It's been a busy few weeks!

If I look back over the past few weeks since our last Newsletter it's quite incredible to think about all of the activities and experiences that have been happening in the school.

Since our last Newsletter the Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) committee has met for a second time and between this committee and the Cutural Understandings staff committee some great opportunities have been organised for our community.  We've had David Booth come to visit and present the beautiful art work that Yultiwirra students worked on with David late last year.  David also spoke at a sharing assembly and played the didgeridoo or yidaki.  We are excited to offer for parents, a cultural walk and talk with David in the coming weeks. Classes are working on reconciliation activities culminating with a walk for reconciliation later this week.

Three of our Cycle 4 staff recently attended a Montessori Schools and Centres Australia (MSCA) three day professional development program held at Brisbane Montessori School for Montessori educators of adolescent students, from around Australia.

Our Year 6 students visited Wairoa for half a day to strengthen bonds between Cycles 3 and 4 students and for Year 6 students to get a taste of life in the middle school setting.

We held our AGM, presented and disseminated our 2022 Annual Report which I hope our community enjoyed reading and looking at all of the wonderful experiences of 2022. I was honoured to be inducted as a Life Member of the school following the AGM.

At the end of this week Cycle 1 Primary students are visiting the Adelaide Botanic Gardens to participate in a series of activities in celebration of World Environment Day.

We are very much looking forward to holding a special lunch at Howard Vineyard on Saturday 17 June to celebrate the School's 45th Birthday.  I encourage parents to come along to help celebrate this milestone in our school's history. You can purchase your tickets at this link. 

I sincerely hope that you can join us.

Cathy France

Principal

This week we are celebrating National Reconciliation Week. While Aboriginal culture is key to our curriculum throughout the year, National Reconciliation Week gives students the opportunity to come together and deeply reflect on how each of us can contribute to achieving reconciliation in Australia.

The theme in 2023, Be a Voice for Generations, encourages all Australians to be a voice for reconciliation in tangible ways in our everyday lives – where we live, work and socialise.

Students in our Preschool and lower primary years have explored Reconciliation Week through artwork, story times, Indigenous language and reflecting on their classroom Acknowledgement to Country. Students in our upper primary and middle school have explored what it means to live on Country and researched Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who have shaped Australia. Our older students have also shared their ideas for ways in which Australians can use their power, their words and their actions to create a better, more just Australia for everyone. Cycle 4 have also integrated their study on poetry with their learning about the Stolen Generation.

This week we came together as a community for our school-wide art installation, which is on display in the courtyard. Students in every class have contributed to the installation by weaving together different materials, textures and colours, symbolising the coming together of different histories and perspectives. Parents are invited to come and view the installation in the Yultiwirra courtyard. 

Today we held a special assembly where our Preschool students read an Acknowledgement to Country, we sang and danced to 'Red, Black and Yellow' by Aunty Wedy's Mob, and then headed off on a bushwalk where we talked about what it is to connect with country. 

Thank you to our Cultural Understanding Committee for their efforts and orgnaisation with additional activities this week, which gives us an opportunity to reflect on the role that each of us plays in building  communities that value Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, histories, cultures, and futures. 

#NRW2023 #beavoice #reconciliation 

We welcomed David Booth back to our school to help us unveil a whole-school mural which we began work on last year. David is an indigenous artist and performer who worked within each class at our Yultiwirra campus to further develop our knowledge and understanding of histories and culture as well as giving students the opportunity to make meaningful connection with Aboriginal people. 

As well as taking workshops in each class which integrated storytelling, exploring indigenous artefacts, cooking food including damper, jewellery making and teaching dance, David also organised art classes with students centred on storytelling and the way the artwork is used as a chronical to convey knowledge of land, events and beliefs of Aboriginal people. 

David has been involved in several local art projects and is skilled in working with young people in the design and creation of murals. David worked with students to create a whole school mural project which every student has been involved with, which will be hung in our school hall.  

Thank you David for sharing your time, knowledge and talents with us and for guiding us in creating this beautiful piece of art. 

Last Tuesday evening following the AGM, our Principal Cathy France was inducted as a Life Member of our School.  Susan Harris Evans (Assistant Principal) and Jade Crathern (Board President) spoke about Cathy and her work, achievements, service to the school and why she is worthy of this recognition.

For those people in our community who were unable to attend, below is Cathy's acceptance speech.

