My will is filled with fire and might;

As days grow shorter, it burns bright!

I face the world; I have no fear.

And many things become more clear.

For though there's much that I don't understand as yet,

I seek for light.

Dear GHSS Families,

Welcome to Term 2 and the season of Djeran!  The blossoming of red flowers signifies we are in the season of Djeran.  It is a time of cooling, heralded by a shift in wind direction and intensity.  Gentle southerly winds bring welcome relief from hot weather and the return of cool nights that leave a dewy residue in the early mornings, are all signs we’ve transitioned away from the preceeding season of Bunuru.

Parent Survey On Friday we sent out a link to the Parent Survey and we would like to thank those of our school community who have already taken the time to complete it. We encourage all our families to take the time to complete this survey, as we value your feedback and are committed to improving the school experience for everyone.  It was the result of parent feedback and working together that our Spring Fair got off the ground last year, for example!  

Click on the link below to take the survey.  You can complete the survey anonomously and it will only take a few minutes - or longer if you have ideas you are bursting to share with us!  Thanks in advance for providing your feedback on ways we can improve.

Parent survey link  -  https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/MXMJCDY

Class 7 Play The Canterbury Tales will be performed by the Class 7 students at the Civic Centre on May 23rd.  Follow the link to book your tickets and secure your seat as this will be promoted to the wider community shortly. 

https://events.humanitix.com/the-canterbury-tales

New Playground! The team from South Coast Nature Play will begin on our playground upgrade - starting tomorrow!  James and his team will tape off the area they are working in and the children will have the opportunity to watch as they create a new climbing frame for our playground.  This is just the beginning of a building program that will be carried out over the next couple of terms, as we replace and expand our playground options. 

Re-registration The school recently went through the re-registration process with the Education Department.  We received positive feedback from our auditors on how our school is operating.  Our staff will be working on tweaking a few ares identified by the auditors over the next 3 months, but overall, it was a positive outcome for all.

School Photo Day Order forms have gone home.  Please place your orders ahead of the Photo Day, Wednesday May 24th, to get the best deal on your photo orders!

WA Premier's Reading Challenge starts today - May 8!  The challenge is to read 12 books between Monday May 8 and Friday September 8.  Parents can visit the website to create an account and log their child as a reader.  I have also applied to be a Challenge Champion, so can register students from our school who wish to participate and can log their books on their behalf if you would prefer they participated through the school!

This is a great way to promote reading.  Listening to audiobooks and being read to by a parent qualify for the book count also and there are weekly prize draws for participants as well as school prizes.  So join in at home or feel free to email principal@goldenhill.wa.edu.au or send a note to the office to have your child register through the school.  I can't wait to see what everyone reads!

Jacqui Hollingworth

Principal

Please enjoy some photos of our lovely Class 7 students participating in their curriculum!

Each newsletter we will be sharing a virtue that will be the focus in our school over the following three weeks.  

What is Respect? Respect is an attitude of caring about people and treating them with dignity.  Respect is valuing ourselves and others.  We show respect by speaking and acting with courtesy.  When we are respectful we treat others as we want to be treated.  Respect includes honoring the rules of our family or school, which make life more orderly and peaceful.  It is knowing that every man, woman and child deserves respect, including you.

Why Practice it? Without respect for rules, we would have confusion.  People would treat each other rudely and violate each other's privacy and other rights.  Respect helps people to feel valued.  Elders deserve special respect because they have lived longer and learned many of life's lessons.  Self-respect is making sure no one hurts you or abuses you, even an elder.  When you respect yourself, others respect you, too.

How do you practice it? Think about how you would like others to treat you and treat them with the same dignity.  How would you like others to speak to you, treat your belongings, and your right to privacy?  If you want to use someone else's things, ask, and then take good care of them.  Express even your strongest feelings in a peaceful way.  Treat yourself as you feel others deserve to be treated.  You deserve it too!

Signs of Success Congratulations!  You are practicing Respect when you...

• Treat others as you want to be treated
• Speak courteously to everyone.
• Take special care of other people's belongings.
• Are receptive to the wisdom of elders.
• Honour the rules of your family, school and nation.
• Expect respect for your body and your rights.

"When I respect others, others respect me, and I like that'."  6th Grader in California

What a fantastic start to the year for our wonderful combined Class 5/6 as they expand their awareness of the world around them.  After the cultural and culinary richness of Ancient India and the Wonder and Wisdom of Words, we launched ourselves into the study of Astronomy.

The secrets of the Sun, Moon, Planets and Stars slowly revealed themselves, much to our constant amazement.  Our stargazing evening on the oval was an eye opener!  The Moon in its first quarter was side lit and the stark shadows of lunar topography leaped through the lenses of our telescopes!  This main lesson defined ‘awesome’ and inspired some beautiful art work and an original song!

The mind-boggling distances involved has given us cause to review our understanding of our base-10 counting system, place value and decimal fractions.  Did you know that the closest star besides our Sun, (Proxima Centauri), is 4.2465 light-years away?  That’s something like….40,025,600,000,000 km.  That’s right!  More than 40 trillion kilometres.  An astronomical figure indeed!

Luckily we didn’t have to travel anywhere near that far when we went on surfari to Cosy Corner, but there were definitely some rising stars.  It was a truly memorable day.  Blayke even tried his hand at underwater photography!  It was high time Ashley invested in a new phone anyway?.  Many thanks to our amazing games and physical education teacher, Sam, for organising such a great day and to Mez for being a warm and knowledgeable surf coach.

Term 1 really brought us together as a class and we are looking forward to the adventures that await in the year ahead.

Warmly,

Renee and Ashley

Some beautiful brisk nights/mornings are creeping in, and as such we would love to share with you a warming soup recipe from the book - The Waldorf School Book of Soups.

Beef Barley Soup

1 cup whole barley (soaked overnight in 3 cups of water)

1 onion

1 carrot

2 cloves garlic

2 sticks of celery

butter to saute

5 cups beef stock

1 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp pepper

dash of cayenne

chopped tomatoes or parsley for garnish

Cook soaked barley with a dash of sea salt.

Reserve.

Saute sliced vegetables in butter.  Add to stock, and simmer.

Add seasonings and barley.

Simmer.

Add more stock if necessary.

Garnish and serve.

Serves 6

Our first High School production is soon to hit the big stage!!!

Each and every performer gets a chance to shine in this spirited, charming script.

Great characters and lots of humour.

Get your tickets here; $5 per person.

https://events.humanitix.com/the-canterbury-tales

Please know that as a school we are always open to feedback should you wish to provide it.  We are constantly striving to refine our processes and make improvements where necessary.

Feel free to contact us via phone (9848 1811), email - office@goldenhill.wa.edu.au or principal@goldenhill.wa.edu.au or come in and make an appointment to speak with someone.

Positive feedback especially welcome!