by improving our overall well-being. Showing others kindness has its personal benefits for us. They make us feel happier, gives us a sense of purpose, strengthen our connections and can even be known to reduce stress levels and blood pressure. Often we only help our family and friends, but I challenge you to offer your kindness to strangers.
This is the time of year where people struggle when there is the expectations of gifts and events. Giving to charities, helping others pay bills, or donating goods to help others can be really good ways of showing care and kindness. Today I was part of a discussion about emergency relief in the Barossa. There is a real need in our community for our people young and old. I encourage you to look for ways to offer kindness to those who may be struggling, need a lift or maybe they just need a thank you. You don’t know and don’t need to know their story, but I can guarantee you if you are led to them, they will need that generous gesture and you will have no idea how it will touch them.
At our school we value Kindness and encourage everyone to be generous towards one another. It warms my heart to see the random acts of kindness that are performed regularly in our community. Let’s keep it up and look for all kinds of randomness to show care.
Have a great week and see you on the run!
Cheers,
Jo
