March 2010 - Gawa Christian School Website

When he has brought out all his own, he goes on
ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because
they know his voice.
John 10:4
|unhi \ayi \uli bitjandhiyiny
dhawa=maramany nhan\uwuy \ayi \unhi
warrakan’nhany, ga \ayipiny \uli ga \unhi
marrtji \urru\un, ga walalnydja \uli marrtji
malthunna nhan\u, bili walalawuynydja \unhi
warrakan’tja mala mar\gi muka nhan\u
rirrakaywuny.
Djon 10:4
Gäwa news
When this newsletter hits the stands we
will be on our much anticipated school
adventure in Melbourne! The excitement
has built over many months. We have
packed our winter woolies ready for the
Melbourne weather! The students are in
for many surprises including circus skills
workshops, horse riding, AFL footy match,
the Melbourne Zoo and other activities.
We have planned a special dinner as well
so that we can catch up with our many
sponsors. This is sure to be a great
evening! Please pray for our students as
we travel together to Victoria – and
continue to keep all the students of Gawa
Christian School in your hearts.
Blessings, Lara Hvala
March 2010
In Damala class we have been studying a
Warramiri story: Borum ga |atha [iltjiwuy
(Fruits and Food of the bush).
This story about finding fruits
to eat was told to Kathy
Guthadjaka and she turned it
into a great book for students years ago. It
Guthadjaka pointing out edible
has been wonderful to have Gotha to read
fruits and berries to the students
the story, teach the special Warramiri terms
and practice our Yol\u spelling in class. But the best part was actually getting
outside and gathering up the fruits to eat–
Guthadjaka took the class on a field trip into
the jungle to find all the delicious fruits in
season.
Language &
Culture
Berry stained tongues!
By Ben Van Gelderen
Literacy Support
Mayawa Class
This term Mayawa class has been reading
“Dear Zoo” by Rod Campbell. We have
looked at lots of different animals from
zoos and why some would not make very
good pets! We have also created our own
pages for the book using animals we can
find at Gawa, such as crocodiles,
wallabies and turtles. In craft time we
have made different animals from the
book such as “Jumpy frogs and naughty
monkeys”.
By Elsie Marshall
This term I have had the pleasure of working with most of the
children in the school for literacy support. The Damala class
have been introduced to a wonderful story called “Tikki Tikki
Tembo” and the Mayawa class have enjoyed reading “Possum
Magic”. Last week the children cooked
fried rice and ate with chop sticks for the
first time. The Mayawa class have been
Gomoru and Basma develop- cooking Anzac biscuits as they travelled
ing their chopstick skills
around Australia like the characters –
Hush and Grandma Poss - from “Possum Magic”. Whilst we always
try to make our classes fun and interactive the children are also Lara and Djungbirrwirr
learning to write their own stories modelled on the class text; are
excited about being able to read the class text with their peers and are becoming more
and more confident to ‘give everything a go’! Well done everyone.
By Lara Hvala
Computer Skills
This term the Damala class has been using the laptop
computers each week to improve our ICT skills. During
the week we draft and edit a story and then, on
Thursday afternoons, we type it up and learn how to
change sizes, fonts and make headings and tables. If we finish early it is great fun to use
other programs on the computer to practice our spelling, maths and listen to our
favourite songs!
By Ben Van Gelderen
School Pride & Gardening
Mark and Bungadi in the garden
I had the opportunity to fly
to Darwin last week and
spend time with the
Executive team of NT
Christian Schools and other
NTCSA principals from across the
territory. Whist our schools differ in so
many ways – it is always wonderful to
share
our
visions, joys
and
ideas
with
each
other.
Our
school is one
of the most
remote
in
the territory
and it is great to have the support and
prayers from the leaders in each school
and the dedicated staff from our Darwin
office. It is such a blessing to be part of
God’s great plans for Christian Education
in the Northern Territory. Please pray for
the leaders in all our
schools
as
they
continue to serve
their communities in
which they reside.
God is certainly doing
great things!
Part of a
bigger
picture
Books in Homes
The wet season has been a fantastic time in our school garden and green house. The children have enjoyed planting seeds and new trees in our green house and around the school.
It has been great to see the speed of growth amongst the plants (unfortunately the weeds
grow just as fast). We have been planting bok choy, corn, spinach and plenty of parsley. It
will be great to start using some of these foods for the kids lunches. Kevin from Marrara has
also helped us choose some plants to create shade around the new school. After all the work
is done the children love to spray each other with water and have a shower under the mist
sprays. A cool way to end the day!
By Mark Hvala
Community Dinner
We always like to celebrate together as a community and
give thanks to the Lord for the great things He has done in
Gawa. On Saturday night
we had a pizza night with
staff,
students
and
community members and
it was a great chance to
get together and reflect
Van Gelderen Family
upon the joys of the past
year. We also had a slide show to acknowledge and
thank the Van Gelderen family for their contributions
Bungudul, Guwaninywaniny & NinyNiny over the past year.
Amala Yothu Centre
Playtime with Gawutjurrwuy (Daphne) is always fun! The children enjoy
story time, free play, counting activities, fruit time, art activities and
playing in the cubby house. This week the children and mums painted life
size drawings of the children. This activity was lots of fun for everyone
and the paintings are beautiful. It is great to see the smiles on the
Gawutjurrwuy
children’s faces as I walk past the Amala Yothu Centre each day. They are
excited to learn and it was great to welcome new mums into the group this week. We
also thank God for the enthusiasm and love
Gawutjurrwuy shares with each of the kids!
Prayer and Praise
Hannah, Katinka and Lachlan
All the students at Gawa love reading books and there were many smiles last week when
we gave out books to everyone! New picture books were distributed to all kids through
the “Books in homes” program. This
wonderful program allows every child a
selection of books that they can take
home to keep. We gave out books at
our assembly and the children took
them home in the library bags supplied.
Thank you to all the volunteers in
Sydney who are associated with this
fabulous program!
We give thanks for the strong and
supportive Indigenous women in our
community. Continue to pray for them as they take on many roles within the
school, their families and their
communities.
Newsletter articles- Gawa Christian School Staff
Photos- Salome Moes and Lara Hvala
Newsletter design and layout- Salome Moes
Editor- Lara Hvala
Gawa Christian School, PMB 257 Elcho Island via Winnellie 0822 Northern Territory phone: 08 8987 9239 email: [email protected]