Term 1 2016 - Green Square School

Issue 5
Term 1, 2016
237 Botany Road
Waterloo NSW 2017
Ph: 02 9319 1759
Principal’s Message
Dear parents, carers and school community,
I would like to take this opportunity to share with you some exciting
developments here at school, with the commencement of a health
space for students and their families, in term 3 this year. The health
space will be a place where people can access information about any
type of health related topic and also access health services.
We will be offering this service for any student enrolled, and their
family, as part of the personalised learning plans that are developed in
partnership.
Our health space will have a pediatrician, occupational therapist,
speech therapist, nurse, social worker and mental health professionals
working at the school on a weekly basis.
This health space is also a forum for teachers and health professionals
to share examples of best-practice and collaborate on health and
education goals related to individual students.
This project has been endorsed by many of our community elders
including Fay Carroll & Jane Stanley (Public Schools NSW), Nathan
Moran (Metropolitan Lands Council), Terry Denzil (Aboriginal Education
Council), Mark Spinx (Babana Men’s Group) & Shane Phillips (Tribal
Warrior Association), to name but a few.
I am yet to discuss the project with every parent/carer, but so far
feedback from those I’ve spoken to has been very positive. Please
contact me if you would like to discuss this project, as your opinion and
ideas are important in our school’s decision-making process.
Finally, I would like to acknowledge the hard work and dedication of our
students throughout this term in working toward their transition goals.
Well done to Sean, Michael, Jacob F, Kyuss, Deon and Tarhnay for
commencing their transition back to their home schools this term.
Congratulations to Eminem, Levi and Luca for increasing their time
transition time at their home schools. And, we also bid farewell to two
students who have successfully completed the Green Square School
program, Sydney and Saxon – we wish you all the very best for this
year and beyond!
The first day back in term two for
students here at Green Square
School is on Thursday, 28 April.
Wishing you all a safe
restorative holiday period.
Patrick Faucher
Principal
Green Square School
Transition
My name is Luka
and my home school
Rose Bay Secondary
College. At the start
of term 1 2016, I
began transitioning
back to my home
school, which began
with 1 full day on
Wednesdays. As part
of my transition back
to full time at Rose
Bay, I have learnt a
lot of things to help
me in my transition.
Learning how to be
sensible
in
the
classroom and being
respectful to all my
teachers and friends,
has been one of
many things I have
been learning and
working on. I am
now attending 2
days.
and
- Luka
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I am very happy to write that it has been a very productive term in
green class. All students have been working hard in particular on their
assessments for their home schools. This hard work has also led to
each of them increasing their transition time so the hard work is really
paying off. Luka has constructed a Viking ship that is historically
accurate due to the great research he completed for it. Saxon has
been designing magazine covers and creating PowerPoint’s on the
population statistics of Sydney and the physical geography of Kakadu
National Park. Sydney has been completing assessments in
geography and completing challenging maths. Jacob has been
working hard on his commerce
assessments. These are just of the
top of my head and they should all
be very proud of their efforts
academically. Special mentions go to
Saxon and Sydney who have
successfully transitioned full time to
their respective home schools.
- Jimmy
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Dear parents and carers,
I would like to welcome this term Michael and Sean to Green Square School and Red Class. I am pleased to
acknowledge that they have both commenced transition to their home schools this term. Tyson is attending his
home school three days a week and next term we might see him transition fulltime. Winter and Charlie have
both been concentrating in their academic work. Charlie has been doing his Science and English work from
his home school here at Green Square and Winter has been preparing for work experienced next term. Well
done to Red Class Students for all your successes and achievement this term. Keep up the great work!!
Design a Book Cover
Images can be powerful ways of communicating. People instinctively respond to images based
on their personalities, associations, and previous experience. Graphic designers use this
instinctive response to visually communicate ideas and information. They work with different tools
and mediums to convey a message from a client to a particular audience.
Graphic designers need to think about the goal of the images they create. A book cover design
should not only give the viewer an idea of the content and mood of the book, but should also be
eye-catching to encourage students browsing in the library (like customers in a bookstore) to pick
up a book they may not be familiar with.
Winter created a new cover design for a book yet to be released. Her book cover explores
characters, plot and symbolism and is based in the genre of horror. Winter used a digital
composition to create the book cover. Well done on a successful design!!
- Winter
“This painting is supposed to be something dark
and scary. It depicts a cemetery in the black forest.
Death is depicted in the form of the Grim Reaper.
There are bats flying and a full moon sets an eerie
atmosphere”
- winter
In red class we did a bridge
building project. We all made
bridges. My bridge was the
Pennsylvania which held 4.500kg.
We made it out of toothpicks
which took time but was fun to
make.
- Michael
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The objective of this science project is to build a bridge using nothing but school glue
and toothpicks. To create a bridge that would be strong, Red Class students explored
various bridge designs and geometric shapes. In this project, Red Class students used
triangle-shaped trusses to construct their designs thus making the structures strong
enough to bear weight. When using geometric shapes, triangles are the most effective
in distributing ‘push’ force. Once completed the students had the option to test how
much weight their designs could bear before breaking.
Winter holds the Red Class record at 8.540kgs followed by Michael at 4.500kg.
- Fernando
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Dear parents and caregivers,
First and foremost we would like to acknowledge all the Gold Class students for their effort and hard work this term. With the new school year came an
influx of new faces. In our class we welcomed our three new students - Kyuss, Shyhiem and Raquel.
There have been many positive things that have been happening this term:



