Junior School Brighton Campus - Firbank Grammar School
Junior School Brighton Campus - Firbank Grammar School
Junior School Brighton Campus - Firbank Grammar School
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With the Federal election almost upon us, I want to clarify the facts around education policies<br />
including funding for schools – and in particular, funding for <strong>Firbank</strong> <strong>Grammar</strong>, as a school in<br />
the Independent Sector. Funding by government has been a prime issue for many months<br />
overshadowing other important education issues. However Independent <strong>School</strong>s Victoria (ISV)<br />
has kept all member schools fully informed and a couple of weeks ago, organised for our Federal<br />
candidates from the Liberal Coalition, the Labour and Greens Parties to be hosted by <strong>Firbank</strong> for<br />
a ‘roundtable’ with Principals, Chairs of Boards and Business Managers from our neighbouring<br />
Independent <strong>School</strong>s. I wrote about this meeting in a previous eNews.<br />
While funding remains a central issue and of concern, just as important are five other key issues<br />
about which the Independent Sector (ISV) wishes all parents to be aware.<br />
1. Reduce Regulatory Burden<br />
Independent <strong>School</strong>s recognise the need for reasonable and practical accountability<br />
that does not double-up existing requirements but the Better <strong>School</strong>s: National Place<br />
for <strong>School</strong> Improvement is expected to increase their compliance burden.<br />
Political parties must pledge to:<br />
• Require the Departments of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR) to<br />
monitor and reduce regulation affecting Independent <strong>School</strong>s<br />
• Require the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) to reduce<br />
school reporting demands.<br />
• Ensure that any increase in ACARA’s budget is tied to growth per student cost<br />
NEWSLETTER<br />
From the Principal<br />
30 August 2013<br />
2. Support the Teaching Profession<br />
Education in Australia is facing the challenges of failing entry standards, obstacles to<br />
professional learning and career progression and an ageing teacher demographic.<br />
Policies are needed to raise the quality of entrants into teaching, provide greater<br />
support for professional learning and ensure that teacher salary and career progression<br />
is competitive with other sectors.<br />
Political parties must pledge to:<br />
• Reverse the decision to cap tax deductible self education expenses<br />
• Review and rectify the consequences of the change to Motor Vehicles Fringe Benefits tax<br />
3. Oppose Tertiary Funding Squeeze<br />
The government will extract an efficiency dividend of nearly a billion dollars from the tertiary<br />
sector over five years. It will also remove the discounts applying to up-front and voluntary<br />
payments made under the Higher Education Loan Program (HELP) from 1 January 2014.<br />
Political parties must pledge to:<br />
• Recognise and accept that the tertiary funding squeeze creates uncertainty for future<br />
education funding and is inconsistent with the aspiration for Australia to be a smart country<br />
• Ensure consistent and growing funding for all sectors from early years through to tertiary<br />
education<br />
4. Provide International Students Visa Consistency<br />
It is proposed to streamline, or fast track, overseas student visa assessments for ‘bodies’ that<br />
aggregate and submit more than 400 visas per annum but this would disadvantage Independent<br />
schools in Victoria that do not make bulk submissions.<br />
Political parties must pledge to:<br />
• Ensure funding and regulatory consistency by extending the streamlining proposal to all<br />
education sectors.<br />
5. Provide Fact Based Information Campaigns<br />
The National Plan for <strong>School</strong> Improvement has been widely promoted with an information<br />
campaign that is light on facts. There is a risk that high expectations generated by government<br />
campaigns might not be delivered, creating problems for the Independent sector rather than<br />
governments or politicians who authorised them.<br />
<strong>Firbank</strong>.<br />
Aspire.<br />
Achieve.<br />
Political parties must pledge to:<br />
• Ensure that accurate education information campaigns provide useful and credible facts<br />
devoid of political hyperbole that are useful for school, teachers and parents.<br />
The election on 7 September will be important for many issues, but particularly for Education.<br />
Dr Anne Sarros
From the Head of <strong>Campus</strong><br />
Girls and teachers made an amazingly colourful parade as they dressed for our Book Week<br />
