Reddam House Primary School Newsletter Vol 22 Issue 36

Dear Parents and Caregivers, Monday evening’s Holiday Celebration epitomised the mood which has swept through the school in recent days. After a busy and successful year, it is only right that everyone in the school community eagerly anticipates the upcoming holidays, and a time to relax and enjoy moments with family and friends.

The Holiday Celebration was just that. Not only did it make the most of the celebratory mood in the school, but it also provided an opportunity for our students to present pieces they had been working on as part of their Bible Studies, Jewish Studies and Moral Studies classes.

The evening of Chanukah songs, Christmas carols, dances, speeches and musical items celebrated the Reddam House philosophy of respect and inclusivity, as well as the end to a fantastic and busy year. Students learnt

about other holiday traditions, as well as honouring their own, and celebrated the importance of recognising individualism and working together with kindness, courage, and respect. Our Year 6 students led the evening with polish and poise at the Sydney Town Hall, a sparkling and grand venue which made for a magical evening. Congratulations and thanks to all Primary School students for their hard work and dedication to this collaborative project, which was a fitting way to kick off the end of year celebrations.

One of the cornerstones of our educational approach at Reddam is to respect and honour the beliefs and cultures of all who attend the school. The world certainly could do with more empathy and understanding, especially towards those who hold beliefs different to our own. By exposing the students to the significant events in various religious and cultural movements we hope to encourage tolerance and understanding – and to provide an op-

portunity for them to celebrate alongside their friends. The end of the year also brings with it the chance to reflect on the significant moments and people who have made the year special. It reminds us that we haven’t journeyed through the year alone, but we have been privileged to spend it with good friends, loving and supportive family members and teachers who go far beyond what is expected of them, and even kind strangers we met along the way.

Living with an attitude of gratitude may have become something of a cliché, but it really makes all the difference. If we spend time appreciating all that we have – and also express our gratitude to others for what they do for us –it enriches our lives immensely. One article reminds us that “When you feel gratitude, you feel a sense of abundance. When you express gratitude – especially when it’s heartfelt – you strengthen your relationships with others. Grateful people are happier and more fulfilled. And gratitude leads you to be nicer to other people: more cooperative, patient, and trusting.”

As we draw closer to the end of another year, hopefully we can all look back on a year with

many highlights and moments for which to be grateful. As I watch the interactions between the students, along with those they have with their teachers, I am often struck by the sincerity and very real concern for the wellbeing of others which they show. This is certainly an element of our school for which to be enormously grateful.

Ella Jelicic competed as part of the NSW tennis team against their Queensland opponents last weekend, at Sawtell. Her team won convincingly, which bodes well for their next fixture against Victoria in 2 weeks’ time. Well done, Ella, and good luck!

The Young Performers Festival, presented in Russian on the 13th November at the Russian Club, Strathfield, included three of our students. They did exceptionally well in the Drama division obtaining the following results: Elizaveta Gracheva -2nd place and Sophia Gracheva - 2nd place Congratulations to talented students.

In addition to the Holiday Celebration, this week also had many other special moments. The Kindergarten and Year 4s enjoyed their incursions on Tuesday, with the Zoomobile visitors –both human and animal – keeping the Kindy students entranced, while the Year 4s put their creative hats on for their Indigenous Art workshops. On the same day, the Year 2s had a fantastic time on their excursion to the Field of Mars Environmental Education Centre. They loved being outdoors and celebrating their natural heritage.

Next week is the turn of the Year 3s and 4s, as they head off on their own excursions, to Taronga Zoo and Clifton Gardens respectively. No doubt a good time will be had by all, and they

will learn much, while enjoying time outdoors with their teachers and friends.

This week saw the start of several significant end-of-year events on the school calendar. It was a joy to celebrate the Year 6s at their Graduation on Thursday. They brought a wonderful vibrancy to the Primary School through their leadership and enthusiasm this year and it was good to reflect on this, while also wishing them well for the next exciting phase of their educational journey.

