“It is impossible to make your eyes twinkle if you aren’t feeling twinkly yourself.” (Roald Dahl)

newsletter

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Important Dates for Cycle 5, 2017

Friday 14th July NVC Workshop (7pm-9pm) Wonthaggi Town Hall Foyer

Monday 17th July First day of Cycle 5

Friday 4th August Board Meeting (9am)

Friday 11th—Saturday 12th August One Act Play Camp (Princess Play) 3.30pm til midday

Saturday 12th —Sunday 13th August One Act Play Camp (Apple Play) 400pm til midday

Wednesday 16th August Mid—Winter Gathering (from 5pm)

Friday 18th August Last day of Cycle 5

Saturday 19th August One Act Play Festival, Foster

Monday 26th August First day of Cycle 6

Cycle 4, 2017

Birthdays

celebrated

in July

Erica, Riley,

Indigo L.,

Ruby, Jensen,

Greta, Will

Scott playing Helicopter at lunchtime

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Jy

Farewell Dan

From Dan

I would like to say thank you to the entire KVS community for all that we have shared together. I have had so many wonderful experiences over the last 5 years with so many of you. I really cherish the connections I've made and the memories we've created. Wishing everyone all the very best. And I look forward to catching up when I am back. If you'd like to get in touch, I'd love to hear from you at juji@live.com.au Have fun!

It was a very emotional afternoon for students and mentors alike as we farewelled Dan. Nearly half a

decade at KVS! We’re glad we could keep you that long, you have made so many great experiences

possible. We will miss you enormously and wish you many great adventures ahead.

We hope that Dan the

Man in the Mustard

Van can find his way

back to the Village

some day. Happy

travels from us all.

Facilitation PLP by Marni

Twelve students were selected for the Facilitation PLP this cycle.

The role of a Facilitator is to ensure that a process runs smoothly for

all participants. Students involved underwent four weeks of skills

training with the goal of running morning meeting or Parliament.

Some of the skills that an effective Facilitator needs are objectivity,

ability to offer clear directions, confident public speaking and time

keeping. Students took turns at both facilitating and assisting at

parliament and receiving feedback from their fellow PLP partici-

pants which they then were able to workshop as a group. Well done

to Yasmin, Greta, Indigo, Hannah, Riley, Ruby Lou, Ruby Alaska,

Siera, Erin, Maeve, Emelia and Tahlia as assistant mentors

Piano Concert

At the end of this Cycle we

enjoyed a fabulous concert

from KVS students showcasing

their piano skills. All are

learning the piano, many with

Carmel Slater

who holds

private

lessons at

KVS each

week. Jacob playing

Business Studies by Dan This Cycle the Level 6s looked to a couple of local businesses to get a better understanding about what is involved in owning and running a small business. Mel Jenkins from Green Heart Organics and Nalin Arileo from Yay Foods generously gave us their time and insights.

We travelled to Mel’s shop in Inverloch on her day off, and the students interviewed Mel using questions they had devised. Mel then took us around her shop giving us a great insight into all the elements that make Green Heart what it is. After this experience, the students revised their questions and the following week we headed out to Nalin’s house, where some of her business activities occur. Nalin shared with us the values that inspired her to create her business and the challenges and successes that come with such an endeavour. The kids shared what they learnt during Triskel presentation evening, and gave their responses to more general questions about businesses. The kids got a lot from the experience and I thank Mel and Nalin for bringing this learning to life for our students!

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Beautiful Skateboard Deck Art Tayla & Erin

Daniel & Riley

Bringing out the pots and pans and ingredients for the past two cycles has proved popular with many students; it seems everyone loves to cook! All students spend time learning and refining their procedural writing skills, producing recipes and refining them over several weeks, followed by the fun bit – cooking! Students put some of their experimental recipes to the test, cooking up trays of treats to share with students and mentors across the school. All the Triskels seemed to take joy in cooking for their parents on presentation night.

