The Year 3 students enjoyed a three-day Outdoor Education adventure during Week 5. On Wednesday, the girls ventured to Belair National Park, where they worked collaboratively to build humpies—temporary shelters traditionally built by Indigenous people. They also demonstrated their creativity by using various plants and berries to create a symmetrical, naturally-coloured print on fabric. Each girl collected plants and berries and used a mallet to transfer the colour to their fabric. They also had the opportunity to explore the fantastic adventure playground at Belair.

Thursday was spent at the Adelaide Botanic Gardens, where we were fortunate enough to be visited by Trent, a proud Noongar man from Western Australia. Trent took the girls on a tour of the gardens, sharing his knowledge about the traditional uses of trees and plants and relating seasonal movements to the surroundings. The girls were also shown Trent’s collection of traditional artefacts and learned about the roles of men and women. Trent treated us to music played from his didgeridoo, a Dreaming Story and even demonstrated traditional fire-making methods by creating a small ember. The girls practised mindfulness by journaling in their ‘magic spots’ and soaking in their natural surroundings.

The experience finished back at school on Friday with boomerang painting and clay fish cooking. Collaboratively, the girls wrapped their ocean trout fish in thick clay before placing them in the campfire to cook. The girls showed their adventurous spirit by tasting the fish fresh from the coals. They adapted to the wintry weather by concluding with independent journaling and learning some words in the Kaurna language.

A big thank you to Ms Mitchell and the Outdoor Education department for a fun, adventurous and stimulating week. The Year 3 students all had a fabulous time!

Rebecca Ratcliffe
Junior School Teacher – Year 3

Making a Splash

On Friday 27 May, the Reception girls excitedly boarded the bus bound for the beautiful Adelaide Hills. Our first stop was Woodhouse Activity Centre. Here our morning activities consisted of making clay seed balls, listening to stories amongst the trees, a nature scavenger hunt and building cubby houses with sticks. Making the seed balls meant we had to dunk our hands in cold, squidgy clay and mud, whilst we prepared a home to fold our seeds into. Miss Duck informed us that these seeds were specially chosen to attract butterflies. The scavenger hunt had us exploring a lovely woodland area for various treasures, such as summer-coloured leaves and something beginning with ‘M’, before arranging these items into ‘nature art’.

After enjoying lunch with our friends, we hopped on the bus again for a short trip to the Mt Lofty Botanic Gardens. Here we could truly appreciate the colours of autumn as we strolled around the lake. Finding some muddy puddles gave us the chance to road-test our gumboots and splash away! We also stopped under the trees for some leaf throwing and squeals of delight could be heard all around the gardens. We thank Ms Kate Mitchell for organising such a wonderful day of outdoor, adventurous learning!

Melissa Foster
Junior School Teacher – Reception

Bedtime Stories

Reading magic happens in the form of storytelling and story sharing, as it did in our beautiful Learning Commons on Thursday evening at Bedtime Stories. Twinkly clouds and friendly Junior Library Committee girls (assisted by our Middle and Senior Library Representatives) welcomed our Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 girls, wearing their snuggly pyjamas and accompanied by a well-behaved soft toy friend and a parent.

Congratulations to the many parents who joined us in their pyjamas, including a Winnie-the-Pooh onesie and a father and daughter Bluey team. This treasured event is made extra special by the obvious delight our story readers show through carefully selecting stories that are part of their own reading adventures, past and present.

This year, our delicious take-home treats were baked by one of our student entrepreneurs, Demi Moutos (Year 10). Her brand ‘Deliciously Simple’ certainly lived up to its reputation!

On behalf of the girls, we thank readers Mrs Belinda Arnfield, Ms Liz McCarthy, Mrs Rebecca Williamson, Mrs Kate Snell, Ms Jamie Schubert, Miss Isabella Kasdalis, Mrs Melissa Foster, Miss Danielle Moir, Mrs Wendy Menzies, Ms Lauren Trennery, Mr Travis Henderson and Ms Kate Smith for their generosity and joy, our special helpers Mrs Ruth Lim and Mrs Teagan Lane and all the people behind the scenes for a memorable night.

Katie Silva
Teacher – Librarian