Next week sees the first of our Prizegiving ceremonies, with the Kindergarten Prizegiving on Wednesday. This will be followed by the Year 3 and 4 Prizegiving on Thursday and the Year 1 and 2 Prizegiving on Friday. The following week will be the turn of the Year 5s and 6s, as they enjoy theirs on Monday. These events will honour the students who have worked so hard this year and are an ideal opportunity to reflect with gratitude on the many happy moments which we have shared as a school community during 2022.

Enjoy your weekend!

Dee Pitcairn Principal

Congratulations

ELLA JELICIC

ELIZAVETA GRACHEVA

SOPHIA GRACHEVA

HolidayCelebration

Year6GraduationDinner

Year6GraduationDinner

Sport Fixtures

26th November 2022

Basketball Fixtures

Basketball

Comets Competition – Friday 25th November Girls

Un12s – Reddam Storm v Inner City Wild Cats 8am Perry Ct 4

Un14s – Reddam Timberwolves v Inner City Magic 9:40am Perry Ct 3

Un14s – Reddam Sparks v Inner City Diamonds 1pm Comets 2

Un 14s – Reddam Mystics v Newtown Lynx 10:30am Perry Ct 3

Boys Alexandria (Perry Park Courts)

Un10s – Reddam Lakers v KHY Astronauts 9:40am Perry Ct 2

Un12s – Reddam Raptors v Sydney Hoopstars Adders 3:30pm Perry Ct 3

Un12s – Reddam Bucks v Raptors 2:40pm Perry Ct 3 Girls

Waterpolo

Reddam 1 v Reddam 2, UNSW Pool 8:30am GF Reddam 2 v Reddam 1, UNSW Pool 8:30am GF Reddam 3 v KRB, UNSW Pool 10:00am Reddam 4 v SGHS, UNSW Pool 10:30am Reddam 4 v KRB, UNSW Pool 11:15am GF

Touch Football

Primary

Reddam Taipans V Rivals 4.10pm Field 4A

Reddam Cheetahs V Rainbow Tigers 4.10pm Field 5

Reddam Sharks V Kambala Chargers 4.50pm Field 6

Reddam Lions V Roosters Girls A 4.50pm Field 7

Reddam Eagles V Lightning Arrows 4.50pm Field 8

Tennis

Primary – Sunday

Learn to play – 12.00 noon White City Courts

Orange Ball – 1.00pm White City Courts

Green Ball – 2.30pm White City Courts

Cricket

Cricket

Reddam Rabbits V Easts Marlins 8.00am Lower Cooper 1

Reddam Roos V Easts Eagles 10.30am Lower Cooper 2

Reddam Rhinos V RJCC Heat 3.00pm Lough Field North

Sport Results

19th November 2022 Girls

Un12s – Reddam Storm v Inner City Sapphires 5 - 30 Boys

Un10s – Reddam Lakers v BYE

Un12s – Reddam Raptors v Inner City Demons 25 - 24

Un12s – Reddam Bucks v Sydney HoopStars Adders 11 - 36 Reddam Juniors v SACS, 11-3

Reddam Seniors v SACS, 22-1 Reddam Primary v Trinity 7-6

GIRLS

Reddam 1 v SGHS, 6-2 Reddam 2 v SACS, 7-2 Reddam 3 BYE Reddam 4 v KRB, 3-8

Primary

Reddam Taipans

Reddam House

Would like to wish a very HappyBirthday

to

And Noah Stephen

Louis Livissianis, Ryeid Romel, Jamie Betsis, Axel Briner, Edward Dileo, Sarella Symonds, Dylan Loughlin, Mila McDonald, Ryan Jalan, Sienna Lim

Who celebrated their special day this week and over the weekend

Kindergarten

It was a thrilling week here in Kindergarten! We kicked off Week 7 with an incredible day of rehearsals at Town Hall and a wonderful Holiday Celebration in the evening. It was such an amazing experience to be up on stage with the whole Primary School.