Assembly last Friday. The theme “Read Across the Universe” was represented in many<br />
interesting ways. Most popular characters from favourite books included the Cat in the Hat and<br />
of course Thing 1 and Thing 2. We have characters from the popular Hunger Games series,<br />
Famous Five, Winnie the Pooh, Barbie, Hannah Montana and many, many more. Girls (and<br />
staff) put a lot of effort into costumes for the day and were very excited at having the opportunity<br />
to express themselves in this way.<br />
Our sincere thanks to Mia and her family for hosting our visitors from Milikapiti. Each year we<br />
team with <strong>Brighton</strong> <strong>Grammar</strong> <strong>School</strong> to host students who have earned a trip to Melbourne<br />
and this year, Mia and her family very kindly hosted our visitors, showing them the sights of<br />
Melbourne. The girls experienced visiting two AFL clubs, going to a game, visiting the Melbourne<br />
Zoo and a day in the city. They were also able to spend a few days with the Year 6 students. This<br />
program is a very worthwhile one and offers our visiting students an outstanding opportunity.<br />
If your daughter is currently in Year 5 and you are willing to host our visitors in 2014, please<br />
contact me.<br />
NEWSLETTER<br />
<strong>Junior</strong> <strong>School</strong><br />
<strong>Brighton</strong> <strong>Campus</strong><br />
30 August 2013<br />
Thank you to Kerrie Maddern, who has driven our Environment Week Activities. Kerrie has<br />
organised our yearly Toy Exchange. I had a delightful conversation with a Year 1 student who<br />
brought a few toys into the exchange and could explain to me the reason behind exchanging<br />
these toys. This was a very popular activity last year and proved to be the same this year.<br />
Kerrie has also been instrumental in organising the new vegetable garden in the Prep - 2<br />
playground. The Prep students have worked with her and planted vegetables in this garden.<br />
We look forward to harvest and making some delicious, healthy food.<br />
Over the past two weeks we have had excellent results in:<br />
• Aerobics, with 5 teams making it to the National Finals in Brisbane during the first week of<br />
the holidays<br />
• Robotic teams who performed outstandingly at Scienceworks Museum last week<br />
• and as Ashlea Mills reports later in this newsletter, the Ski teams who represented <strong>Firbank</strong><br />
proudly in the recent interschool competitions, with many students making it to the National<br />
Competition next weekend.<br />
Next week, twenty Years 5 and 6 students will head off to Mt Stirling to experience the first ever<br />
Snow Camp offered by <strong>Firbank</strong>. Girls will be spending a night in Mansfield and then hiking 4 kms<br />
up the mountain using snow shoes. They will camp overnight in tents in the snow and hike back<br />
to base camp the following day. We wish the girls luck, warmth and a safe return home. Thank<br />
you to Bernie Mills and Darren Saunder from our Outdoor Ed Department for organising and<br />
accompanying the girls on this trip. They will also be accompanied by Ashlea Mills and Brooke<br />
Clayton.<br />
I wish all the dads a Happy Father’s Day and look forward to seeing most of them enjoying the<br />
annual PATH Father/Daughter Disco with their daughter/s! I am sure the girls will treat you well<br />
on the day and show you just how special you are to them.<br />
This week, Adelaide from Year 1 came in to see me to tell me that she had taken part in the 40<br />
Hour Famine. An amazing effort for a Year 1 and this is what she showed me.<br />
“Dear Mrs Phillips<br />
<strong>Firbank</strong>.<br />
Aspire.<br />
Achieve.<br />
‘I did the Forty Hour Famine because I was trying to raise money for<br />
a girl called Dorothy. She sometimes doesn’t get breakfast, lunch or<br />
dinner. She can’t go to school because all of the of the other children<br />
laugh at her because she walks funny as she doesn’t get any food.<br />
She does not have a roof on her house. I imagine being like her so<br />
I took the chance to see how it feels to be like her. I gave up food<br />
and I raised $290. I did it on Friday to Sunday lunchtime.’<br />
Adelaide<br />
Michelle Phillips
Term 3 Week 8<br />
Monday, 2 September<br />
7:00 Swimming Squad Training<br />
8:00 – 8:45 Orchestra Rehearsal @ Music Room<br />
8:50 Prep students depart to station to visit National Gallery of Victoria<br />
11:00 Chamber Strings @ Music Room<br />
11:30-12:30 5S Public Speaking Workshop #2<br />
12:30-1:30 5B Public Speaking Workshop # 2<br />
2:00 Departure of Yrs 5/6 Snow Camp at Mt Stirling Alpine Resort<br />
1:30 – 3:20 Full company Musical rehearsal @ BGS – pick up from TH<br />
Leads Rehearsal until 5:00pm – pick up from BGS<br />