Kyuss has begun transition at the end of this term and is working towards increasing his time.
Eminem begun transition at the start of the term and has made solid efforts to increase his time to 3 days.
John has been taking control of his transition by actively talking to his teachers about increasing his time at his mainstream, showing maturity
and initiative.
Our students have been using some of their time in class to complete their assignments for their mainstream school so that they are up to date and
prepared for their integration days, from Japanese to History to Science and many more.
All of our students have been showing enthusiasm for the music program with Adrian - special mention to Kyuss for his drumming skills, Jaidyn and
Eminem for their skills with lyrics. We are lucky to have a special newly built room now allocated for our music equipment.
In Horticulture, we have tried to make an effort to go out every week, weather permitting, to show care for our garden and our yarning circle by weeding
it. This term we gave students the opportunity to come up with a design for our yarning circle. The students voted on their favourite and Eminem got the
top prize, well done Eminem! Well done to all students this term, enjoy a safe and happy term break.
- Laura/ Sarah
Q: What kind of environment or place are training and
matches held?
A: In a ring with a ref.
Q: What kind of equipment is needed?
Q: Where did Muay Thai originate from?
A: Muay Thai or Thai Boxing is the national sport and
cultural martial art of Thailand.
Q: What is Muay Thai about? What happens in Muay
Thai?
A: For gloves used in competition, the leather portion
must not be heavier than one-half (1/2) of the glove's
total weight and the glove's inner pads must weigh at
least one-half (1/2) of the total weight. It is not permitted to change the shape of glove's inner pads or to
rub the glove's inner pads spreading them from the
original shape.
A: It was developed several hundreds of years ago as
- Kyuss
a form of close-combat that utilizes the entire body as
a weapon.
Q: What are the special/signature moves that are used
in Muay Thai?
A: Mainly kicks, elbows, knees, punches and also a
bit of grappling.
What is a Hero?

Fearless

Hero can be scared.

Stand up for others.

Someone that doesn't let people down.

Someone that is respectful, responsible and trustworthy.

Someone that help others regardless what the reason is.

Risking their own life for other people.

Compassion towards other people.

