Nerae Preece Principal

From The Principal’s Chair…

The last term has been such a surreal experience. Never in my 18 years of education have I seen a community go through what we have together. The pandemic is not over, but the term has finished. It’s time to look back and think about our successes together. We can smile with that knowing smile you give to friend when you remember a moment in time together. For our sake, right now, let’s look past all of the hard times and celebrate the good that has been happening at our school. Here are my top 10…

Families and educators worked together to help their children access the learning together. Never has there been more collaboration and partnership of a child’s learning than right now. This has been summarised with 3 way interviews where your child has been able to talk to you about their learning. I think we are all pretty proud about how they can talk to us about being learners.
Lunch time play. Across the internet kids connected at lunchtime and played games. For some kids it really helped make that connection to school feel a little closer. Thank you to all of the teachers that helped make this fun space over the term.
Every single one of you… for holding it together for as long as you can. Whether you be a parent, carer or educator. We are all tired. We have been balancing work, education and trying to survive without physical contact with our friends and some of us our families and support networks. We might have been losing sleep and not getting enough exercise. But every single one of you who reads this, know that it needs to be celebrated that you got this far. You’re awesome!
Our teachers who planned and created learning in a completely new platform. The work has been acknowledged across many places across the education community. I am very proud of what they have achieved over the remote learning period.
Our education support staff have been helping all of our students resume their support programs as well as connecting with families who were finding it hard to join the learning. I am proud of their persistence and quick thinking to get their programs up and running so quickly. Thank you!
All of the educators who came to work onsite to supervise our vulnerable students with remote learning. You helped us out enormously, showed great generosity. You made a safe space for our kids who needed it. Thank you!
Our school band managed to rehearse and create an amazing video recording of Zebra. Check it out on Facebook!
We had a grade 6 student John Pavic get accepted into the SEAL program at Lilydale High. All done remotely! Well done John we are so proud of you!
Leonard Robinson has been selected to participate in the state-wide High Abilities Group. Leonard I can’t wait to hear about what you discover.
This one is the most important one… that’s why it’s last… Our kids need to be celebrated. They have travelled through the confusing, the lonely and the stressful times with us. Always trying their best. To all of our Badger kids, you have made me feel so proud as a principal. I want to thank you Badger kids for being the motivation for me to get up in the morning and make sure our school is the best school it can be. I cannot wait to see you all come back to school. A school is not a school without its learners. Badger is an empty place without you.

What are your top 10 celebrations for this past term? They might be small or big. That’s okay. It’s important to think about the good things that are happening. It helps keep us going.

Till next term,

Ciao!

Nerae Preece

Principal

PS Remember how I said that we were waiting on a baby to arrive from Mrs Tasker. Well Amelie arrived safe and well on that day! We were so happy that three Badger babies arrived safely last week!

PPS Don’t forget that the first week back next term, from the 5^th of October is remote learning and then we have our Prep to 2 students start back, hopefully, on the 12^th of October! I’ll keep you posted with emails over the holidays.

THIS WEEK IN ART

Hello Badger Creek Community,

Wow! What a term we have had in our virtual art room. Our students have produced a range of beautiful artworks and I really appreciate that they have wanted to share them in our student gallery for our community to enjoy. Thank you so much to all the students that have participated it’s been a joy celebrating your achievements.

As a final project for the term, both Junior and Senior students made a personal artwork reflecting on their time at home during remote learning. It’s lovely to have an insight into our students experiences and emotions during this time and what better way to express these ideas than through the creative outlet that is art. Enjoy your holidays everyone and we look forward to a wonderful term four.

Vanessa Imberger

Art Teacher

Music News

Greetings to our Wonderful School Community,

What a very unusual time we have had this term. Being in lock down and physically away from our community has made me appreciate it all the more. I have been so touched by the way the students and families have engaged with music and indeed all of their learning despite the obvious obstacles.

Band Project

Over the last three weeks I have been working with some members of the school band to produce a remote recording of the John Butler song, Zebra. This was quite a complicated process for all involved and I am so proud of all of the students who had a go at this. It was brave and I thank you for your willingness to step outside of your comfort zone.

I would like to thank my son, Angus, who helped me to cobble together twenty five or so little audio clips into one great sounding piece.

Next term we will be recording all sorts of music both at school and at home to share with our community. Watch this space!

I wish you a good, well-earned break from schooling.

Happy holidays,

Ms. Legg

Music Teacher

Badger Creek Band Zebra

Drive My Car

John Robert and Paula

In P.E this week

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Hi Badger Creek Community.

Thank you to all our students that have been involved in the PE Program for Term 3. It has been wonderful to see the photos/videos and comments about their progress whilst learning remotely. Our families have been creative with equipment and modified these activities to suit the learning space at your homes, which is fantastic to see.

Our Juniors have now finalised our unit on striking skills, which we will re-introduce again in Term 4 onsite. Our Seniors have been involved in net/wall activities, with a focus on Tennis and rallying. We will continue to build on all these skills once we return to school.

