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Principal’s Message Transition

2 3 7 B o t a n y R o a d

W a t e r l o o N S W 2 0 1 7 P h : 0 2 9 3 1 9 1 7 5 9

Issue 5

Term 1, 2016

Dear parents, carers and school community,

I would like to take this opportunity to share with you some exciting developments here at school, with the commencement of a health space for students and their families, in term 3 this year. The health space will be a place where people can access information about any type of health related topic and also access health services.

We will be offering this service for any student enrolled, and their family, as part of the personalised learning plans that are developed in partnership.

Our health space will have a pediatrician, occupational therapist, speech therapist, nurse, social worker and mental health professionals working at the school on a weekly basis.

This health space is also a forum for teachers and health professionals to share examples of best-practice and collaborate on health and education goals related to individual students.

This project has been endorsed by many of our community elders including Fay Carroll & Jane Stanley (Public Schools NSW), Nathan Moran (Metropolitan Lands Council), Terry Denzil (Aboriginal Education Council), Mark Spinx (Babana Men’s Group) & Shane Phillips (Tribal Warrior Association), to name but a few.

I am yet to discuss the project with every parent/carer, but so far feedback from those I’ve spoken to has been very positive. Please contact me if you would like to discuss this project, as your opinion and ideas are important in our school’s decision-making process.

Finally, I would like to acknowledge the hard work and dedication of our students throughout this term in working toward their transition goals.

Well done to Sean, Michael, Jacob F, Kyuss, Deon and Tarhnay for commencing their transition back to their home schools this term. Congratulations to Eminem, Levi and Luca for increasing their time transition time at their home schools. And, we also bid farewell to two students who have successfully completed the Green Square School program, Sydney and Saxon – we wish you all the very best for this year and beyond!

The first day back in term two for students here at Green Square

School is on Thursday, 28 April.

Wishing you all a safe and restorative holiday period.

Patrick Faucher Principal Green Square School

My name is Luka and my home school Rose Bay Secondary College. At the start of term 1 2016, I began transitioning back to my home school, which began with 1 full day on Wednesdays. As part of my transition back to full time at Rose Bay, I have learnt a lot of things to help me in my transition. Learning how to be sensible in the classroom and being respectful to all my teachers and friends, has been one of many things I have been learning and working on. I am now attending 2 days.

- Luka

SCHOOL NEWSLETTER PAGE 2 ISSUE 5

I am very happy to write that it has been a very productive term in

green class. All students have been working hard in particular on their

assessments for their home schools. This hard work has also led to

each of them increasing their transition time so the hard work is really

paying off. Luka has constructed a Viking ship that is historically

accurate due to the great research he completed for it. Saxon has

been designing magazine covers and creating PowerPoint’s on the

population statistics of Sydney and the physical geography of Kakadu

National Park. Sydney has been completing assessments in

geography and completing challenging maths. Jacob has been

working hard on his commerce

assessments. These are just of the

top of my head and they should all

be very proud of their efforts

academically. Special mentions go to

Saxon and Sydney who have

successfully transitioned full time to

their respective home schools.

- Jimmy


In red class we did a bridge In red class we did a bridge building project. We all made building project. We all made bridges. My bridge was the bridges. My bridge was the Pennsylvania which held 4.500kg. Pennsylvania which held 4.500kg. We made it out of toothpicks We made it out of toothpicks which took time but was fun to which took time but was fun to make.make.

-- MichaelMichael

“This painting is supposed to be something dark

and scary. It depicts a cemetery in the black forest.

Death is depicted in the form of the Grim Reaper.

There are bats flying and a full moon sets an eerie

atmosphere”

- winter

Dear parents and carers,

I would like to welcome this term Michael and Sean to Green Square School and Red Class. I am pleased to

acknowledge that they have both commenced transition to their home schools this term. Tyson is attending his

home school three days a week and next term we might see him transition fulltime. Winter and Charlie have

both been concentrating in their academic work. Charlie has been doing his Science and English work from

his home school here at Green Square and Winter has been preparing for work experienced next term. Well

done to Red Class Students for all your successes and achievement this term. Keep up the great work!!

Design a Book Cover

Images can be powerful ways of communicating. People instinctively respond to images based on their personalities, associations, and previous experience. Graphic designers use this instinctive response to visually communicate ideas and information. They work with different tools and mediums to convey a message from a client to a particular audience.

