Great to be Grateful

Gratitude is something we must continually remind ourselves of. As a teacher, mother and wife I certainly have my cup filled daily with love, laughter and positivity. It’s one of the lovely gifts we get as teachers.

WARNING- Teacher Joke

At the end of the term though, I was fortunate enough to celebrate a birthday milestone with my class, yes, turning 40! How lovely, I thought, to spend the day with my class and share some birthday cake for a little treat. Little did I know that for some time the students had been planning with Mrs D and Mr B a surprise for me! I walked into a room full of streamers and happy birthday signs, a graffiti board full of lovely messages and a few jabs at my old age! Then to the not so tuneful rendition of Happy Birthday ¯- in walks Mrs D with many gifts brought in by the students. I felt so overwhelmed by it all and it truly made it the most special day. I will never forget how the joy of that morning took all the pain away of turning 40!

Generous gifts

Seriously, I am so thankful to the parents, students and Mrs D who orchestrated the special gesture. I now have some lovely keepsakes, photos and treasured memories of LA8 2017. Until the next LA8 birthday, it's paper, scissors...

Yummy Yummy in my Tummy!

The sweet smell of sugary icing wafted through the air as the chefs set to work creating their masterpieces! What a special feeling making cupcakes with joy and happiness sprinkled on top with the intention of helping others.

Yes it was that time of the year where the Year 6 students rally together to raise funds for charity. It's not just making a donation though! The feel good factor comes from hard work, practice and care in creating cupcakes that others will want to buy- all the while raising funds for others not so fortunate. 

Of course, it must be noted that behind the scenes on the weekend were Mums, Dads and carers making cupcakes with their children- prepping staging and props and having practice sessions piping and decorating. 

  

It is wonderful to observe the children enjoy being creative and celebrating as a cohort the fantastic fundraising effort of over $1300!

Making the Cupcakes-piping

Making the Cupcakes- assembling

Making the Cupcakes- staging

STEAMing Ahead

We only realise the true potential of our students when we offer them learning experiences outside the norm. Today we saw the excellent capabilities our students have in STEAM!

LEGO Stop Motion

Marble Run

3D Printer Design

Sphero Maze

Magnifying Art

Science Technology Engineering Art and Maths is the focus this week for Tapping's inaugural STEAM Week. A great deal of planning and organising has gone into this event and the team have organised guest speakers and educators for the event. 

Today our Year 6s enjoyed LEGO Stop Motion movie making, Magnifying Art, Catapult Construction and 3D Printing- yes 3D printing can you believe it?

The LEGO Stop Motion was so much fun, we were given only 10 pieces of LEGO to make a vehicle or furniture piece and then we had two mini figurines- now to make the story... many photos, effects and soundtracks later we shared our Academy Award winning movies! Both the lead teacher and the students commented on how the students pushed past problems and sifted through solutions until they made a movie they could truly be proud of.

Off to the Studio where we would be invited in as "Creators" and marvel at the world that exists under the microscope. We saw butterfly wings, pollen, bacteria, dust mites and a tick all highly magnified- it was not at all what we were expecting! Broccoli florets look like stunning unopened tulips and butterfly wings looked like tightly woven textiles, it was truly incredible. This formed our inspiration to create some nasty or nice aliens. We were offered the opportunity to sculpt our alien creature out of plasticine or just get straight to the drawing. Well, I'm telling you now I don't know how I'll sleep tonight... the creatures were nothing short of terrifying! A snarling, fang filled seagull who would rip off your fingers for your fish and chips or would you rather the riled-up reptilian with robotic pincers to prise you apart! Spielberg's next special effects guys are in the making I believe! 

Such an enjoyable day for everyone, thanks again to the STEAM Team and the guests from Joseph Banks SC. We hear from our very special guest speaker Professor Lyn Beazley tomorrow to give us insight into future career prospects in Science. Until the next big idea it's paper, scissors... 

Camp Capers!

Camp for 2017 has been and gone and we've spent this week- celebrating the highlights of camp and reflecting on the experience and growth we gained from it. The students have enjoyed writing their camp recount, recording their camp song and music video and constructing a camp diorama. Yes, it has been a busy week! 

I'm am excited to share with you our first guest blog post from LA8 student Eloise:

There’s no going back now, I thought to myself as we left school on the monstrous bus full of 44 noisy year 6’s (there were two buses, each with 44 kids). I sat next to S, Z and H sat behind us. We all talked together for the whole ride there. Once we arrived at Mornington we all gathered in the hall and ate lunch, I wasn’t that hungry so I didn’t eat much, after that we settled into our dorms, I was with K and S.

 

Our first activity was crate stacking, we met our instructor, Victoria, and she demonstrated how to put on the equipment, the harness was very uncomfortable. We started the activity, I enjoyed it a lot, as I was climbing I kept forgetting I had a harness on so I felt very unstable. Not too long after we all went on a bushwalk, there were so many march flies! 

Anyway, once we got back we all headed to the food hall (by the way the food was amazing!), we had the most delicious spaghetti Bolognese.

That night we got no sleep because of the dorm with 24 girls (whose idea was that?). That day we had baked beans on toast, which was also amazing! 

