It must be that time again – we’ve started wearing the red and green, people are excited, and Santa is only a couple of sleeps away. I have spoken to a number of families who have shared their summer plans and it all sounds wonderful.

Before the year ends though, I would like to take the opportunity to acknowledge staff who are leaving and remind families and community members that the process of moving schools is not only a normal part of the way we work, it is an important part of building professional expertise, of experiencing different contexts and growing as a professional. I shared with one student late last week; It’s not a bad thing that we have teachers leaving, in fact, it is an exciting opportunity for them and a chance for our school to reshape what we do and how we do it.

I would like to use this weeks newsletter as an opportunity to acknowledge the hard work of all our teachers but especially the ones who are leaving. The care and commitment they have shown our students and their genuine interest in them and their wellbeing. These teachers have contributed to making our school a wonderful place to grow and learn. We wish them all the success in the world as they begin the next step in their journey as teachers.

Clair Absolom, or Miss A as many of our community call her is leaving Springfield after over ten years and will be teaching at Mount Stuart in 2024. Many of you will remember Caitlin Perry who left us in 2022 to have a baby, Caitlin will also be at Mount Stuart in 2024.

 Students feeling nervous about new classes may like to know that teachers feel nervous sometimes to – yes, they really do – so moving to a new school with a colleague often helps the transition just like students moving classes. Alyce Piper & Clair Jones are transferring to New Town Primary School for next year. It’s also nice to share that Jaymee Knoll, who worked with Clair and her class earlier in the year on her final prac placement, will also be teaching at New Town in 2024.

Helen Dunsby will be teaching at Windermere Primary School next year, while Georgia Mahy is also leaving Springfield Gardens. Nicola Sykes is excited about a move to Cygnet, while Grant Dudman will be completing his qualifications as an intern at Lauderdale Primary School. As mentioned in assembly last week, both James Fielding and Emma Kelly are taking the next steps in their careers. University for James and a new school for Emma as a teacher!

Also mentioned in assembly last week was the challenge we have, of identifying 2024 hours for all our wonderful TA’s. To Anna, Adriana, Stephanie, Linda, Krissy, Monty, Helen, Kelly, Liz, Rose, Shannon, Josh, Myriam, Suzanne, James, Tessa, and Blade. Thank you all, we look forward to working with you again. To Perry & Sagar, thank you for all your hard work as well.

I am happy to share that we have also hosted all of our new teachers for 2024. Our school structure including classes and teachers will be shared with our school community in our first newsletter in Term 1.

Thank you all very much. I wish you a safe and happy Christmas.

In Kinder we have enjoyed getting ready for the festive season. We have been doing Christmas and summer crafts and enjoyed the challenge of setting up our class Christmas tree! 

We recently had a very exciting delivery in Kinder/Prep Gray as our class elf gifted us the ingredients to make Reindeer Cookies! The recipe stated that we had to ice an arrowroot biscuit with chocolate icing and then place two tiny teddies for the antlers, two mini marshmallows for the eyes and one raspberry lolly for the red nose. They were delicious and we devoured them very quickly.

Kinder/Prep Gray wishes everyone a safe and happy Christmas and New Year!

Prep/1 have been working hard on their  handmade gifts.  Have a Merry Christmas and enjoy the festivities with your loved ones. 

I am Zora and this is Aida and we are writing on behalf of the class. We have learnt so much this year like fractions and lots of maths. This year we have loved art and music and adventuring in the big kids’ playground for the first time. We loved going to Pinocchio, but we were a little sad about Park and Pool. We have loved playing with lots of friends in the playground and meeting new people. We have loved the student teachers from the university. We are looking forward to our new classes next year and can’t wait to meet new people in our classes.

Our year in Grade 2 Absolom

Written by Rohan and Piper

We can’t believe that our grade 2 year is coming to an end. Our year has been wonderful. We are going to miss everyone so much. We will miss spending time with our friends, teachers and TA’s in the class. We interviewed a few of our peers and asked them what they were going to miss or what they have enjoyed doing this year. Here is what they had to say.  

Jamie said, “I really enjoyed going on the excursion to the Botanical Gardens to watch Pinocchio”.

