Dear JPS Families,

It's been a huge week (and it's not over yet) for our Southern Stars performers. From Wednesday to Saturday, they've been rehearsing and performing alongside over 3000 students from schools far and wide. We couldn't be prouder of how they've risen to the challenge: showing so much patience while waiting in the tunnels backstage, and bringing enthusiasm and joy every time they hit the stage.

Thank you to Mrs Peterson and Mrs Behl Shanks for the huge amount of time, effort and enthusiasm they've put into making this an experience to remember for our JPS students. A big thank you as well to our Southern Stars parents for navigating the complexities of pick-ups, drop-offs, make-up, costumes, lost bandanas, and everything in between — it is very much appreciated!

Apologies for the slightly late newsletter — I was enjoying myself too much backstage with our performers last night, so didn't get the chance to send it out yesterday.

Mrs Lando and I had the absolute pleasure of taking a group of JPS spectators to watch the matinee show on Friday. The show was fantastic, and our JPS audience members were just as great, cheering on their peers and being a wonderfully respectful audience.

Keep an eye out for lots of photos of our performers in next week's newsletter, once show week is over. You may also spot some photos popping up through the week as we launch our new Facebook page. If you'd like to keep on top of what's happening at JPS as you scroll with your morning coffee, add us here: https://facebook.com/JamberooPS

Facebook will not replace our normal communication channels — the newsletter, emails and School Bytes will remain our main sources of official communication.

Kind Regards, 

Bec Gavin

Principal

Sunday saw the Jamberoo Tournament of Minds team, the Udderly Brilliant Bunch, compete in the regional competition. They presented their Long Term Language Literature Challenge solution to a panel of judges at the University of Wollongong. The team’s challenge was to write three suspense-filled radio plays for an Under 16 audience and bring them together in an entertaining 10-minute performance.

With absolutely no assistance allowed in creating their solution, the team showed great creativity, independence and determination throughout the five-week challenge preparation period. On the day, they also faced a Spontaneous Challenge, with just five minutes to prepare and present their response. This tested their ability to think quickly, communicate effectively and work together under pressure. Although no official honours came their way, the judges (and certainly the team’s large and enthusiastic fan base in the audience) were thoroughly impressed and entertained by the clever Jamberoo group.

Charlo, Kiara, Bryce, Katelyn, Cate and Ava, along with Anneke, who was unfortunately unable to attend on the day, worked for a term in the lead up to the challenge with Mrs Behl-Shanks (acting coach - in the lead in) and Mrs Milligan (the Spontaneous Queen), in preparation for the challenge. Then the real work began with the five week solution period! Big shout out to all of the team parents who hosted training sessions, encouraged their kids and of course transported them not once but twice to UOW on a Sunday no less.​​

One of this team’s greatest strengths was their exceptional ability to collaborate. They listened carefully to one another’s ideas, respected different perspectives and built on each other’s contributions in a harmonious way. Their teamwork was exemplary.  The effort, creativity, resilience and teamwork demonstrated by the appropriately named Udderly Brilliant Team was never in doubt. They should be very proud of what they achieved.

Last week we celebrated National Science Week. Thank you to the families who wandered through our library to view the best of our student works.

We also participated in a guessing competition ‘Seeds’ and the National Science Quiz. Congratulations to our winners below.

Do babies have more or fewer bones than adults? 330 bones compared to 206.

Does the human body give off light? Yes. It is such a tiny amount that we cannot see it.

Why don’t spiders get stuck in their own webs? They carefully walk on the non-sticky parts, and they have a non-stick coating on their ‘feet’.

Motion – students in K-1 investigated rolling, sliding, speed, basic friction and basic gravity. They participated in an experiment testing how objects travel downhill. They evaluated the impact of shape, size, weight, and friction on the speed of an object.

Boats and Planes – younger students designed and built planes and boats that were then used to investigate the physical sciences. Students discussed the impact of energy and forces on these objects. This included push, pull, lift, drop, wind, currents, buoyancy and gravity.

Aerodynamics – students in 4-6 investigated rockets and forces. They researched force, fuel, acceleration and rocket design. Students participated in an experiment where a model of a rocket was placed in a wind tunnel. Students evaluated a variety of rocket cone shapes to determine which provided the most stable flight and which provided the least amount of air resistance.