2:15 – 2:45 Chapel Service for 2J, 3B & 3W<br />
2:45 – 3:15 Chapel Service for 4C & 4M<br />
3:20 Prep students return to Turner House<br />
3:30 – 4:30 Aerobics Training for all teams<br />
Tuesday, 3 September<br />
8:00 – 8:45 Chess Club<br />
Book Week Incursion for 3 – 6: Holly Harper Venue = Library<br />
9-10 = Yr 5 10-11 = Yr 6 11:30-12:30 = Yr 3 & 4<br />
3:30 – 4:30 After <strong>School</strong> Sport (Year 6)<br />
Wednesday, 4 September<br />
7:30 Fun & Fitness<br />
11:00 Aerobics teams of 2 and 3<br />
7:00pm<br />
Students return from Years 5/6 Snow Camp<br />
Thursday, 5 September<br />
Swimming Squad Training<br />
11:00 Aerobics Training for all teams<br />
2:15 (Prep) Fire Education Visit- second visit<br />
3:30 – 4:30 Musical Leads Rehearsal at TH<br />
4:30 – 5:30 Musical Leads Rehearsal at CCA with microphones<br />
3:30 – 4:30 After <strong>School</strong> Sport (Years 4 & 5)<br />
6:00 Students to be dropped at Church at 6:00pm<br />
7:00 – 8:00 (approx) Strings Concert @ St Andrew’s Church<br />
Friday, 6 September<br />
8:00 – 8:45 TH Choir Rehearsal @ Music Room<br />
8:40 – 11:30 Musical whole cast tech (microphones) rehearsal in CCA<br />
2:45 – 3:15 ASSEMBLY - hosted by 5S<br />
4:30 Brass & Woodwind Recital @ Music Room<br />
AROUND THE SCHOOL<br />
Year 1<br />
In Year 1, as part of their inquiry into how ecosystems have connecting elements, the students<br />
have been writing information reports. They spent a week researching an ecosystem of their<br />
choice, writing and editing a draft information report and publishing a final copy. The students<br />
were introduced to the idea of a ‘rubric’ and used a simple rubric to assess their own writing.<br />
Each student then created a diorama of her chosen ecosystem. They were delighted to<br />
share their learning with their parents, Mrs Phillips and their Year 4 buddies this week at a mini<br />
exhibition.<br />
Mrs Spence and Mrs Chapman
Library<br />
Book Week<br />
Every year the Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) holds “Book Week” in August. This<br />
year’s Book Week ran from 19 August to 23 August 2013. Book Week is Australia’s longest<br />
running children’s festival and is a celebration of books and Australian authors and illustrators.<br />
This year’s theme was “Read Across the Universe”.<br />
Turner House had a great time celebrating Book Week. Highlights included listening to teachers<br />
read aloud from their favourite books during lunch, our dress up day, and parade during<br />
assembly.<br />
Rachel Zhou in 6K wrote a reflection piece about Book Week:<br />
What is ‘read across the universe’? What does it mean? ‘Read across the universe’ is the book<br />
week theme this year. I think that ‘read across the universe’ means we should read books all<br />
around the world and learn things from other stories from other countries.<br />
I think that this theme has more of an international perspective and encourages bringing<br />
everyone together by reading books. When you read to people it gets everyone to sit down and<br />
enjoy a good book together.<br />
‘Read across the universe’ gives everyone an opportunity to share a book from somewhere else<br />
around the world. You can also hear about new authors and you might discover a new genre of<br />
books you like. You can try new books and tell other people about it.<br />
Book Week is lots of fun and everyone should participate by reading books and following the<br />
theme.<br />
By Rachel Zhou 6K<br />
Visiting Authors<br />
As part of Book Week celebrations, Turner House is very excited to welcome two authors/<br />
illustrators to school.<br />
On Tuesday 3 September, we will welcome Holly Harper, who will spend the day working with<br />
the girls in Years 3-6 to talk about writing and life as an author. Ms. Harper lives in Melbourne<br />
and loves writing and playing video games. She is the author of two successful series: Star<br />
League and Bureau of Mysteries. We are very excited to welcome a young, successful female<br />
author to Turner House and look forward to learning with her.<br />
To find out more information about Holly Harper and her work, please visit her website at (http://<br />
www.hjharper.com/).<br />
On Tuesday 10 September 2013 we welcome Mini Goss, author and illustrator, to work with the<br />
girls in ELC to Year 2 to talk about the process involved in creating books.<br />
Ms. Goss was born in Melbourne but spent her childhood moving between England, Australia<br />
and America. As a child Ms. Goss loved to draw and spent most of her time drawing animals.<br />
She loves to include animals in her stories and has been working on a series involving her dog<br />
Barry. We are very excited to welcome a successful author and illustrator to Turner House and<br />