I would like to thank the School Board and community for this Life Membership. I am very honoured, touched and appreciative to receive this recognition for my service to the school.

2023 is proving to be a big year for me. It is my 30th year of working in the school and my 20th year working as Principal.  At the end of Term 1 this year, as many of you know, I travelled to Delft in The Netherlands and as I was invited to speak at the Association Montessori Internationale (AMI) Annual Global Meeting in my role as Board Chair of the Australian Montessori representative body; Montessori Schools and Centre Australia  (MSCA).  It was an amazing experience attending this international event both personally and professionally and I was extremely proud to speak on an international stage about the achievements of MSCA in the past 3½ years since the organisation’s inception and to also talk about Montessori education in Australia. Two weeks ago we had a big moment and proudly launched The Hills Montessori School (HMS) Foundation after I have worked on that project for nearly two years with a wonderful team of people. In Term 3, I am looking forward to travelling to Bangkok to attend the AMI International Congress with a few school and MSCA colleagues.  And now I have been inducted as an HMS Life Member.  So I reiterate, it is a very big year!

In 1993 I arrived back from the UK after living and teaching there for four years and began the process of applying for teaching positions in Adelaide.  I answered a very tiny advertisement that was seeking a Cycle 3 teacher at HMS. I didn’t know anything about Montessori education! I was fortunate to get an interview and I think I probably asked the panel more questions than they asked of me and at the end of the interview I was intrigued and wanted to know more about Montessori.  I won the Cycle 3 teaching position and in 1994 I started at the school teaching a Cycle 2/3/4 class!  There were eleven students in the class ranging from Years 3-7 and our classroom was in what is now known as the Infant Program room. There were moments in those early years when I wondered, “what have I done?” I had certainly never worked in a school such as HMS.  Many years on, who would have thought that one of those students in my very first class would end up being the President of our School Board (Jade Crathern) and subsequently my boss!

In those initial years, as I learnt more about the Montessori philosophy, the values resonated with my own personal values and the Montessori beliefs about how children learn and how children are treated, were very much in line with my personal educational philosophy.  I had this overwhelming feeling that ‘I had come home’.  I felt that I had ‘found my tribe’ and I was where I was meant to be.

When I started at HMS in 1994 the school was quite different.  The car park was dirt, the courts area in the bush was dirt and there was no grass area, there was no hall, no library or admin building.  The school’s administration was located in a very small, old transportable building that wasn’t very nice!  There weren’t many rules in the school when I started, there was a wonderful pioneering spirit within the community and all of the staff could fit around the kitchen table!

Today in 2023, we cater for students from Infant Program to Year 9, we have two campuses, a bitumen car park and courts, a beautiful hall, a greatly improved admin centre, probably a few more rules and A LOT more government accountability, compliance and red tape! And today, our fifty three staff definitely can’t fit around the kitchen table!  So there have been many changes!

I’ve gone from being the youngest person on staff to what Paul Noon likes to call the ‘Top 5’!  It’s a Top 5 you don’t want to be in!!  I’ve dedicated half of my life to this school, and I couldn’t imagine, and wouldn’t want, to be anywhere else.

Last year when I was interviewing new staff one of them asked me, “What do you love about the school?”  No applicant out of the hundreds of people I have interviewed over the years, in all of my time as Principal, has ever asked that question!  But what a great question to ask your prospective employer!

I found it very easy to answer.  I told the applicant that I love that our school:

·        is situated in the beautiful Adelaide Hills - surrounded by bushland, nature, wildlife and birds;

·        is a unique and wonderful safe and nurturing place for young people to learn and develop;

·        was founded by visionary, passionate, determined and dedicated people.  I love the story of how our school began; and

·        follows the Montessori philosophy, methodology and curriculum which directs our work, and provides guidelines and values for us to follow in our important work of teaching and learning, and working with and guiding young people.

But most importantly, the thing I love the most about our school is the people.  I have been blessed to have worked with some amazing staff and parents over the years.  I’ve made lifelong friends along the way and there truly is a genuine ‘sense of family’. I love being a part of our Montessori family.

It is wonderful to work with like-minded people who believe in, follow and dedicate themselves to the Montessori philosophy and methodolgy. I love that our staff team genuinely care about each other, support without question and love to laugh and have fun together.