Graphic designers need to think about the goal of the images they create. A book cover design should not only give the viewer an idea of the content and mood of the book, but should also be eye-catching to encourage students browsing in the library (like customers in a bookstore) to pick up a book they may not be familiar with.

Winter created a new cover design for a book yet to be released. Her book cover explores

characters, plot and symbolism and is based in the genre of horror. Winter used a digital

composition to create the book cover. Well done on a successful design!!

- Winter


The objective of this science project is to build a bridge using nothing but school glue and toothpicks. To create a bridge that would be strong, Red Class students explored various bridge designs and geometric shapes. In this project, Red Class students used triangle-shaped trusses to construct their designs thus making the structures strong enough to bear weight. When using geometric shapes, triangles are the most effective in distributing ‘push’ force. Once completed the students had the option to test how much weight their designs could bear before breaking.

Winter holds the Red Class record at 8.540kgs followed by Michael at 4.500kg.

- Fernando


Dear parents and caregivers,

First and foremost we would like to acknowledge all the Gold Class students for their effort and hard work this term. With the new school year came an influx of new faces. In our class we welcomed our three new students - Kyuss, Shyhiem and Raquel.

There have been many positive things that have been happening this term:

Kyuss has begun transition at the end of this term and is working towards increasing his time.

Eminem begun transition at the start of the term and has made solid efforts to increase his time to 3 days.

John has been taking control of his transition by actively talking to his teachers about increasing his time at his mainstream, showing maturity

and initiative.

Our students have been using some of their time in class to complete their assignments for their mainstream school so that they are up to date and prepared for their integration days, from Japanese to History to Science and many more.

All of our students have been showing enthusiasm for the music program with Adrian - special mention to Kyuss for his drumming skills, Jaidyn and Eminem for their skills with lyrics. We are lucky to have a special newly built room now allocated for our music equipment.

In Horticulture, we have tried to make an effort to go out every week, weather permitting, to show care for our garden and our yarning circle by weeding

it. This term we gave students the opportunity to come up with a design for our yarning circle. The students voted on their favourite and Eminem got the

top prize, well done Eminem! Well done to all students this term, enjoy a safe and happy term break.

- Laura/ Sarah

Q: Where did Muay Thai originate from?

A: Muay Thai or Thai Boxing is the national sport and

cultural martial art of Thailand.

Q: What is Muay Thai about? What happens in Muay Thai?

A: It was developed several hundreds of years ago as

a form of close-combat that utilizes the entire body as

a weapon.

Q: What are the special/signature moves that are used in Muay Thai?

A: Mainly kicks, elbows, knees, punches and also a

bit of grappling.

Q: What kind of environment or place are training and matches held?

A: In a ring with a ref.

Q: What kind of equipment is needed?

A: For gloves used in competition, the leather portion

must not be heavier than one-half (1/2) of the glove's

total weight and the glove's inner pads must weigh at

least one-half (1/2) of the total weight. It is not per-

mitted to change the shape of glove's inner pads or to

rub the glove's inner pads spreading them from the

original shape.

- Kyuss

What is a Hero?

Hero can be scared.

Someone that doesn't let people down.

Someone that help others regardless what the reason is.

Compassion towards other people.

Fearless

Stand up for others.

Someone that is respectful, responsible and trustworthy.

Risking their own life for other people.

Patient at all times.

- Eminem.


I saved Food Technology for last mention because I am always so impressed with the teamwork I observe, the effort the students put in and the quality of the dishes produced. This term we have cooked many yummy recipes such as bangers and mash, healthy pizza and fresh crumbed chicken burgers.

A special mention goes out to Eminem’s creation – he made

fresh garlic bread and bruschetta from scratch with freshly

picked tomatoes from our garden.


CHECK THIS OUT…

Those who already knew how to

play chess, nominated to teach

those who didn’t this term. We look

forward to more chess challenges

to build students skills in

strategic thinking. Parents/carers

are welcome to visit Blue Class to

participate in beginner lessons, or

take on the challenge to have a

game with students. Just let us

know a date and time that suits you

and we look forward to your visit. A

special thank you to Dylan-SLSO in

Blue Class on a Monday, all

enjoyed your mentoring during

chess sessions, and learned from

you ways to stay calm and focused

when playing the game.

- Kate

YOU CAN’T STOP THE MUSIC!

Thank you again to our music teacher Adrian for

bringing more wonderful sounds to our school.