To follow such an exciting Monday, we had an even more sensational Tuesday with our Taronga Zoo Mobile Incursion. Alex the Zookeeper brought us a whole range of fascinating reptiles and marsupials to help consolidate our understanding of ‘Living Things’ that we have been studying in Science. We met Monty the diamond python, Finn the echidna, Tracker the turtle and Leon the tortoise. Alex taught us all about how these animals survive in the wild. We looked at their features, and in particular, learned about the difference between a turtle and a tortoise. Make sure to ask us about it on the weekend! We had such a wonderful time and learned so much. Thank you, Alex and Taronga Zoo!

We also had a whole range of engaging and thought-provoking ‘Show and Tell’ presentations this week to finish off our ‘Be the Teacher’ topic. Levi Rubner taught us how to treat a snake bite, and we all drew wonderful pictures of snakes; Luna Leis taught us how to bake a

chocolate cake; and Mana Nagasawa taught us how to speak and write some Japanese words. Thank you to all the Kindergarten students for teaching us such interesting things over the last two weeks.

Year1

In English this week, Year 1 played with words to create our own poetry using alliteration. One student commented, “It is like the words are moving in a pattern like the waves!” another student said, “It feels like the words to a song.” Such insights show the power of poetry. Reading poetry can teach young readers about speech patterns and teach them about voice, pitch, volume, and inflection. While these are mainly functions of speech, they're also incredibly important for children learning to read. Giving students the chance to create their own poetry and play with language is a valuable opportunity to grow as a writer.

In Mathematics we continued to explore common 2D shapes. A favourite activity this week was using a feely bag and giving one child a time the opportunity to feel a shape and describe it using the appropriate language. For example “My shape has four straight sides, but two sides are longer than the others”, and their peers had to guess the shape. We also created our own shapes using geo boards, paddle pop sticks, the iPad geoboard game and pegboards to create different big and small quadrilaterals.

In Science, we continued our farm to table explorations, but this week it was chocolate that we investigated. It was a subject that created much enthusiasm! In History and Geography we delved deeper into bush tucker foods and how First Nations Peoples today are still using them, and we learned how that information is being passed through the generations to the young people of today. We followed the story of Charlie, who showed us how her Auntie sources the murnong root, kirra (native basil), and ooray (davidson plum) from their garden to make into Charlie’s favourite dinner for her

birthday. The students drew and wrote about a celebration meal that is important to their own family. Over the past couple of weeks, we have seen and tasted some of these in person as part of our news presentations which ask us to share a special cultural family favourite with the class. We have had pretzels from the USA, Anzac bikkies from Australia, chocolate roulade from France, Challah Bread from Israel, spring rolls from China, Magas from India…. and so many more!

The highlight of our week this week was of course our Holiday Celebration evening on Monday at Town Hall. The following day in class we reflected on how lucky we are to be such a diverse and multicultural school who (as quoted in our school song) “share in a common dream to be whoever we want to be, independent pride in who we are.” This felt true as we came together to celebrate our differences and sing with one voice.

Each child reflected upon their individual songs that they performed with their group, and how they felt very special and proud being able to perform in Town Hall. To quote the school song again: “Standing proud this is the Reddam way!”

Year2

This week, Year 2 students went to explore the bushland surrounding the ‘Field of Mars Reserve’ to find examples of living things in various life stages. The students enjoyed identifying the differences between life stages of various plants and animals and were able to describe how their external features change as they grow.

The students were provided with opportunities to investigate invertebrates and view them up close using an iPad and an IWB to explore how they change as they grow. It was exciting to meet the centre’s phasmids, discuss their life cycle, and everyone delighted in constructing their own stick insect to take back to school.

Enjoy the following insights from some of the Year 2 students.