Twenty years ago when I started in the job as Principal there were moments initially of wondering what I had done and questioning why I had left the classroom and my teaching role. But now looking back, I can see what we’ve done together as a staff and community, and I feel really proud.  I haven’t done it on my own.  I am so privileged to lead an amazing team of people who have helped create this unique and wonderful place of learning.

So, I would like to thank you all for the important work that you do; the care, love, passion, loyalty and commitment that you give our school.

Tonight, I would like to particularly thank one person who has supported me throughout my time at the school, and throughout my life – my mum. I love her very much.

In closing – I would like to end and reflect upon my favourite quote from Dr Maria Montessori;  “The child is a hope and promise for humankind”.

Each year when I attend the Year 6 and Year 9 Graduation ceremonies at Yultiwirra and Wairoa (which are my favourite school events) I feel very proud and very reassured.  Our young people are the hope and promise for the future and listening to them speak at Graduation each year, I feel like we are in good hands. They give me hope, they are our promise.

We have given our young graduates:

·        amazing learning experiences and opportunities,

·        in a safe and nurturing place;

·        with adults who care about them;

·        where relationships are the most important thing; and

·        where the focus is on wholistic education – developing the whole child.

It is our hope that when our young people go out into the world, they leave us as fully functioning, independent young people who are passionate, who care, who contribute, who love learning and who know the importance of community.  They certainly demonstrate these qualities at Graduation time each year.

It’s very fulfilling to play a part in this important work and I have to thank The Hills Montessori School for allowing me to be a part of this work for the past 30 years.  I am very grateful for being a part of this community and for receiving the honour of being a Life Member of the school.

Thank you.

We would love you to join us in celebrating 45 years of The Hills Montessori School at our official birthday lunch!

WHEN: Saturday June 17, 12pm for 12.30pm

WHERE: Howard Vineyard, 53 Bald Hills Rd, Nairne

LUNCH: 5 course sharing meal, PLUS dessert. Each guest will receive a drink on arrival (bubbles, beer, wine, soft drink). Any other beverages can be purchased on consumption. Any dietry requirements can be advised of when booking via the link below.  

TICKETS: $98 each. Tickets can be purchased at Humanitix - Purchase tickets HERE.

Please note this is an adult-only event 

RSVP: Tickets can be purchased until 5 June

FURTHER INFO: reception@montessori.sa.edu.au or 8339 6842 

Our Infant Program children have finished their exploration of the colour orange this week. We are excited to begin discovering everything related to the colour green starting next week! 

The children have also started a unique collaborative art project to be showcased in our classroom in recognition and celebration of Reconciliation Week. Each child is actively participating by using their handprints to craft the Aboriginal Flag. With this project we use age appropriate language to  foster a sense of unity, respect, and appreciation for Aboriginal culture among the children.

The Preschool Extended Program children hosted a very special afternoon tea for their mums last week. This was a culmination of many practical life skills and an opportunity for them to practise their independence. The children helped to plan the menu, taking into consideration different dietary needs of their fellow preschool friends and guests. On Monday morning we very busily cooked scones and prepared fruit and vegetable platters. The children excitedly helped to arrange and set the tables like a restaurant and completed their table flower arrangements and personalised placements which their guests took home as gifts. The children loved taking responsibility for serving their guests, making sure that they had plenty to eat and drink! 

Vivienne said: “My mummy felt very special.” 

Axel said: “I love her coming here – all of the parts.” 

Sigrun said:“My mum loved me being the host.” 

Eloise said: “My mum thought it was really special that it was just me and her.” 

George said: “I really loved the Mother’s Day afternoon tea.”

“Can you lift this HEAVY basket up on top of the shelf all by yourself?”

“NO WAY! It’s too heavy!”

 As a group we thought about how we could get a heavy basket of books up on top of a shelf. We had all sorts of ideas but the thing that helped the most, was when we looked back to Ancient Egypt and how the Egyptians used slopes to gradually move big heavy blocks of concrete to build the pyramids. We learnt that these slopes are now referred to as an inclined plane and that it is one type of simple machine. We also learnt that simple machines are things that help to make our work easier. We built our inclined plane with some wood and tested it to ensure we were able to move heavy basket with our simple machine, rather than lift it. 

 Ayushan said: “Simple machines help us with our life.”

Corey said: “A ramp is a type of inclined plane.”

