Good Afternoon Families,

Mrs Shelton’s Retirement

We have celebrated Mrs Naomi Shelton over the past two weeks, as she enters a new chapter in her retirement this afternoon!  
On behalf of the school community past and present, we are eternally grateful for the contribution that you have made to our amazing school. We look forward to many more years of you supporting our school as a grandparent and volunteer! 

Colour Run, activities and lunch 

We had so much fun today at our Colour Run and rotation of activities.  

We raised $459.15 for upgrades to our school library. 

Thanks to the Community Champs for all their organising and support to make this day a wonderful end of term celebration.  

Happy Holidays & Hoppy Easter! 

I wish all our families a safe and happy holiday break. I hope that everyone can relax, recharge and enjoy lots of family time! I will be making the trip to visit our BRIDGE program partner school during the school holidays. I will be taking pen pal letters, mini-books and/or drawing from our students, as well as an Aussie gift bag for each class at Smart Auladi Islamic Bilingual School – Cirebon, Java, Indonesia. I look forward to telling you all about what I have experienced and learned over the ten days, when I return in Week 3; after some long service leave.  

Mrs Duggan will return at the beginning of Term 2. All staff will look forward to seeing everyone back at school after the break on Monday 28th April. 

Regards,

Bella Mitchell 

AST/ Acting Principal 

 Please see the Parent Friendly calendar attached. 

Easter Raffle

Thank you to our amazing Community Champions and our equally amazing school and Evandale community for the organisation of the Easter raffle and sales of tickets. We had 5 major prize baskets and 6 second prizes. Thank you also to Chelsea from Harcourts for donating the beautiful baskets! 

The raffle was drawn today and some of the lucky winners are pictured below:

 Major:        Marcella, Traysahn (Matt), Hume family, Annabelle & Mrs Duggan!

Runners up: Liam, Janne, Bron & Kev, Lennox, Tamara and Garth.  

$1082.70 was raised from the raffle!!!

Mother’s Day Stall

The Community Champions are organising a Mother’s Day Stall next term.  Can you help them by donating or making some items?  There will be a box in the entrance foyer next term where items can be placed or let one of the CC’s know what you are planning to prepare.  

Dear Parents,

As Term One concludes, we want to thank you for your support, especially to those who have already booked parent-teacher conversations. Your involvement is invaluable to your child's learning. Partnering with us is an important part of your child's progress as we set goals and celebrate your child's learning. We will be holding parent teacher conversations in terms 2, 3 and 4 

Across term one, we have celebrated and observed growth in students social, emotional, and cognitive skills this term. From becoming more independent to engaging in group activities, their development has been amazing to watch.

We have watched friendships grow and develop and an increase in confidence levels. 

A class favourite is finger gym & this has been a fun way to incorporate fine motor development on a daily basis with a focus on strengthening the smaller muscles of the fingers and hands in preparation for writing

This has assisted with our development of scissor skills and it has supported letter formation and coordination across the term

A big congratulations to parents and carers who are working on setting up routines and helping their child to be successful especially following our morning organisation.

It has been wonderful to see supporting adults working alongside their child in completing their name each morning and create independence 

A big thank you to Mrs Massey who has been a big help in establishing routines and ending our day with music and movement.

We look forward to another wonderful term and continued growth in term two 

Thank you again for your support. We look forward to what the next term brings!

Miss Smith 

As we wrap up an exciting start to the year, we reflect on all the wonderful moments we've shared here in the Gumnuts. This term has been filled with new beginnings, and it has been such a privilege to witness new friendships and the exciting progress made by each of our little ones.

As we approach the end of Term 1, we would like to take a moment to share some of the key aspects that we have explored this term:

• Music and Movement: Our sessions have been filled with rhythm, song, and dance, encouraging both physical coordination and expression.
• Creativity: From art projects to imaginative play, exploring unique ways of expression has been a wonderful learning experience 
• Gross Motor Development: We’ve focused on muscle development through a range of outdoor activities, including obstacle courses that enhance strength, balance, and coordination.
• Inquiry into Textures: Our sensory exploration of different textures has been a highlight, with the children engaging their senses to learn about the world around them.
• Harmony Week: We celebrated diversity and belonging with activities that celebrated inclusion and understanding, reinforcing the importance of harmony and respect for all.
• Self Portraits: Children explored their identities through self-portraits, giving them the opportunity to express themselves and learn about who they are.
• Fine Motor Development: Our table-top activities have been fantastic for developing the small muscles in our fingers, helping with skills such as drawing, cutting, and manipulating small objects.
• Friendship Building: We've been focusing on building strong, positive friendships, teaching the children how to collaborate, share, and support each other in their journey.

This is just the beginning! It's been a truly fun-filled and enriching term. If you know any children in our community between the ages of birth to 4 years, please invite them along!

We look forward to seeing you in Term 2, and in the meantime, we wish you all a very Happy Easter!

**********

**********

**************