Last week Kylie Kennewell (Cycle 1 Preschool teacher), Susan Harris Evans (Assistant Principal) and myself attended the 29th International Montessori Congress in Bangkok, Thailand organised by the Association Montessori Internationale (AMI).

It was wonderful to be a part of this international event which only occurs every three years and hasn't been held since 2018 due to the Covid pandemic.  Close to 800 delegates from 56 countries around the world attended the four day Congress. 

The Congress was opened by HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn of Thailand who is the sister of the current King of Thailand. It was incredible to witness the opening ceremony with speeches from the Princess and the Education Minister of Thailand. Thai children also performed at the opening ceremony impressively dancing traditional Thai dances.

Lynne Lawrence (AMI Executive Director) and Alain Tschudin (AMI Board President) addressed the attendees and keynote presentations were offered by notable Montessorians and  global thought leaders.

Sixty six break out sessions were held on one of the days with a huge variety of topics being offered ranging from digital technologies, culturally inclusive practices, neuroscience, the Montessori Dementia program and cosmic education to only name a few. Susan, Kylie and myself attended a variety of sessions coming away with new learnings, ideas and feeling greatly inspired.

We thank the school Board for supporting our professional development and providing this incredible learning opportunity. It was certainly a fulfilling and memorable experience, of which we are all truly grateful.

Cathy France

Principal

We are enjoying the colour purple for the beginning of this term. A special highlight was making purple juice using a manual draw string blender! The children built up their muscles making the juice, and then enjoyed engaging their senses tasting the refreshing watermelon and berry juice. 

The new children to our preschool have settled well into the routines of the classroom and have enjoyed working with a variety of activities. The four seasons in one week aspects of the weather has been a great introduction to the weather focus we have this term. It has been amazing to see the interest and knowledge the children have when learning about The Solar System. The children began by learning about the role of the Sun and how it plays a part in the production of food for both animals and plants and that it gives us warmth and light.

“The sun lights up the whole world” – Luca

“The sun looks like a star too”- Billy

“The sun has flashing fire, it is bright and lights up the day” -Sigrun

We also explored how the Earth changes from night to day and the time that it takes to turn and move away from the sun.

The extended day children explored the artist Wassily Kadinsky and used his “Several Circles” abstract artwork as inspiration. They noticed that the circles were like planets and proceeded to create planets and the solar system of their own design.

Another aspect of our learning has been an introduction to the Phases of the Moon and learning the names of the different stages. Also, how the Moon plays a role in our weather and the way time occurs each day.

“ The sun gets covered by the moon” – Jasper

“Usually the moon comes out at night but sometimes you can see it In the daytime” – Eloise

“Rockets and astronauts have gone to the moon” - Axel

Food preparation, serving, eating, cleaning and washing up are regularly practised in the Cycle One technology/practical life program. The children peel, grate, chop, dice, whip, weigh, measure, knead, and mix ingredients to prepare for cooking. There is no shortage of helpers to create our weekly dishes and there is always enthusiasm about the eating. Also popular, is the role of ‘server’ and each week two students take turns to serve their classmates.

Recently we made potato gems, a recipe inspired by Corey. Finnley added “Potato gems are my favourite”. Alice who was also a fan of the potato gems told us “I also really liked the fruit juice, lemonade and the muffins”. Chloe commented “I like cutting, peeling and eating”. Elysia said “I like the stirring”.

We have had a wonderful beginning to Term 3. We welcome Mahlia and Madeleine to our class who have both moved up from Cycle 1 this term. Both Cycle 2 classes have a continent focus on Antarctica. We began looking at maps in the atlas, exploring the polar regions and understanding the differences between the Arctic and Antarctica and more recently researching Antarctic fauna.

The students have been working with different Montessori materials for grammar, understanding the different parts of speech, with a particular focus on prepositions. Some of the older students have been working with the sentence analysis materials to build very detailed and interesting sentences.

As part of the maths curriculum we have been working with money, understanding values and making quantities. We are looking forward to what will be a very busy and exciting term ahead. 

Coffeehouse Cabaret 2023

In Term 3 the Cycle 4 students prepared, rehearsed and performed the Coffeehouse Cabaret.

What a tremendous effort and collaboration from all the teams to make three nights of three plays come to fruition. The students demonstrated their dedication not only in performing on stage but also by taking up multiple responsibilities in various areas. Production design included sound and lights, costumes, and props. The administration team handled all things advertising from designing tickets, posters, and programs to promoting the event and attracting our great audience. In the audience were the dedicated parents who supported the late nights, line rehearsing and costume selection.

The catering crew put efforts into designing a three-course menu with dishes tailored to each play with great attention to detail.

Lastly, the labouring roadies deserve credit for their hard work in setting up the stage, tables, and chairs, ensuring that everything was in place for the event to run smoothly.

Such teamwork and dedication are essential in pulling off successful theatrical productions and memorable performances!