Patrick Bova: Did you know Indigenous people felt safe when their children were playing under the canopy of certain trees? They named one of the trees a ‘babysitter tree’ because snakes cannot slither amongst the fine needles that drop from this tree! So, parents felt safe to leave their children there while they were hunting for food.

Rafaella Shipman: Did you know bluetongue lizards smell with their tongue?

Marco Ip: Blue tongues lick you to get a good sense of your smell! They are cold blooded and look for the sunlight.

Isabelle Liu: I enjoyed building a shelter that was secure because it required lots of planning to make sure that it was safe.

Year2

.Jingda Huang: I was surprised to learn Indigenous people used seedlings from the trees and rubbed them in their hands to give them a good sense of well-being.

Teddy Snow: It is amazing that possums build their nests in the shape of a sphere to stop other animals from entering and harming their babies!

Isaac Edwards: On our nature walk it was wonderful to see the tadpoles in the river.

Reuben Lehrer: It was so exciting whenever we spotted a long neck turtle who was camouflaged on the riverbank.

Maddie Neggo: While we were eating our lunch all the children enjoyed watching the war between the bush turkey and the currawong who were bossy & extremely territorial. But my favourite bird was the little baby Finch we discovered on our nature walk!

Joshua Lecham: It was fascinating looking under the microscope at rocks and creatures in our environment.

Oliver McLellan: The sandstone had many interesting patterns made by animals

Lucas Shi: I liked looking at the trapdoor spider who constructed a hole that is a perfect circle. Then it covers the hole with leaves to camouflage it from predators.

George Reynaldo: It was amazing looking for the different types of invertebrate. My favourite was the leopard slug.

Olivia Wexler: It was so surprising to see quartz buried in the soil right next to the foxes den.

Abi McGee: The activities I enjoyed was outside collecting different types of bugs and insects with my friends and then identifying them.

Maria Shao: I think handling the different stick insects help me overcome my fear of bugs because they felt so interesting.

Martin Ding: it was good to work together as a team to discover where insects live

Marina Cook: When we were in the education centre it was fascinating watching the insects we collected on the smart board and my centipede escaped!

Fred Liu: There were lots of interesting models of different insect life cycles at the education centre.

Matthew German: I enjoyed looking at the leaf insect, silkworm the darkling beetle and of course the stick insect.

Hebe Gong: Learning about the stick insect was fascinating

Sean Zelden: Especially because they catapult their eggs onto nearby leaves

Emily Ma: It was awfully satisfying touching the abdomen of the stick insect because it felt so incredibly soft.

Hillary Huang: All the children enjoyed making their own stick insects to take home at the end the day!

Ella Cory Sanft: “Going to the Field of Mars was Epic”

Year2

Year3

This week started off with a bang, as all of our Year 3 students performed in the end of year ‘Holiday Celebration.’ This was a chance for our Jewish, Moral and Bible students to take to the stage at Sydney Town Hall and showcase their singing skills, and what a wonderful job they did! Both the day’s rehearsal and evening concert were filled with excited smiles and eager faces. It was such a wonderful way to begin the week and the students should feel very proud of themselves.

Following a fun and jam-packed Monday, the students continued Week 7 by receiving feedback for last week’s examinations. Each paper was returned and reviewed with the students so that they could continue their learning by identifying any mistakes and areas that need consolidation. It was also a chance for the students to celebrate their successes and see that their hard work and efforts had paid off.

All in all, it was a great week, highlighting the wonderful accomplishments and achievements of all of our Year 3 students!

Year4

Week 7 was a fantastic week of cross curricular learning for Year 4 students. The week began with an amazing rehearsal at Town Hall for the Reddam House Celebration. It was a fantastic way to collaborate with all of the ‘Values‘ classes (Jewish Studies, Biblical Studies and Moral Studies) to showcase how unique all of our beliefs are and how united we are as a school. The fact that all students had the opportunity to participate, whole-heartedly helped contribute to a once in a lifetime performance. Well done, Year 4.