look forward to learning with her.<br />
To find out more information about Mini Goss and her work, please visit her website at (http://<br />
www.barryandstella.com/).<br />
Premier’s Reading Challenge<br />
There aren’t many weeks left in the Premier’s Reading Challenge. Reading records must be<br />
completed online in order to be eligible for the Challenge. The deadline for completing reading<br />
records is 5 September 2013. After this date, the Challenge is closed and I will verify all reading<br />
records between 5 September and 11 September 2013.<br />
Once again, please ensure that your daughter is recording the books she is reading online. All<br />
registered entrants have received a username and a password to access their accounts.<br />
Go to http://www.education.vic.gov.au/prc/ and click “student login” to enter the username and<br />
password.<br />
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me in the library on Tuesday,<br />
Wednesday or Friday. I can also be contacted via email at (bdressler@firbank.vic.edu.au).<br />
Beth Dressler, Teacher Librarian/Information Literacy specialist
RoboCup <strong>Junior</strong> Australia<br />
Turner House entered 3 teams in RoboCup <strong>Junior</strong> Australia for the first time this year and had<br />
amazing success placing first, second and third at the Melbourne regional championships. More<br />
outstanding was the fact all teams were made up of girls from Year 4 and competed as the<br />
youngest teams in the competition.<br />
Melbourne Regional Champions<br />
1st Place – Funky Town & the Funky Monkey – Katherine, Holly, Maddie, Jessica<br />
2nd Place – Celebration Time - Charli, Lauren, Ricah, Oli<br />
3rd Place – The Saints – Courtney, Jade, Mei, Emily<br />
All teams entered the Dance category where the challenge was to design at least one robot<br />
and program it to perform choreography to compliment the theme of the music. The girls had to<br />
dance alongside the robot(s) to create a story and impress the judges.<br />
The teams were judged according to the design of their robots, back drops, sophistication<br />
of programming, and overall performance of both team members and robots. A further 30%<br />
of the score was assessed in an interview were the girls were challenged to express their<br />
understandings about the programming code, robot design and also had to show evidence of<br />
their journey in the form of a Blog.<br />
The journey was amazing for all students with teams, over two months, creatively collaborating<br />
to design and build robots. They then skilfully worked in the Art room under the guidance of Mrs<br />
Wegdam to design costumes for their robots and back drops for the performance. Mrs Mears<br />
also generously gave her time to assist the girls in choreographing their own moves alongside<br />
the robot.<br />
Last week the teams competed at the State Championships against eighteen other teams at<br />
Scienceworks. The competition was of the highest standard and awards were given for runner<br />
up and first place only. I was extremely proud of the girls as they had to independently overcome<br />
some technical issues in the first round and showed great courage and resilience to bounce<br />
back in the second round with faultless routines.<br />
I genuinely want to thank all the parents for their overwhelming support of this new initiative.<br />
Having entered teams in a whole range of competitions over the past twenty -ive years, I can<br />
confidently state that this was the most beneficial experience I have ever had the privilege of<br />
facilitating.<br />
Results from The State Championships:<br />
Funky Town finished equal 3rd in Dance<br />
Celebration Time finished 3rd in Theatre<br />
The Saints finished 4th in Theatre<br />
Congratulations to you and your girls. They have tremendous energy when they perform and are<br />
a delight to have on board with RoboCup <strong>Junior</strong>.<br />
Thanks also to their parents who kept us fed and watered during the day, we really appreciate it!<br />
Paul Mears<br />
STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS<br />
On Friday, 16 August, the nine aerobic teams competed in<br />
the State Championships at the State Netball and Hockey<br />
Centre in Parkville. The girls have dedicated seven months<br />
of training, predominantly during lunch breaks and after<br />
school to prepare for this event. In the process they have<br />
developed valuable skills such as musicality, rhythm and<br />
beat, choreography and collaborative team skills. Most<br />
importantly the competition has promoted the importance of<br />
health and fitness in a balanced lifestyle.<br />
The girls have trained extremely hard all year and I<br />
congratulate them all on these brilliant achievements.