Here is a recap of the three plays:

Luke Lloyd: Alienoid by John Armstrong

Luke is smart, funny, shy and imaginative - and not of the same species as the rest of his class. Luke thinks that his father was an alien, which to him explains a lot. As Luke navigates school and home relationships, experience the world inside his mind brought to vivid life by this wonderful ensemble.

Lord of the Pies by Clint Snyder

A pie shop erupts into panic after Franny, an eccentric customer, announces the arrival of the apocalypse. Franny starts to reconstruct society (called Frannyland) in the tiny pie shop and takes out anyone who stands in her way with baby food and scotch tape.

This play full of hilarious and quirky characters brought to life by a dedicated crew kept the audience laughing.

Cinderella

An over-the-top re-telling of the classic tale of Cinderella. You know the story; you know the characters. But you have not known it like this before: The ‘Beautiful’ Step Sisters, the Don, the Fairy Godmother, Prince and Cinderella made for evening entertainment like we have never seen before.

No doubt there is some Joni Mitchell/Counting Crows' music being sung in the homes of Montessori families. This will be followed by some Fleetwood Mac and then Simon & Garfunkel, so the nostalgic bug might catch on.  

During music lessons the children have been working on understanding and describing the musical elements, any further encouragement or conversation around these elements are always a way of furthering the retention and practice of these concepts.  

We work with 7 musical elements, being Melody (the tune of any song and the horizontal structure of music); Harmony (the vertical structure of music, where more than 1 note is played simultaneously); Form/Structure (the construction of music into its sections, ie - verse and chorus etc); Duration (anything related to timing, include note values and time signatures); Texture (the layering of voices or instruments within an ensemble or recording); Tone Colour (the actual sounds instruments produce – wooden, metallic, air driven, string driven etc) Dynamic (the rise and fall of volume within a music context). All music contains these elements, so within the music classroom, these become the focus of any research or study that the children are engaged in. 

Throughout 2023, students are focussing on the various time signatures used. Preschool, Cycle 1 & Cycle 2 are working on the Simple time signatures of 2/4, ¾ and 4/4, whereas Cycle 3 tackle the Compound time signatures, including 6/8, 9/8 & 12/8. Music tends to fall into patterns of 2 or 3, so these help to consolidate the listening skills of the children. Have a try to determine this yourself when listening to music. 

On Friday 9th June a dozen parents from The Hills Montessori School community, braved the elements as we were fortunate to be part of a guided walk and talk with David Booth, a Warumunga/Yuggera man with a strong connection to Ngarrindjeri/Peramangk people through his partner and children. We walked around Woorabinda Lake and Bushland Reserve on Kaurna country.

David showed and taught us about quartz; used as a cutting tool, sap which had many purposes such as when melted, the liquid was used as a powerful glue. The reeds from around the lake, once opened, contain a soft, dry, cotton like product that was used to start fires – a valuable trading commodity by the Peramangk people.

Bottlebrush, banksia, and other blossoms were brushed over hands then the sweet nectar licked for a treat. Aboriginal people would watch the birds and kangaroos strip plants and know something must have been good and safe to eat.

We found wattle seed pods; the women would gather the seeds and other nuts, grind them, add water, and make damper which was more like a pita bread before the use of flour. The nuts and seeds had a high nutritional value.

David spotted some pandanus trees, the leaves are used, while green, in weaving as well as the reeds from the lake. We looked for a sheoak tree; its needle like leaves were chewed to stimulate saliva, quenching thirst.

He shared many yarns of stories told and passed down by his and his partner’s families. They would sit quietly and listen, take it all in, as we could have listened for the rest of the day.

Thank you to the school for this experience being gifted to our parent community so we too could be involved in Reconciliation Week.

Karina Hebbard (parent)

HMS RAP committee member

Thank you to Parent Reps Emily, Kate, Alexis, Jo and Bernadette for hosting the recent Sausage Sizzle. It was a great way to end the first week for Term 3!

Yultiwirra students brought home a personalised physical invitation for their Grandparents or Special Person last week. An electronic version was also sent out to parents via Skoolbag and we encourage families to forward these invitiations onto Grandparents and special people.

Cycle 1 students will host their Grandparents or Special Person on Wednesday 23rd August from 9.30 - 11.30am

Cycles 2 & 3 students will host their Grandparents or Special Person on Thursday 24th August from 9.30 - 11.30am. See attached invitation that is coming home today.

Preschool students will receive more information about which day to attend this week. 

We invite Grandparents and Special Persons to visit us at The Hills Montessori School 12 Anderson Road, Aldgate. They will have the opportunity to meet class teachers and to be entertained by some of the students. Morning Tea will also be served.

Our Program: 

Assembly from 9.30am

Morning tea from 10.00am

Time in the classroom 10.15-11.30am

This year, Grandparents & Special Persons’ Day coincides with Book Week; we encourage Grandparents & Special People to bring their favourite children’s book to read during their visit.

Please share the details with you child/ren's Grandparents or special person and RSVP via the Skoolbag form sent last week. Alternatively please email reception@montessori.sa.edu.au or call 8339 6842 to RSVP, by Friday 18th August.