After that our group had rock climbing (which I didn’t enjoy at all), flying fox and canoeing, can I just say that canoeing was the most enjoyable activity by far! We got to paddle out into the middle of the dam, join up our canoes and switch seats with other people, we also were told to go out into the water and flip over our canoes (while we were in them), bring them to the shore and tip all the water out of them (it’s a lot harder than it sounds). 

Later that day we had indoor games in the main hall, trust me having 88 children in one room is not a great idea when it comes to noise control, anyway we played a series of entertaining games including Wattie, which consists of Mr Boylan calling people to the centre of the hall and those people whacking a ball of newspaper with a stick made of even more newspaper and attempting to score a goal.  There were many more exciting games but to name them all would take up the rest of this page (that might have been a bit of an exaggeration)!

That night we got a lot more sleep that the night before, I guess the girls in the big dorm got tired of talking! We woke up to the sound of Mr Boylan’s voice and the girls gossiping at 6:00 in the morning (I’m guessing, I had no concept of time)! I didn’t really enjoy breakfast, it was tinned spaghetti on toast. I had some fruit and some toast with melted cheese on it.

Our final activity on camp was mid-ropes course, I only did low-ropes because I fell off the 3 metre-high climbing wall straight on to my lower back, anyway I didn’t find that activity very enjoyable, it doesn’t help that there were hundreds of March flies hovering around, can I just say for such a small creature they pack a powerful bite!

Soon we headed down to the food hall to eat our last meal, hotdogs and icy poles, chips and juice, YUM! The 20 minutes before the buses departed were the most hectic time on camp by far, everybody rushing to get their bags and to make sure they get on the right bus, it was crazy! On the way back I sat next to S again, like the way there- we talked the whole time. That was my camp experience! 

School Spirit Soars

What do you call 800 students, a Principal rocking athletic wear, an 80s clad teacher and the smell of sausages wafting through the disco sound waves- a Fun Run of course! As always it oozed community spirit as parents, grandparents, carers and friends of Tapping PS joined to encourage and cheer on our motivated students. The boys and girls really persisted through heat and humidity to run as many laps as they could, raising funds for our school with each lap they completed. It was so much fun and many laughs were provided, as always, by Mr Mac.

Run, boys.... Run!

Principal Mr Boylan keeping us cool for school!

Every single morning Mr Mac puts a smile on our dial, with his hilarious  and creative costumes. 

It all started 550 school days ago, when Mr Mac was asked to ensure the safety of children around one of the school car parks. He took this pretty seriously, in fact, he dressed up as a police officer! That was the start and every single school day since he has dressed up and not once repeated a costume!

The students and school community look forward to the laughs and smiles Mr Mac brings with his generous spirit! Thank you for what you give us each day- it does make a difference. Until Mr Mac's next costume change it's paper, scissors...

Stretching Ourselves

"This is too hard!" " I can't do that!" " Woah, I'm falling over!" All direct quotes from students doing Yoga (stretching and breathing exercises) for the first time several weeks ago. For some, it was new and different. It was outside their comfort zone, outside of what they normally did with their bodies. Their muscles were letting them know their surprise at being stretched in this way, balanced that way and centred this way. All of this bizarre new lesson playing out in front of their peers, non-judgemental of course, but an audience none the less.

So why participate in this morning fitness session, you might ask? It's a time the students can quietly and calmly focus on just them! Every pose, stretch, breath and thought is for them, they are focused truly on their mind and bodies. In this fast paced, hyper stimulated society, it is so important our children learn to press the pause button in a productive way.

A 90 degree angle in action

Dancing Warrior

The students have come so far in just three weeks. They are more focussed throughout the session, increasingly self aware as opposed to peer aware. The boys are becoming stronger in their core and improving balance on both left and right sides of their body. The girls are increasing in flexibility, see that 90 degree angle, and are eagerly awaiting the next progression.

Child's Pose

It's a lovely, cohesive start to our day and helps us with our emotional regulation. I think that's what they were trying to achieve in this Angry Birds clip...



Until next time it's paper, scissors...

Leading the Leaders

At our school, we have an expectation that all Year 6 students are leaders. They wear a polo shirt with a white stripe that distinguishes them from the other students. They are the role models in our school and teachers and students can rely upon them to be the example of leadership. So who leads the leaders when the leaders need leading! 

We recently held our annual nomination, speech and voting process to determine who would hold the positions of Student Councillor and Faction Captains for 2017. The caliber of students on the ballot paper was high and it certainly made for a great deal of deliberation from their peers and teachers in voting for the leadership roles. The speeches were well thought out, succinct and delivered with confidence. The audience appreciated the fact that delivering a speech to 10 adults, including the Principal, and over 180 students would take some courage. Let me share with you some excerpts:

"It's not just handing our leaflets and putting up flags, it's about being a responsible, respectful role model who has the willpower to own the position"

"A day without laughter is a day wasted, vote for me and your day won't be wasted!"

"You don't need to be the fastest, fittest or strongest, you just need to show leadership well."

It was no surprise to me that these students presented themselves this way. Most have been a student at Tapping PS for 8 years of solid behaviour education and self management development. Congratulations to those that now have the honour and privilege of being in a leadership role and we look forward to positive experiences with you this year. Until next time it's paper, scissors...