The focus moved to weather in Cycle 4, with students from Foundation to Level 6 learning about where our weather comes from and how it is measured and recorded. Learning about weather gave rise to a diverse range of topics, from the earth’s place in space and how this causes seasons and seasonal variations in weather, to how radar works and how it can be used to predict rainfall.

Being sure not to neglect the garden, the Sun Roomers put in some great shifts weeding, mulching, harvesting, composting and pulling up last season’s vegetables, getting the garden ready for a productive Spring.

Kitchen

Garden by Brad

Ruby T, Mak, Jonah, Greta and Rubylou Will & Erica

Ruby Alaska, Aleni, Yas, Mitchell, Indigo, Roby T, Hannah, Jonah and Mak

Josephine & Evie Scarlett Jensen, Asha, Harry, Nico Bohdi, Jacob & Jemimah

Change by Marni

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Presentation Night by Sarah

Presentation Night always begins in a huge flurry of activity as we all rush about during the

day finishing off this and that, adding the final touches to displays and making sure that the evening

will run as smoothly as possible. The moment that families enter the space and respond with such

enthusiasm to what they see is pretty awesome, and this one was no exception! The food was

delicious, and this time we had the added bonus of kids cooking on the spot for their families. As Dan

said, "It's pretty cool to come and have your kids cook for you, play basketball with you, entertain with

computer games they have made, present you a speech and set off a rocket to top it all off!"

Philippa, Georgia & Derek Todd, Ruby Alaska & Kylie

Daniel, Jess, Ben & Hannah Sophie & Craig Nalin, Mat & Indigo Reece, Mak & Shannon

Brad, Riley, Ruby May & Sarah Daniel, Doug & Ben

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This cycle Level 2 to 5 students delved into the history of the

school and its buildings. We began by collecting evidence from

around the school grounds that pointed to previous time

periods in life before KVS existed. Violet, Erin and Maeve, with

the help of Scotty arranged to visit the Leongatha Historical

Society where we were able to sort through suitcases of

archived documents and artefacts. Soon an interview with

former Koonwarra Primary School Principal and KVS neighbour

Mr Harry Forrester was arranged and further detailed evidence

and anecdotes were collected. He also kindly lent us the

invaluable book Koonwarra My Home by Fred Holt.

During this project we found many interesting correlations be-

tween the original school and KVS, for example both schools

began life at the Koonwarra Hall.

There are many reminders of the previous school which was

open from 1893 to 1993 still

remaining today including the

original buildings that are now

the kitchen and Caf. The

students were very interested to

find out that the current kitchen

was once the Principal’s office

and a dark room!

We probably won’t be returning

to the days where students

chopped down trees and rode

them to the ground for fun, and

we are unlikely to make

slingshots but the scary merry

-go-round did sound kind of

exciting!

KVS Then and Now by Marni & Scotty

One Act Play Props & Costumes

with Sarah & Belinda

PLP next Cycle

This cycle we ran auditions for our two One Act Play entries for this year. Out of 30 Triskels, 24 students auditioned for a wide range of roles, and all students have secured a speaking role (except for Yasmin who has a special mime performance). What I noticed from the auditions, and from our first play reading, is the confident manner of all of our students when it comes to performing. The Level 2 auditions were outstanding, considering that none of these students had been through that process before. I was so impressed by the versatility individuals displayed as they auditioned for not one but many roles. Eight Level 2 students read for a role as a princess, and most of these students also read for the roles of the Moat Dragons. Get ready to be blown away this year by these young thespians. The One Act Play Festival is on August 19th in Foster. There will be an overnight camp at KVS for the ‘Princess’ Play from after school Friday 11th until midday on Saturday the 12th August. The ’Apple’ Play Camp will be from 4pm Saturday 12th until noon Sunday 13th August.

One Act Play by Sarah

Maeve, Erin & Violet

Original Koonwarra Primary School Students

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B

r

Minna & Georgia

Our statistics unit was particularly enjoyable this cycle. The Level 2 and 3s collected data about cars, and

we sat down near the highway to count cars traveling to Meeniyan and Leongatha. We also recorded the

colour of the cars and used this information to create a series of graphs as well as having some great

discussions about how lots of us had different data, even though we were recording at the same time!