Results:<br />
Sub Jnr Gp in Yr 4 – out of 14 teams<br />
Annabelle, Amelia, Audrey, Claudia<br />
Eliza, Adriana, Courtney, Tara<br />
Sub Jnr pairs in Yr 4 – out of 9 teams<br />
Katherine, Yoshino<br />
equal 1st (made Nationals)<br />
equal 3rd<br />
equal 1st (made Nationals)<br />
Jnr Gp in Yr 5/6 - out of 27 teams<br />
Olivia.H, Olivia.C, Nicola, Annabel<br />
3rd (made Nationals)<br />
Lucy, Darcy, Imogen, Tamsin, Nicola, Emily 7th (made Nationals)<br />
Saje, Claire, Anna , Matisse finalists – made top 14<br />
Maddy, Carla, Gabi, Summer, Evelyn, Maya finalists – made top 14<br />
Claire.T, Brooke, Alex, Sasha, Isabella, Jessica finalists – made top 14<br />
Jnr trio in Yr 6 out of 24 teams<br />
Kate, Aisha, Emma<br />
2nd (made Nationals)<br />
Five of our teams have qualified for the Australian Championships and Turner House also placed<br />
5th overall in the State for their outstanding results. Congratulations to <strong>Firbank</strong> Sandringham<br />
House for their impressive results at the State Championships.<br />
The atmosphere at the State Competition was electric and the vocal support from the <strong>Firbank</strong><br />
community for our girls was inspirational. I would like to thank Gillian McIlroy and Ashlea Mills<br />
for their support and help training the girls. I would like to acknowledge the special assistance<br />
provided by Michelle Phillips who has attended all events and been supportive of this program<br />
for the Turner House girls.<br />
The next month is an exciting time as the girls train for the National Championships. I wish the<br />
girls all the best as they prepare to compete at this elite level. The event will be held in Brisbane<br />
at The Chandler Theatre, Sleeman Sports Complex on Sunday, 22nd September.<br />
Kim Mears<br />
NETBALL VICTORIA SCHOOLS CHAMPIONSHIPS<br />
On Monday, 29 July, our two Turner House netball teams travelled with our Senior <strong>School</strong> teams<br />
to compete in the Netball Victoria <strong>School</strong>s Championships at the State Netball Hockey Centre.<br />
It was a busy day of netball with each team playing 7 games against schools from across the<br />
State.<br />
Congratulations to our Division A team who placed 4th and our Division B team who placed 6th.<br />
Thank you to Alex Back who coached our B Division team and Kelly Bramley for scoring and<br />
supporting the girls on the day.<br />
Turner House netball teams at Netball Victoria <strong>School</strong>s Championships.<br />
HOUSE ATHLETICS CARNIVAL<br />
We were provided with perfect weather for our Year 3-6 House Athletics Carnival on Thursday 1<br />
August. Congratulations to Brailsford who were the 2013 recipients of the Dr Anne Sarros House<br />
Athletics Shield.<br />
House Points<br />
1st Brailsford 1186 points<br />
2nd Stephens 1178 points<br />
3rd Ryan 1075 points<br />
4th Hartwell 871 points
Age Champions<br />
Year 4: Kari Robinson<br />
Year 5: Isabella Atkins<br />
Year 6: Maddy Atkins<br />
There are a number of people I would like to thank for their help at the carnival. Our dedicated<br />
staff each took on a role and did a magnificent job. Thank you to our student teachers and<br />
Senior <strong>School</strong> students for looking after our field events. Another ‘thank you’ to our House and<br />
Sport Captains who showed great leadership in organising the students of their house. Finally,<br />
thank you to the parents who came to support their daughter and the parents who assisted at the<br />
finish line.<br />
ARMADALE DISTRICT ATHLETICS<br />
A week later it was a very different day at Duncan MacKinnon Reserve for the Armadale District<br />
Athletics Carnival. Our squad of almost 50 girls competed in wet and windy conditions, all whilst<br />
managing to keep a smile on their faces.<br />
In a very competitive District, our girls were up against a high standard of competition. Again, St<br />
Catherine’s managed to take home the trophy with <strong>Firbank</strong> putting in a great effort to finish 6th.<br />
9 Years 4 x 100m Relay team with<br />
Tamsyn<br />
Congratulations to Maddy Atkins, Isabella Atkins and Isobelle Brosnahan who have qualified to<br />
represent <strong>Firbank</strong> at the Division Athletics.<br />
Thank you to Janet Neiuwenhuis, Roberta Boyce and Maxy Doyle who assisted in running<br />
the carnival and our parents who attended to support the girls. Finally, a big thank you to our<br />