Chloe said: “An inclined plane is a surface that is on an angle.”

Max said: “It can help us go up if something is heavy or it can’t easily go up the stairs.”

After a windy trip through the hills, we reached Hallett Cove Conservation Park. Bethany from Sam and Christine's class read a beautiful Acknowledgement of Country on behalf of  all students and staff to remind us to  respect the land that we were on. In groups, students set off on their exploration walk. We sighted glacial abrasions, chemical and water erosion, erratic rocks (large boulders moved by glaciers) and took time to admire a wonderful landform called the Sugarloaf. There was even some time to search for baby crabs under rocks with the tide being out. Students (and staff) enjoyed the trip to see our research and learning in real life, and it was fantastic to make these connections.  

In Week 5 the Cycle 4 students participated in PE Fest organised by Atilla. The four teams gave it their all in team events such as connected team drop, chicken run, blind folded caterpillar team run, tug of war as well as creating and performing a motivating team dance or chant.

Individual disciplines included running, long distance and sprints, discus and long jump. PE Fest fosters team building skills, supporting each other, resilience and pushing your individual boundaries. 

The second highlight was the long awaited opening of the new playground. The students are relishing the new outdoor space. A big thank you to all the people who made this playground possible!

Teaching staff at our middle school campus at Wairoa, together with some of the students, are taking up the Push-Up Challenge which runs throughout June. The Push-Up Challenge is a unique and fun way for people to encourage better mental health and wellbeing through connection, physical activity and education.

Their team name is Straight Outta Wairoa, and they are raising money for organisations such as Lifeline, which support those living with mental health challenges – an exceptional cause. Any donations can be made here: Straight Outta Wairoa Push-Up Challenge

Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle! Over the next two terms, our overarching focus for ICT lessons is sustainability, with a particular focus on waste management. Cycles 2 and 3

are collaborating across the two terms to solve real problems in small groups with the help of technology. Ultimately revamping our school’s recycling and waste management systems and educating our school community about the different systems that will be put in place.

Eight students from Cycles 2 and 3 volunteered to be a part of an Eco Team to spearhead the changes in our school and to help maintain long-term changes. They have guided a KESAB representative around our school and helped with a ‘Bin Systems Audit’. They will meet regularly to discuss and implement different initiatives.

Our ICT lesson focuses are data collection and representation, as well as using technology to communicate ideas and educate our community. Students have analysed data relating to world waste and created tables using Google sheets to present the data. They are exploring the impact of waste on our planet and creating informative posters, presentations, quizzes, surveys and a website using Canva, Google Slides, Google Forms, Google Sites and Kahoot.

We look forward to KESAB coming back to our school to run a ‘Bin Material Audit’ with small groups of students, where all the bins in our school will be tipped out and analysed. A fantastic opportunity to collect and present data on how much waste our school is producing and which bins this waste is ending up in. 

 In term 3, the focus will shift to implementing solutions and again communicating ideas and educating our school community. Come and check out our communication board located in the courtyard near Infant Program to see students’ work and keep informed!

Students have been engaging with an expanding offering of the music elements, Rhythm, Melody, Harmony, Timbre, Dynamics, Texture and Form.

Rhythm, currently called ‘duration’, includes the concept of time signatures. Cycle 3 will soon be engaging with 6/8 rhythmic figures within a compound time signature context. All classes have been working on expanding rhythmic figures within simple time signatures of 2/4, 3/4 & 4/4.

Throughout Reconciliation Week, students at all levels have been involved further with indigenous music or the task of composing a music version of their classes’ Acknowledgment of Country. 

Embracing National Reconciliation Week is a transformative journey that our school is embarking on to foster understanding, respect, and unity. By acknowledging the past, promoting cultural awareness, embedding Indigenous perspectives in the curriculum, and engaging in art, storytelling, and community collaborations, we can create inclusive and harmonious learning environments.

The Cultural Understanding Committee would like to express our sincere gratitude to the parents who generously donated towards our efforts in embracing National Reconciliation Week. Your support has been instrumental in allowing us to create meaningful experiences for our students and cultivate a deeper understanding of Reconciliation Week.

Your contribution has helped us start our collaborative weaving activity using a variety of fabrics and ribbons. Thank you once again for your generous donation. Together, we are making a difference and shaping a future where cultural diversity and reconciliation are celebrated and cherished.