On Tuesday, students participated in an Indigenous jewellery-making workshop. Led by artist, Victoria White, students designed their own totem to fit on to a shell necklace. This outstanding incursion allowed students to delve into different forms of Indigenous art and appreciate the significance of different cultural signs and symbols.

Finally, the week also offered students the opportunity to celebrate their successes in the most recent end-of-year examinations. Students were able to see what they did well and notice areas for improvement. The hard work and dedication to their studies did not go unnoticed! What an incredible year group! We are proud of each and every one of you.

Year5and6Mathematics

The examinations had marked and this past week it was time to reflect. The students were able to receive their exams back and use this time in class to understand, correct and learn from their errors. The pressure of exam time might be over; however, it is important to see this time as an opportunity to learn. The students in Year 5 and 6 should be very proud of their results. The hard work and perseverance that they have shown throughout the year, and the weeks building toward the exams, have hopefully been rewarded with pleasing results.

Both examinations were covered this week in class.

Music

The Year 4 Music students spent this week developing their understanding of improvisation further. Having listened to some jazz recordings with complex improvising, the students continued to create their own improvised melodies on the xylophone. Once the students were able to create two different 8 bar improvised melodies we began to select soloists to replace the B section of the song ‘Zumba Zumba’ on the xylophone. It was really great to see the students’ creativity as they made their own melodic phrases. The students also had the chance to have some fun with a new song called ‘I’m an acorn’. We began to learn the lyrics and some of the rhythms and will learn to play the melody on the xylophone next week.

I’m an acorn small and round Lying on the cold hard ground

Everybody steps on me That’s why I’m so cracked you see

I’m a nut

I’m a nut

I’m a nut

I’m a nut

Year5and6Science

This week in Science, Year 5 and 6 students received their Science exams back. During the students' first lesson of the week they received feedback on their exam paper so that they could pinpoint where improvement is needed for next time. Feedback is important as it allows students to see how they should be answering exam style questions to receive full marks. In Year 5's second lesson of the week they began to construct their solar system models. Before exam week, students had planned how they were going to build their solar system models and now they have until the end of the term to complete them. In Year 6's second lesson of the week they began to create a fact file about a natural disaster they have found the most interesting this term. The best fact files will be used as part of a display for future students to read.

In Science Club, students carried out an air resistance practical to determine if the weight added to a parachute affects its time taken to fall. Students designed and created their own parachute and then were given a variety of weights. Parachutes were dropped from a height and timed to see how long it took for them to hit the floor. This was carried out numerous times with different weights to determine if the weight added affected the time taken for a parachute to fall.

MusicPerformance

The largest and final concert for the year took place earlier this week, as our school came together to celebrate in our annual Holiday Celebration. Congratulations to all of the singers and musicians who worked so hard on their material for this event at the Sydney Town Hall. Thank you to the Year 3-4 Sculthorpe Choir and Year 5-6 Singers who prepared special choral parts throughout the term, and to our musical soloists! We are so proud of all our students for singing and presenting so confidently.

Year 2 Orff Percussion Ensemble

The Year 2 Orff Ensemble students had a great week and an exceptional term of music. This week in class we completed our arrangement of ‘Stir it up’ by Bob Marley and the Wailers. We built it up to include three xylophone parts (bassline, chords, and melody) as well as percussion parts played on djembe, cajon and cabasa. It is quite a difficult piece and the Year 2s worked really hard to make it sound fantastic. A special mention goes to Octavia Spender -Capps and Sasha Popoff for their solid timing on the bass xylophones, which kept the ensemble together!

Year 3-4 Pop Percussion

The Year 3-4 Pop Percussion students have been working extremely hard since forming at the beginning of Term 3. Students have been expanding our repertoire, learning ‘Shake It Off’ and have almost completed our second song. Our ensemble has been working on our timing and musicality with each piece and adding additional percussion parts to create musical interest. The ensemble students are looking forward to performing next year and to showing everyone all the progress they have made in their ensemble skills.