Athletics Coach Tamsyn Lewis whose expertise prepared the girls for the events.<br />
Good luck to Maddy, Isabella and Isobelle competing at the Beachside Division Athletics Carnival<br />
on 12th September.<br />
Ashlea Mills<br />
2013 VICTORIAN INTERSCHOOLS SNOWSPORTS<br />
CHAMPIONSHIPS<br />
From Monday 19 - Sunday 25 August, 40 students from across our 3 campuses competed at<br />
the Victorian Interschools SnowSports Championships at Mt Buller. The weather made races<br />
challenging and competitors encountered all conditions including rain, snow and wind. We<br />
are truly very proud of the resilience shown by all of our students to compete in such testing<br />
conditions. They should be congratulated on their efforts throughout the week.<br />
2013 has been one of <strong>Firbank</strong>’s most successful Inter<strong>School</strong>s Championships with 14 students<br />
qualifying for the Australian Inter<strong>School</strong>s SnowSports Championships. The school will be<br />
represented in 13 events over the 5 days of competition.<br />
Emma competing in the Division<br />
4 Skier X<br />
Congratulations to the following Turner House students who have qualified for the Australian<br />
Championships: Anja Bjarnason, Olivia Clark, Emma Dicker, Amelia Jones, Lauren Kulesza,<br />
Annelise Kulesza and Eloise Burdett.<br />
Results<br />
Division 5 Alpine<br />
Team 1st: Amelia Jones, Lauren Kulesza, Annelise Kulesza and Eloise Burdett<br />
Individual 1st: Lauren Kulesza<br />
Division 5 Skier X<br />
Team 1st: Amelia Jones, Lauren Kulesza and Annelise Kulesza<br />
Individual 1st: Amelia Jones<br />
Division 5 Moguls<br />
Team 3rd: Amelia Jones, Lauren Kulesza and Eloise Burdett<br />
Individual 3rd: Amelia Jones<br />
Amelia<br />
King of the Mountain U12<br />
Division 4 Alpine<br />
Team 3rd: Anja Bjarnason, Olivia Clark, Emma Dicker and Angie Armstrong
Division 4 Skier X<br />
Team 5th: Anja Bjarnason, Olivia Clark and Emma Dicker<br />
Division 4 Moguls<br />
Team 4th: Anja Bjarnason, Olivia Clark and Emma Dicker<br />
Our <strong>Junior</strong> <strong>School</strong> SnowSports team.<br />
Congratulations also to Amelia Jones and Anja Bjarnason who were awarded King of the<br />
Mountain U12 and King of the Mountain U14 respectively in recent Mt Buller Race Club<br />
competitions.<br />
A big ‘thankyou’ to all of our parents who took on a role of team manager or volunteer, for giving<br />
up their time to support the school and the event. Congratulations to all of our competitors<br />
and best of luck to our teams competing at the Australian Championships at Mt Buller from<br />
Wednesday 4th- Sunday 8th September.<br />
Ashlea Mills<br />
SnowSports Coordinator<br />
Back to Back Division 5 Victorian<br />
Champions!<br />
FIRBANK AQUASTARS SWIMMING<br />
Over the past few months students from both Turner House and Sandy House have competed<br />
at external meets for <strong>Firbank</strong> Aquastars.<br />
Our Turner House girls have shown good form in the pool. Olivia Bream picked up a silver<br />
medal in the 10 years 200 IM at the Metro West Meet in June. Olivia and Amelia Jones were<br />
part of the relay teams that won Gold medals at the Mini Olympics. This is a great achievement<br />
for our young swimmers who train very hard for competition. Saje Adams and Abby Hallam<br />
were also members of relays teams who won Bronze medals in a very competitive 11 and<br />
under relay.<br />
Tess McGrath has significantly improved all of her times over this 2 month period due to her<br />
dedication to training, as with Anna Bream who, at 6 years of age is showing great promise with<br />
her racing. Charli Bowers and Emma Dicker have also raced their first competitions of 2013 and<br />
have shown great potential for the years to come!<br />
Keep up the good work girls!<br />
Ian Scott<br />
<strong>Firbank</strong> Aquastars Swim Coach<br />
<strong>School</strong> Captains Report<br />
This term just keeps getting bigger and better!<br />
On Friday, 16 August nine teams from Turner House competed at The Aerokools State<br />
Championships. It was such an exciting day and we loved watching everyone’s routines! A big<br />
thankyou to Mrs Mears and well done to all the girls that competed! Five teams have qualified<br />
for The Nationals in Brisbane. You are all amazing! Go <strong>Firbank</strong> Go!<br />
