Primary News

What an incredible way to end the term! This newsletter highlights many of the exciting learning experiences and projects happening across the school, from the Primary School’s Music Festival to our Young Legends Award. It's been a busy but joyful time for everyone. With spring in full bloom, the children are loving the outdoors, enjoying several walks to the beach. 

Crabapple Classroom

Our Year One and Two students recently took an exciting trip back in time to experience what a classroom was like one hundred years ago! The excursion provided a fascinating insight into how school life has changed over the past century, from the way classrooms were furnished to the different types of consequences and jobs students were expected to do.

The children were both amazed and amused to see how different things were. One of the highlights was when Mrs V narrowly escaped getting the cane for uncleanliness! However, she did have to stand with her nose against the wall, wearing a dunce cap—a punishment that sent the class into fits of giggles.

The laughter quickly turned to shock when the students discovered that girls, back then, weren’t allowed to participate in many of the breaktime games because it might make them dirty! This sparked lively discussion about how unfair rules used to be, and how grateful they are for today’s more equal opportunities.

Another memorable part of the day was exploring old-fashioned objects and realising that nothing was made of plastic. Students were fascinated to learn that everything had to be reused, which led to some thoughtful reflections about sustainability.

We were fortunate to have Miss Crabapple as our teacher for the day, although the children were certainly relieved to return to their own classroom, where punishments aren’t quite so strict, and the teachers are a bit more understanding!

The day ended with some well-deserved playtime at Ayre Park. The students loved the wide open spaces and modern equipment, a perfect way to burn off some energy after their history-filled adventure. This excursion was a wonderful way to bring to life everything the students have been learning this term about history and change over time.

Tournament of the Minds

Tournament of Minds is a problem-solving program for primary and secondary students. Its goal is to help young people develop important skills like creativity, teamwork, time management, and problem-solving in a fun, competitive environment. Over six weeks, teams work together on a Long-Term Challenge without help from teachers, parents, or friends. They are encouraged to think outside the box and experiment with ideas to come up with the best solution. Teams then present their solution in a creative and original way, while working with limited materials and following specific rules, all in time for Tournament Day.

ACC joined the TOM challenge after Mrs White attended a presentation for all Albany schools. We auditioned and then chose a team. Our team completed their first Tournament of Minds challenge on Monday, August 26th. Despite initial nerves, the team—consisting of Isla, Harmony, Judah, Troy, Oscar, and Kaylah—impressed the judges with a standout presentation. The judges described being "blown away" by the team’s creativity, particularly highlighting their impressive use of mime and non-verbal communication. One of the judges, who travelled from Perth, commended the performance and looks forward to returning next year for the new challenge. Mrs. White, the team’s mentor, was incredibly proud of her students' performance. The team received excellent scores for their clarity of explanation and their skilful use of non-verbal communication. Their presentation showcased innovative ideas related to ecosystems and society, making their achievement even more remarkable.

Primary School’s Music Festival

Wow, what a night. Our ACC choir outdid themselves with three amazing performances at the Albany Entertainment Centre on Thursday night. They sang a song about rain that celebrated the Noongar season of Djilba. The song ‘Canon of Hope’ was a quite complicated piece based on the form of a canon. A canon is a piece where the same melody is played by different voices or instruments, starting one after another, creating beautiful overlapping harmonies. The choir sang beautifully, led by Mr Peter Findlay and accompanied by Mrs Sue Findlay and Ms Julia Kershaw. Despite some nerves, the choir performed confidently and enjoyed the day practice and night event.

Keep Albany Beautiful  

The KAB Poster Art Competition culminated in a special event at the library, where Judah Pitman, a Year 6 student, was invited to the afternoon tea presentation as a finalist. Judah won first prize in the Year 6 division with his impactful bee poster.  

Mrs. Deborah Parker, the Year 6 teacher, encouraged many students to enter the competition after they researched the vital role bees play in our gardens. Judah's poster creatively highlighted the environmental impact of losing these essential pollinators.  

For his first-place win, Judah received a $30 Paperbark gift voucher, while second prize was an annual parks pass. All finalists were awarded a framed version of their artwork, a jar of local honey, and a packet of seeds to plant at home to help feed the bees!  

Congratulations to all who participated—though the real winner here is the bee!

Christian Education Ministry Portrait Competition

The Year 6 class under the guidance of Mrs Parker have entered the annual CEM National portrait  competition. They studied the work of Ali Golzard. Ali Golzad is a contemporary artist known for his use of recycled materials, particularly cardboard, to create textured, thought-provoking portraits and art pieces. His work often focuses on themes such as displacement, refugees, and the human experience, reflecting his own personal journey as a refugee. Our students choose their subjects based on someone important in their life. Several students choose to base their composition on photos of nameless street people. Accompanying their entries the Year 6 class had to write a reflection about their piece. Below is the work of Milla Elliot with her budgie and Harche Macquinto’s, Nameless Man.

Young Legends

Our Beach Clean-Up Project has been nominated by the City of Albany for a Young Legends Award. This award recognizes achievements by individuals or groups of young people (under 25) who have contributed to the sustainability of their community. It is part of the Tidy Towns Sustainable Community Awards and the Keep Australia Beautiful Foundation. 

The City of Albany presented six nominations for the awards, with our school in the youth category. Judges from Perth met with the City of Albany and four representatives from the Year 4 class: Aleah, Andre, Matilda, and Madison. 

The children discussed our entire Sustainability Program at ACC, which includes Permaculture, the Good Life Garden, weed eradication, Containers for Change, and the Beach Clean-Up. They described how we search for microplastics through careful observation, collect the rubbish, and bring it back to school. The data is then entered into the AMDI website, where it contributes to a global research project called Tangaroa Blue. I was very proud of the whole class, who supported the four students in their presentation.

Values 

We are very excited to award the first Value Awards. To receive this certificate a student must get 9 acknowledgements in the value. The values at ACC are;

The Following students received the awards

Courage - Imogen Boucher and Taio Morehu

Respect - Bentley Holloway, Ethan Pirga, Xavier Burns and Andre Doan

Initiative - Luca de Lucia

Self Control - Kira Waugh and Aleah Couse

Trust - Bentley Holloway, Jaelyn Storey, Lorna Mitchell, Aleah Couse and Joel Van der Snoek

Well done to all the students who received awards. I know that many more are keenly working towards the award and I will announce the recipients in the next newsletter

Munching our way around Australia.

After reading Possum Magic, the Kindy and pre primary students went for an adventure around Australia, They had ANZAC biscuits in Adelaide, minties in Melbourne, scones in Brisbane, vegemite sandwiches in Darwin, Lamingtons in Hobart and pavlova in Perth.

Athletic season is upon us. If you have not already chosen a summer sport I recommend Little Athletics. The season starts the 12th of October at 8:30. The location is the Mike Biddulph Athletics Ground on the corner of North Road and Sanford Road, Albany. Little Athletics is a sport where athletes are encouraged to “be your best”. It is not about winning but about learning new skills. Children grow in confidence and strive to improve on their personal best results in a range of athletic events.

Our Centre provides a summer season focused on three different programs which run weekly on a rotational basis. These programs offer all age groups the opportunity to compete in running, throwing and jumping events. These events are modified to suit the ages and abilities of all members, catering for very young members all the way through to Under 17’s.

Several of our ACC students have had great training by completing a season or seasons at Albany Little Athletics. The first day is free as a trial day to see if your child is interested. If you would like to know more please click on the link.