No - the Star Wars cast did not visit us last week - but we DID have a visit from someone who could use the force just as well as Luke Skywalker!

Sam from the CSIRO showed us many fantastic tricks and experiments all about forces and motion. Learning about forces and motion means we are studying physics -and it was great fun and very interesting.

We rode skateboards, lifted heavy objects (and teachers) with no hands, twirled discs, made bridges and even got to sit on a chair of nails.

Did you know that:

• if you go fast on a bike, it’s less likely that the bike will fall over?
• if you squash a balloon across 500 nails it will not burst ….. but if you push just one nail into a balloon it WILL burst? 
• you can’t pull someone on a skateboard with your feet off the ground!
• when you are pulling you are actually pushing! (You push your feet into the ground whilst you are actually pulling  something )
• a small kid can lift a large adult easy as you like if the kid uses a lever (like a see-saw)?
• friction keeps cars on the road as do studs on footy boots?

We have been offline for a while as we have been really busy preparing for our national tests.

These were held last week - on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. We had tests in English - Reading, Writing, Language Conventions; and Maths.

 Even though everyone tried their hardest, It was a great feeling when they were over

         How exciting!

We won Class of the Week last week and so we got to use the Nintendo DsLites in Golden Time.

Most of us knew how to use them, but for some people it was their first time.

Lots of people joined up together to play games against each other, but by the end nearly everyone was chatting to each other using picto chat.

It was great fun to use these handheld consoles with friends and a wonderful reward for trying hard!

Our school Cross Country Carnival was held last week and everyone had a fun morning testing themselves to improve their running times. We had been training for only a short time, and there was a motivated and committed group who aimed high, worked hard and acheived well.

Congratulations to every AllStar who tried their best, participated in the race and who enjoyed the experience. I am proud of you all!

The next round of running will occur later this week when school representatives will travel to the Zone Cross Country event. Good luck to all our runners.

Here is a video to show the fun we had today:

Have a great holiday everyone - see you back at the end of April.

Today was a fun day to end first term. We all dressed in orange - for Harmony Day; blue - for True Blue Day; and had crazy  hair or a hat.

First off there were raffle tickets to sell and buy - there were lots of Easter eggs and chocolate bunnies to win.

Then the whole school assembled in the playground to watch everyone parade around and show off their fabulous clothes or crazy hats and hair.

Next the raffles were drawn and the winners came out to the front to receive their chocolates.

Last of all we had a a whole school “shake and shimmy” dance-along. We danced to the Nutbush, YMCA, the Heel and Toe Polka. What a lot of fun! We all had a great time dancing together in the sunshine.

Finally the lunch bell sounded and we headed off  back to our classrooms - exhausted but happy!

What a fun way to end the term - HAPPY HOLIDAYS

We held our annual ANZAC Day service this week .

This is a very important day in Australian culture and takes place on April 25th (we will be on school holidays so held our service early). On this day we remember the all of the military personnel who have given their lives to uphold the freedom and democracy that we know is important to Australians.

On April 25th 1915, many Australian and New Zealand soldiers took part in a ferocious battle at Gallipoli in Turkey. The fighting was intense on both sides, and there were many casualties. The bravery and courage of the Australian and New Zealand troops was immense and we are very proud of these soldiers who fought for us many years ago.

Today, we remember and give thanks to all the many of thousands of people who have fought for Australia in battles and wars all over the world. We thank them for their bravery and rmember them on this day.

At our school ceremony each class made beautiful wreaths to lay alongside the Australian flag. The SRC representatives placed the wreaths on the stage, then we listened to the bugle call, the one minutes silence and the trumpet.

It was a serious and solemn occasion for us all.

www.worldmathsday.com

We tested our brains,

asked questions,

solved problems,

explained answers,

tried new ways of doing things and

gave reasons!

All on World Math Day (which was a couple of weeks ago!)

We worked on computers,

used the iwb,

played games,

used rulers  to design and draw,

made models,

and wrote clues to a treasure.

Whew! Maths is everywhere, everything and lots more than just worksheets and correct answers.

We think Maths is fun too

Despite the heavens opening and almost washing us all away, we had a visit from Natalie from the Waste Watchers team. Natalie was an expert “Water Watcher” and we spent the afternoon ……. 

Revising what we knew about the water cycle:

Talking about how to save water at home:

And sharing suggestions for conserving water:

There was time to talk, to listen, to think, to answer questions, to ask questions, and to come up with great ways or reducing, re-using, and recycling water.

Sitting in the dark…

Squashed up by the windows…

Reading by the light from outside…

 What’s going on?

 NOT THE LIGHT!

 NOT the Computer!

 NOT the IWB!

It’s Earth Hour!

Earth hour is a time where all electricital appliances are turned off to conserve electricity for 1 hour.

Globally, Earth Hour will be held 8:30 pm - 9:30 pm on Saturday night, but we wanted our school to participate so we are having earth hour this morning.

 Earth Hour has made us think about:

• How we can save electricity
• How we can be in the future
• How it was in the past
• How it can help the future
• Global warming
• Sleeping!!!

Don’t forget if we use too much electricity we could be back in the DARK AGES!!!!!!!-(boom tish).