The Districts Athletics was a vey successful day for Turner House because we came second!<br />
It was a freezing cold and wet day, but everyone kept their spirits high and did a brilliant job.<br />
Thank you to Miss Mills, teachers and parents for supporting the girls.<br />
Big congratulations to the Turner House SnowSports teams! Six teams have qualified and we<br />
wish you luck! Plus, well done to the Year 4 Robotics Teams that competed last Friday in the<br />
State Championships!<br />
In week 7 we had Book Week. Costumes were very fun and imaginative. We loved seeing<br />
everyone’s favourite book characters come to life.<br />
Don’t forget tonight is the Father and Daughter Disco. Time to get ready and have some fun.<br />
We look forward to seeing you there!<br />
Fun Fact: When <strong>Firbank</strong> opened in 1909 there were only 52 students!<br />
Aisha Dalal and Annabel Cox
UNA FESTA DI MUSICA<br />
This was a night to remember! And now families have the opportunity to purchase their own<br />
memento of this wonderful concert. A DVD has been made of the concert and is available to<br />
purchase for $15.00.<br />
See eNews for link to purchase your DVD.<br />
Any queries, please call the Music Office on 9591 5151.<br />
OSHClub<br />
(Before and After <strong>School</strong> Care)<br />
I am pleased to share students at OSHClub are ‘busy as a bee!’<br />
Book Week - For the book week students created their own books and they took great<br />
ownership of their learning experience.<br />
Environment Week - Students did planting activities in the environment week; all students are<br />
keen to have the opportunity to observe the growing process for themselves.<br />
I would also like to inform all the families that on Tuesday, 17th September After <strong>School</strong> Care is<br />
starting at 1.30 pm. We are providing additional care hours because of student led conferences.<br />
So please book you child at www.oshclub.com.au .<br />
We will keep you updated about OSHClub program. If you have any questions related to the<br />
program please feel free to call on 0402 673 289.<br />
Puja Tuli<br />
PATH<br />
Invitations for the Turner House Art Show are now out. The Art Show will be held at the <strong>Brighton</strong><br />
Town Hall on Monday 16 September from 6 – 8pm and on Tuesday, 17 September from 9am –<br />
2pm.<br />
PATH warmly invites all parents to join us for morning tea at the Art Show on the Tuesday<br />
morning between 9am and 12 noon. This is a great opportunity to meet with other parents and<br />
to view the beautiful artwork done throughout the year by all the girls at Turner House. We hope<br />
to see as many of you there as possible at any time throughout the morning.<br />
This week has been a busy one as we prepare for Fathers’ Day and tonight’s Father Daughter<br />
Disco. Thank you to everyone who helped out with our Fathers’ Day Stall on Wednesday and to<br />
all those who have worked so hard to put together what is going to be a fantastic night. The girls<br />
are all very excited and we are expecting big things from all the dads on the dancefloor !!!<br />
Rosie Gordon and Sarah Cox
Footy fever is here with only 3 weeks to go until the main event! Grand finals are approaching and in the lead up we have a range of<br />
fun and challenging school holiday activities to keep the fever alive.<br />
Why not consider one of our new programs these holidays? Sandbox tree is offering digital painting and artistry classes that provide an<br />
opportunity to create a piece of digital art that can be used for prints, t-shirts, websites or even stickers. These classes will enable your<br />
child to develop skills in Inkscape and Gimp that are sure to be critical skills to have in the digital world in which our kids are growing<br />
up. Digital painting promotes a method of general enquiry based on observation and critical thinking which are skills that carry through<br />
to achieving success in all walks of life. Contact Luke at sandbox tree to develop your child’s creative skills 0402 038 859 or www.<br />
sandboxtree.com.au<br />
For additional information about these programs please see eNews or go to www.share.vic.edu.au<br />
For further information about these programs please see the websites referenced, or contact Sonia Wagner<br />
swagner@brightongrammar.vic.edu.au or www.share.vic.edu.au