 “I have enjoyed getting Dojos for following our school values and getting to spend them on a Friday”- Mason said

Oliver replied, “ I will miss having fun with my friends in our class and doing PE”

Monnie said, “I have enjoyed doing maths and reading”.

Leo answered,  “ I have enjoyed learning on Splash Maths this year”.

We then interviewed our teacher Miss A who has worked at Springfield Gardens for 11 years. We are so sad that she is leaving.  She said, “ I am going to miss all the students I have taught over the years. I will miss seeing them improve in their learning, build their confidence and watching them grow and change as people. Springfield Gardens will always have a special place in my heart, but it is time for a new challenge and change. Thank you for all the memories”

Merry Christmas everyone

Rohan and Piper (Grade 2 Absolom)

We have had the most amazing year in 3/4 Grech. It has been wonderful to see how much each student has grown, and how well they have demonstrated our school values of learning, respect and community throughout the year. It will be great to see many of them start stepping into leadership roles such as Daily PE leaders, House Captains and SRC members next year. We have had an awesome time together, with some of the highlights being learn to swim, and our 24 Carrot Garden excursion. I am so proud of how hard the students have worked and can’t wait to see what they accomplish next year!

We have been finishing off the year with lots of games, challenges and Christmas craft. Below is a picture of some decorations we created earlier in the week.

From 3/4 Grech, we hope everyone has a happy Christmas and fantastic school holidays!

3/4 Mahy have been enjoying the last week together as a class by turning ourselves into elves!

Some of our highlights of the year have been swimming lessons, learning with our friends, and the unveiling of the new hall.

We hope you all have a wonderful summer holidays!

A big thank you from Miss Mahy for the past five years of learning and fun at Springfield Gardens!

It certainly has been a busy December in 4/5 Dunsby. We have filled our time with Christmas craft, end of year celebrations, performances, speeches, Christmas movies and music, and lots of cleaning!

Students performed I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas wonderfully last Tuesday at our Christmas assembly. We hope everyone enjoyed watching it as much as we did practising and performing it. I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas is now well and truly stuck in our heads!

We also voted for 2024 leaderships roles. Students were so brave, standing in front of their peers sharing why they thought they would be perfect for the role. I am so proud of every one of them!

I also wanted to take a moment to extend my warmest wishes to everyone. It has been a pleasure teaching and learning with your children this year, and I am incredibly grateful for the hard work and enthusiasm they have brought to the classroom.

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

4/5 Dunsby

Merry Christmas from 5/6 Jones!

We have had a wonderful year this year! Some of our highlights included the Science expo, playing silent ball (almost every morning), our morning circle and the many conversations and funny moments shared, going to Bonorong on an excursion, countless inside jokes, making new friends and many more! 

From the 5/6 Pickles (Dudman)

This year has been an exciting time for many of our students in our class. Many finishing off their primary years and beginning their learning journey into high school.  Others are becoming leaders of our school and will do an excellent job.

Over the last couple of weeks our class has embraced the festive spirit by spending quality time with each other and getting the opportunity to show our creative sides.  We have pickled our Christmas tree and decorated Christmas cookies.  The plan for the cookies were to make it home for families to enjoy, but 23 mischievous elves had other ideas.  I don’t think the cookies stood a chance lasting to the end of the day.

Finally, I would like to thank all the families of all my grade 5/6 students.  It has been a privilege to help them on their learning journeys and to get to know each and every one of them of over the last 6 months.  It has been amazing seeing their growth and confidence in learning/trying new things.  You should be very proud of them.

Good luck and enjoy your holidays.

Canteen 

The canteen staff would like to thank all the staff and students for their support during the year and look forward to seeing you all in 2024.

Lost Property 

A reminder to come and check the lost property box, located near the office. 

Last day for students 

The last day of school for all grades is Thursday 21 December 2023. 

The staff would like to wish everyone a safe and happy holiday and we look forward to seeing you in 2024!

Registered Family Daycare Clarence 

Before school care & after school care available 

Monday to Thursday - 7.30am-9.00am 

2.45pm-5.30pm

Please contact Viji on 0497 303 296

Within walking distance to school. 

We recently did a dress up as your favourite animal/free dress day to raise money for a project recap at Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary, raising money for a new animal hospital.

We raised a commendable $120.50 and would like to thank everyone for their efforts in participating/donating money.