Well done on a massive effort of remote learning in Term 3. Take care over the term break and I look forward to seeing you all at some stage in Term 4.

Kind regards

David Pitts

PE Teacher

Around the Year Levels

IN PREP THIS WEEK

“The Preps have had some fun in our last WebEx sessions of Term 3! We had morning dress ups to celebrate being the best P.R.E.P.S ever. We also got a little silly in our Maths session. Shelby Pye and George Ratcliffe’s task was to not smile. They are a hard pair to crack.”

IN GRADE 1 / 2 THIS WEEK

What a fabulous term we have had in grades 1/2. Thank you to all our lovely students for your enthusiasm and motivation. We have loved seeing all your hard work and determination in practise through your uploads each week. This week students got to self-direct their learning in choosing from a variety of literacy tasks. In maths, we completed some fun cooking, measurement, and online activities. We have LOVED our student’s inquiry projects and their enthusiasm in studying other cultures. Here are just a few we wanted to share.

84B5C574-FF55-47F3-8CE2-FFA7B87A62F8 – Alana Thomas

IN GRADE 3 / 4 THIS WEEK

This week in 3/4 we have been revising the four operations (multiplication, division, addition and subtraction) through an interactive card game. In Reading, we have been focusing on word choice and in Writing we have been working on poetry. A wonderful end to the term 3/4’s! Enjoy your much-needed break, be safe and we will see you in Term 4 🙂

Kind regards,

The 3/4 Team

IN GRADE 5 / 6 THIS WEEK

This final week of term has seen 5/6 students exploring narrative non-fiction – a genre where authors inform and entertain their audience by divulging facts and information through a narrative structure. Our Inquiry mini-unit exploring Asia has allowed us to explore this text-type, with students using reading sessions to search for and sort information that they then incorporated into their own narrative non-fiction writing piece. It was an ambitious project to bring to a close our Global Village Inquiry unit and we are so proud of the writing students have produced.

Maths this week has seen students continue their learning within the topic of money, with sessions investigating the real-world concepts of simple financial plans/budgets and applying discounts to retail prices.

Grade 5/6s, we can’t praise you enough for the work you have put into your learning this term. Enjoy your well-deserved holidays, folks. We miss you!

Mr Moore & Miss Drill

Sean’s garden philosophies

The Gritty Gardener

There’s something about gardening that brings out the best in people. Throughout my time as a gardener, I have enjoyed the good fortune that comes with meeting and working alongside like-minded souls. Gardeners can be a chatty bunch, and I mean that in a good way. After all, there’s plenty to talk about. There’s a lot to learn, and gardeners are happy to share their knowledge. So, don’t be afraid to ask for advice, and don’t be afraid to offer your own insights. In my experience, even the most seasoned of gardeners are open to expanding their knowledge. After all, no matter how long you’ve been in the game, there’s always something new to discover. That’s part of the joy.

Gardening is a wonderfully uniting and inclusive activity, and for many, the social aspect is what they’re drawn to. For others, gardening is a solitary activity. It’s a time for deep reflection and an opportunity to go on an inner journey. No matter the type of gardener, the one thing they all have in common is that they refer to their garden as their happy place.

The garden is also a great teacher. In last week’s newsletter I asked the question: “What has gardening taught you?” What I have discovered is that there are many passionate gardeners amongst the Badger Creek Primary School community. The responses confirmed for me how the lessons learnt are just as relevant and applicable to our everyday lives as they are in the garden context.

I would like to share a response from Bonnie Van De Ven, Badger Creek mum to Sanne (Grade 1/2A), Anneke (Prep B) and Sabine (soon to be Prep!)

“I have learnt humility and determination. Just when you start thinking that you have this gardening business down pat the garden has a way of telling you otherwise. From a small failure like having your Bok Choy bolting before you can eat it, to something more spectacular like having to pull an entire crop of snow peas at the point of eating because of disease. The garden has a way of keeping you in your place, which is a good thing. The failures also teach you to just take a deep breath and try again. You will get there eventually, and when you do get there, the rewards will be even sweeter!”

Bonnie’s response highlighted some of the key qualities that gardening has a way of fostering in a person. The garden can be a tough teacher. It exposes us to some harsh realities, and it calls the shots. You learn fast in the outdoor classroom that is the garden. It will make you determined, persistent and humble. I think gardeners are eternal optimists. They are not easily discouraged. They are accepting of setbacks, mishaps, mayhem and even the occasional disaster. They pick themselves up, dust themselves off, and get back on the horse. They say things like “things are going swimmingly” and “everything is just peachy”. They know how to celebrate a win, as they know how much time and effort went in to making it happen.

Gardening will teach you to slow down, to appreciate the little things in life, and to be patient. It will bring out your nurturing side, and just like the flowers, your soul will blossom.

Take care over the holiday break, sow more seeds, and remember to protect those precious seedlings from hungry snails and slugs!

Happy gardening!