They say time flies when you are having fun, therefore it makes complete sense when you start to realise that we are almost at the end of Term 1. 

Term 1 is always a special term, as students focus on building new relationships with teachers and peers, all whilst grappling with the concept of being in a new grade and what challenges and expectations will they face. However, it is amazing to see, as each year, our teachers and students do a sensational job focusing on building and contributing to life at Artarmon, and it is this focus that makes the environment and culture of our school the best place to learn and work everyday.

Your child/children will be tired, your child/children will need time to recharge. Please make sure you take this upcoming holiday period to spend quality time with family, friends and loved ones. Term 2 is around the corner and I know your child's classroom teacher will be prepared to make every day a new learning experience in the classroom.

YEAR 5 OC TERM 1 PROJECT

It was great to be invited into our Year 5 OC classrooms last week to view all their hard work and final project pieces from the term. I was so impressed with the effort and deep learning that they had achieved and asked a couple to write up their experience to share with us all.

Hi, our names are Will C and Arighna M from Y5 OC. This term, 5IW & 5MK and did a homework project with the name of ‘Survival of the fittest.’ There were 3 components to this, one of which being an informative diorama on an Australian biome of our choice and a presentation given in a creative format. We needed to explain the main inhabitants, food chains, threats, and the geographical location of the biome. Students displayed a wide range of creativity, from a clay starfish to Bobby the cactus! We put a lot of effort into our dioramas, some of which are shown below (Courtesy of photographer Mr Coombes). 

CANTEEN INFORMATION

As communicated last week through the SZapp and email, our canteen operators Cupcakes and Canapés have decided to step away from running our school canteen. The school is currently in a tender process and we hope to have this completed during the holidays.

How will this impact the school?

• For Week 11, Term 1 (3-5th April). There will be NO Canteen. Students will have to bring all from home. On Thursday 6th April, pre ordered sausage sizzles is available through P&C.
• Once new Tender completed, a start date for new operators will be communicated by the school.
• This may impact canteen ordering in the first few weeks of Term 2.

Thank you very much for your understanding during this time.

HARMONY DAY

It was wonderful to celebrate Harmony Week last week with our school community and so many children take the time to dress in a cultural outfit or wear orange to symbolise Harmony in our country and school. We are blessed here in Artarmon to have such a multicultural school and our children understand diversity and that we are all equal and we all belong.

Below are some great images taken on the day of our children cerebrating together.

SCHOOL BYTES PARENT PORTAL

Thank you to all our families who have signed up to our parent portal. Please bookmark this page on your computer as we will start to use this portal more and more as time goes by.

If you are providing a reason of absence under 10 school days you are able to so this through the attendance tab of your portal. This is helpful for our admin staff as it is a quick approval, rather than adding the details into the School Bytes system later.

Thank you to all the families who responded to the system generated email last week regarding missed reason of absence and apologies to those who received it when a reason had already been provided. 

We will be moving to a system where families will receive an email each week if there are any days absent without a reason and it will guide you to the parent portal to complete. More information will come home about this next term, however, here is a quick image to help with creating your parent portal account.

Looking forward to seeing lots of faces at tonight's P&C meeting via Zoom!

Year 6 visited Canberra!

From Wednesday 22^nd March to Friday 24^th March, Artarmon’s Year 6 students visited our nation’s capital. Travelling in 5 coaches, we set off at 6:45 am, just as the sun was coming up!

In Canberra, students were given the opportunity to participate in a variety of educational programs with a focus on our country’s history, culture, heritage, and democracy. These activities supported our history unit, Australia as a nation.

The Australian Government recognises the importance of all young Australians being able to visit the national capital as part of their Civics and Citizenship education. To help families meet the cost of this excursion, the Australian Government is contributing $30 per student under the Parliament and Civics Education Rebate program. This money was applied to cover some of the excursion costs paid by our families and is paid directly to the school.

After 3 long and tiring days, our students and wonderful staff returned home. We had a wonderful time and learned so much!

Some Canberra Recounts

During Year 6’s three days in Canberra, we had the privilege of visiting many important places. One place was The War Memorial. The Memorial was built by a journalist after the Second World War to commemorate all those Australians who died in conflicts in history, whether we knew how they died or not. Over the years, the memorial has collected a multitude of artifacts to help tell the stories of Australian war heroes.

Another very important place we got to see was Embassy Drive. Our connections with other countries are very important and our strong connections with our enemies and especially our allies contribute to Australia’s multicultural community. The architecture of the embassies and high commissions reflected each country’s culture.

Last and not least was the Australian Royal Mint. We learnt all about the origin of currency in Australia and how bartering was used in indigenous communities across Australia. We met robots such as Titan, a bowing coin tipper, and all got coins that were stamped in front of our eyes.

Thank you very much to all the parents and teachers who contributed to us having such a wonderful time.

By Elias                                                                                    -

Last week, Year 6 had the opportunity to visit Canberra, staying at Alivio Tourist Park. I  enjoyed the cabins, which were little cottages with adorable verandahs. We were provided with a myriad of amenities, including two bedrooms, our own bathroom and even a television. My favourite part of the trip was certainly spending time with my cabinmates, developing important life skills such as teamwork and cooperation. We were also given delicious meals each day. Not only did we have a fabulous time in the cabins, we had lovely bus drivers to ease the boredom of our two 3 hour bus rides. I enjoyed the scenery there and back and the sunrise we got to view on our bus trip there. Finally, I would like to thank our parents for enabling us to go to Canberra, and our teachers, who dedicated their time to our trip.

By Sophia

In class, Year 6 have been studying the history of Australia. We learned about Australia’s Democracy, Indigenous Rights, the Federation of Australia and voting. Last week, we had the pleasure to visit Canberra to learn more.

At Parliament House, we were lucky enough to attend a tour of the place. The first activity was listening to the House of Representatives and the Senate. We climbed beautiful marble stairs and entered a glass-paneled room above the rooms. It was very interesting to hear both places debating about important issues, and how passionate and confident they were about the topics. Even better, we all got to meet Kylea Tink, our local member for the Federal Government! We asked loads of questions and we all were so inspired by her words.

We also learned about the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) and their job in elections as well as the Preferential voting system Australia uses. We also learned about what makes you eligible to vote and help people out.

I would like to end by thanking our parents for allowing us to go to Canberra, as well as the teachers for giving up their time to ensure we had a wonderful time.

By Divya

The NSW Premier’s Reading Challenge encourages students to participate in an ongoing reading program, reading a set number of books at their own reading level. It is not a competition, but a challenge to each student - to read, to read more and to read more widely.