Students decided the instrument they would like to

focus on for the term, with drumming a popular

choice, and keyboards gaining in popularity this term.

- Kate


Cooking is a favourite subject in Blue Class, so Monday is funday! Students

brainstormed their favourite recipes with Aunty Vicky, and worked together to make

tasty meals to share using herbs, fruit and vegetables from the school garden. All

proceeds earned from selling a serve of every meal to Patrick for $5, went towards an

end of term celebratory lunch at a restaurant of students choice in the local area. A

really keen cook in Blue Class has decided to cook a meal at home for his mum, as

part of his homework pack once or even twice a week! Go Juwarn!

- Kate

We all know salty food and drinks make

people thirsty, so what do you think

happens to a piece of apple when it is

covered in salt for four weeks? Blue class

looked at the effects of salt and other

preservatives on fruit and vegetable this

term to learn more about its uses and

effects on the human body.

- Kate


Thank you to Kaya and Julia from ActiveOT for Green Square School’s first

term of the occupational therapy pilot program. Blue class focused on

increasing awareness of deep breathing and writing tasks. All students are

to be congratulated for their positive participation, and we look forward to

more fun activities next term. Parents and carers are invited to attend an

information session early next term, so we will keep you updated.

- Kate


'Djamu’ is a word from the Gadigal language, meaning ‘here I am’ or ‘here I come’.

This unique Indigenous art education program provided opportunities for Indigenous students in blue class to meet practicing artist Simon Penrose and learn about the Art Gallery of New South Wales collection as well as vocational pathways available in the arts, and integrates Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander concepts, perspectives and cultural practices.

Students in blue class continue to develop art-making and art critical skills and are gaining a greater understanding of the art world and their potential to achieve within it, as artists, curators or other arts professionals.

Indigenous Gallery Educators, as well as staff from

Green Square School, accompanied and supported

students in Blue Class start participating in the

program this term.


Top 10 Reasons to Read, Read, Read

1. Reading helps you become an interesting person. (Impress your friends, dates and future in-laws!) 2. Reading helps you learn how to write correctly. (Make your grandmother happy when she reads your well-written thank-you notes.) 3. Reading develops your imagination. (Write terrific stories for school, cook up funny ideas for friends.) 4. Reading entertains you. (No more long boring car rides, waits in the dentist’s office, or holidays when you can’t think of anything to do.) 5. Reading teaches you about thing unfamiliar to you. (Write A+ reports for school, impress your friends, and earn big prizes on TV game shows!) 6. Reading takes you to places you have never visited. (Read about actors on Broadway, bullfighters in Spain, and astronauts in space.) 7. Reading takes you to times you’ve never experienced. (Spend a week in The Middle Ages, or experience the burial ceremony of an Egyptian king.) 8. Reading introduces you to people you’ve never met. (Find out how the Japanese live or what an NFL football player’s practice is like.) 9. Reading introduces you to new ideas. (Some scientists believe that time isn’t linear.) 10. Reading is FUN! (Laugh out loud! Gasp in

disbelief! Feel your heart beating in suspense!

Blue class participated in reading every morning this term. Some

book we read together this term included The Twits by Roald

Dahl, The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein, and the National Geo-

graphic magazine for young people.

http://carolgorman.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/dreamstime_m_12753824-200x300.jpg


Decorative Clay Tribal Masks

One way your home can reflect who you are is by decorating it with things that hold special meanings to you. For instance, you can decorate your home with things that are symbolic or representative of your heritage. Or you can decorate your home with things that don't necessarily represent your heritage but still hold some significance or importance to you. Decorative wall masks for example make excellent home accents.

During the course of this term students designed and constructed from clay, decorative tribal masks that hold a symbolic

meaning representative of them and/or their heritage. Below are the completed mask that have been glazed and fired. Great

body of work and what a show case of outstanding modelling skills from Red Class students. Awesome effort!!

Gold class has been busy this term looking at different art

projects;

John’s fearsome clay figurine was made with normal clay

and should be soon painted and ready to be fired up in

our kiln.

Eminem used his artistic skills to fashion a warrior mask.

Kyuss’ current project is a beautiful drawing of a Maori

Koi fish, which has colours of the traditional Maori Flag.

The Black represents the darkness, red represents the

soul of a human and the white represents the light. The

all represents the new life coming into the world from the

darkness to the light.

Shyhiem’s colourful drawing of an ageing dingo.

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