The Level 4s and 5s recorded the behaviour of a chicken over an hour and a half and then compared the

behaviour of individual data to the whole group data. The Level 6 students made use of the reserve

across the road and recorded data about fungi species from two 10m x 10m quadrants. They then

identified the species of data and created a range of graphs and tables to compare and contrast the two

quadrants.

Specialist Maths by Sarah

We have learnt about, and searched for, flowers,

instruments, wattle, banksia shrubs, and worms.

Nirvana park, even in winter, gives us much to

explore. Playgroup made damper in a pot on the

fire. Although burnt on the outside, the inside

was warm and delicious, especially with butter

and maple syrup.

Playgroup by Jenneke

Farewell Sandra

We loved that you introduced the

Sun Roomers to beginning their day

by showing gratitude:

Here is the land, Here is the sky,

Here are my friends, And here am I

The Reading Program is stronger

than ever and we are very grateful for all of your hard

work, dedication and commitment.

We wish you all the very best Sandra.

Andrew showed us his Indian harmonium, which made beautiful

sounds to accompany our songs. Playgroup children love coming to

school for the tasty morning tea and to play with their friends and

siblings at school.

Ruby Alaska, Aleni, Siera, Georgia, Rubylou, Minna, Mak, Riley, Mitchell, Hannah & Sophie

What school are you at now and why?

I’m at Mary McKillop Secondary College in

Leongatha. There were quite a few going

there from KVS and had gone there the year

before, like Nash, Ella, Claude.

What do you miss about KVS and why?

Most things, you get to know your teachers

better and are closer to everyone at KVS.

What do you love about your new school?

Lots more opportunity to do different things

like more musicals, more music. There’s more

equipment like a music studio and soundproof

room and mixing room.

How was your transition into high school? Any

tips for those graduating this year?

It was ok. Get to know new people when you

start other than just the KVS kids, like those

with similar interests. The school day feels

more structured. I found the timetabling and

planning easier than some kids as we already

did lots of that. The actual classroom time

feels quite different. Also if you don’t finish

your work it is homework.

How do you think your life was changed by

KVS?

I feel really connected to the school, not just

the people. When we moved from another

primary school I didn’t feel any connection to

the old school but I do with KVS. It helped me

identify some personal interests, like ICT. I

feel like I’m more outgoing and confident as I

was pretty shy to begin with.

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Where are they now? Taj Forrest-Kennedy

Grounds Master Plan by Rachel

Thank you to everyone who passed along their ideas and offers of help about the grounds master plan and who attended the parent meeting this cycle. The parent meeting was a great brainstorming session and a walk through of the grounds produced some fantastic suggestions. Some of these included:

A welcoming entrance gate

An arbour on the old driveway between the Sun Room and the chicken run that could also be paved and with tables and chairs

A hard surface for work/play between the Sun Room and chicken run

A real rock climbing area

Removal of the maze and the development of a low level labyrinth in a different location to make way for a large playground space.

A Superadobe structure (see the example made by Curvatecture at St Erth)

Using plantings to create private play and con-templations spaces

Green Tee Pees using plants such as Sweet peas.

Balance beams between logs

The addition of outdoor musical elements to add sound to the space

Sand bag built cubby spaces

These ideas have been added to the existing potential projects list which includes climbing equipment, swings, a ropes course, individual learning spaces and further landscaping and improvement of the grounds and plans for the continued maintenance of the existing trees and replanting as required.

Several different zones have been identified for development across the school site and discussions are taking place to further develop these ideas with the students. Next cycle we will be working towards putting all these ideas together onto the site plans as an initial proposal and beginning a playground project with climbing equipment as a priority. It isn’t too late to add any ideas or feedback to our list, feel free to contact Rachel (rachel@hitechconnections.com.au or 0431 441 791)