Patient at all times.
- Eminem.
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I saved Food Technology for last mention because I am
always so impressed with the teamwork I observe, the effort
the students put in and the quality of the dishes produced.
This term we have cooked many yummy recipes such as
bangers and mash, healthy pizza and fresh crumbed chicken
burgers.
A special mention goes out to Eminem’s creation – he made
fresh garlic bread and bruschetta from scratch with freshly
picked tomatoes from our garden.
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CHECK THIS OUT…
Those who already knew how to
play chess, nominated to teach
those who didn’t this term. We look
forward to more chess challenges
to
build
students
skills
in
strategic thinking. Parents/carers
are welcome to visit Blue Class to
participate in beginner lessons, or
take on the challenge to have a
game with students. Just let us
know a date and time that suits you
and we look forward to your visit. A
special thank you to Dylan-SLSO in
Blue Class on a Monday, all
enjoyed your mentoring during
chess sessions, and learned from
you ways to stay calm and focused
when playing the game.
- Kate
YOU CAN’T STOP THE MUSIC!
Thank you again to our music teacher Adrian for
bringing more wonderful sounds to our school.
Students decided the instrument they would like to
focus on for the term, with drumming a popular
choice, and keyboards gaining in popularity this term.
- Kate
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We all know salty food and drinks make
people thirsty, so what do you think
happens to a piece of apple when it is
covered in salt for four weeks? Blue class
looked at the effects of salt and other
preservatives on fruit and vegetable this
term to learn more about its uses and
effects on the human body.
- Kate
Cooking is a favourite subject in Blue Class, so Monday is funday! Students
brainstormed their favourite recipes with Aunty Vicky, and worked together to make
tasty meals to share using herbs, fruit and vegetables from the school garden. All
proceeds earned from selling a serve of every meal to Patrick for $5, went towards an
end of term celebratory lunch at a restaurant of students choice in the local area. A
really keen cook in Blue Class has decided to cook a meal at home for his mum, as
part of his homework pack once or even twice a week! Go Juwarn!
- Kate
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Thank you to Kaya and Julia from ActiveOT for Green Square School’s first
term of the occupational therapy pilot program. Blue class focused on
increasing awareness of deep breathing and writing tasks. All students are
to be congratulated for their positive participation, and we look forward to
more fun activities next term. Parents and carers are invited to attend an
information session early next term, so we will keep you updated.
- Kate
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'Djamu’ is a word from the Gadigal language,
meaning ‘here I am’ or ‘here I come’.
This unique Indigenous art education program
provided opportunities for Indigenous students in
blue class to meet practicing artist Simon Penrose
and learn about the Art Gallery of New South Wales
collection as well as vocational pathways available in
the arts, and integrates Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander concepts, perspectives and cultural
practices.
Students in blue class continue to develop art-making
and art critical skills and are gaining a greater
understanding of the art world and their potential to
achieve within it, as artists, curators or other arts
professionals.
Indigenous Gallery Educators, as well as staff from
Green Square School, accompanied and supported
students in Blue Class start participating in the
program this term.
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Top 10 Reasons to Read, Read, Read
1. Reading helps you become an interesting person. (Impress
your friends, dates and future in-laws!)
2. Reading helps you learn how to write correctly. (Make your
grandmother happy when she reads your well-written thank-you
notes.)
3. Reading develops your imagination. (Write
terrific stories for school, cook up funny ideas
for friends.)
4. Reading entertains you. (No more long
boring car rides, waits in the dentist’s office, or holidays when
you can’t think of anything to do.)
5. Reading teaches you about thing unfamiliar to you. (Write A+
reports for school, impress your friends, and earn big prizes on
TV game shows!)
6. Reading takes you to places you have
never visited. (Read about actors on Broadway, bullfighters in
Spain, and astronauts in space.)
7. Reading takes you to times you’ve never
experienced. (Spend a week in The Middle Ages, or experience the
burial ceremony of an
Egyptian king.)
8. Reading introduces you to people you’ve
never met. (Find out how the Japanese live
or what an NFL football player’s practice is
like.)
9. Reading introduces you to new ideas.
(Some scientists believe that time isn’t linear.)
10. Reading is FUN! (Laugh out loud! Gasp in
disbelief! Feel your heart beating in suspense!
Blue class participated in reading every morning this term. Some
book we read together this term included The Twits by Roald
Dahl, The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein, and the National Geographic magazine for young people.
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Decorative Clay Tribal Masks
One way your home can reflect who you are is by decorating it with things that hold special meanings to you. For instance, you
can decorate your home with things that are symbolic or representative of your heritage. Or you can decorate your home with
things that don't necessarily represent your heritage but still hold some significance or importance to you. Decorative wall
masks for example make excellent home accents.
During the course of this term students designed and constructed from clay, decorative tribal masks that hold a symbolic
meaning representative of them and/or their heritage. Below are the completed mask that have been glazed and fired. Great
body of work and what a show case of outstanding modelling skills from Red Class students. Awesome effort!!
Gold class has been busy this term looking at different art
projects;

John’s fearsome clay figurine was made with normal clay
and should be soon painted and ready to be fired up in
our kiln.

Eminem used his artistic skills to fashion a warrior mask.

Kyuss’ current project is a beautiful drawing of a Maori
Koi fish, which has colours of the traditional Maori Flag.
The Black represents the darkness, red represents the
soul of a human and the white represents the light. The
all represents the new life coming into the world from the
darkness to the light.

Shyhiem’s colourful drawing of an ageing dingo.
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