Contents

• Term Dates 2021
• A Poem by Ethan Rogers
• 3/4z 2021 Apocalypse
• Grade 1 Maths Lesson
• Grade 1 Tashi Sleepover
• Chess Tournament
• Winter Solstice
• Candlebark Pottery Group
• Fashion Week 2021
• Community Notices

Term Dates 2021

Candlebark and Alice Miller term dates for this year are as follows:

• Term 3: 19 July to 16 September
• Term 4: 5 October to 15 December

A Poem by Ethan Rogers

Having fun and being free

Finding peace and kindness

Is the place to be, that’s

Why you should come

To my school candlebark

Yippee. There’s so much

To do and see, we have

Trampolines and a

Tennis court both full

Of laughter and fun,

You just have to

Come and see we

Have cooked meals

And my gosh the yum,

We also have great

Teachers and a Principal

Too, he knows how

You should learn that’s

Why the school is on

Bush. With creeks

To explore and

Bases to build

And much more I

Could say but really just enroll

Today and come and have a look

No lies were told in

My piece so it really is just kindness

And peace.

3/4z 2021 Apocalypse

This term 3/4z undertook yet another wacky theme and jeepers creepers, I never could have imagined how deeply this theme would captivate them!

We started with the premise of a 2021 apocalypse that wiped out the world as we know it. From there, after an indefinite period of chaos and terror, with the land literally imploding upon itself and massive land masses shifting, those who survived traveled the globe in search of new land.

Each member of 3/4z happened to be one of those lucky children who survived and who, thankfully, went on to become the founders and leaders of their own unique nations. They were responsible for the naming of this nation, designing the currency, mapping the land, writing a new constitution, sculpting a new language, organising the political, cultural and religious structures, thinking through how they would sustainably power their nation and a host of other challenges to tackle.

Each week these bold and inventive new leaders met in a serious and solemn forum to discuss the global issues facing them in this New World. We named them the New Knighted Nations and they faced dilemmas such as: Should they make contact with extraterrestrials if they had evidence of their existence? How will they support nations facing drought, fire and famine? How will they manage environmental disasters and what policies should they put in place for the future? What is their stance on punishment for crime and how should they tackle crime in their own nations? These discussions lead to debates around what causes crime in the first place and whether we have, as new leaders, the chance to design a political/cultural and educational structure that may in fact, prevent individuals from being driven to crime in the first place.

The students of 3/4z took these big ideas and created solutions, solutions deeply infused with creativity, ingenuity and intellect. Some students spent lunch time after lunch time hidden in the classroom, further developing their nations. I had word from a few parents that even the line between school and the weekend became blurry. Wow!!!

Again I was reminded how precious the imagination is, and how when it is truly captured, it's capable of taking learning to a whole new level. It was a joy and a privilege to watch the students dive into this theme and to witness their passion, persistence and unbounded creativity.

When I was discussing this with the kids afterwards Connor Akey, in Year 4, summed it up beautifully; when I asked him why the theme worked so well he said ...

“I loved this theme because we were able to use our own minds and not the teachers”

He really summed up what kids crave and why deep diving into a creative topic with room to move individually really works.

- By Nat Banks

Grade 1 Maths Lesson

Grade 1 Tashi sleepover

We celebrated the end of term with a feast fit for the gods. We recreated the feast from Tashi the Fortune Teller, a feast of mushroom and nightingale egg omelette, speckled trout cooked in wine, and golden raspberries.

We made ghost cakes and tried to walk through walls. Then in honor of the winter solstice we sang songs and journeyed the school by lantern light. We had story time, slept and then enjoyed the most glorious breakfast.

We were surprised by an impromptu cello concert by Daisy Ford, Amelia, Harriet and Charlie with the glorious Zoe.

- By Leeanne

Chess Tournament

We’re back!

Back at chess! Our Holy Redeemer, Surrey Hills. Bit of a drive, but just great to get off the mountain.

So exciting!

Lots of pumped kids, and a teacher, even after a two hour drive through rush hour Melbourne! Oh traffic, people, rush hour: how I’ve missed you.

First round

Focus: play slow and get the drive out of the system. Some wins, some losses. A good standard of player here. Woody loses in under a minute, and Ofek finishes by losing on time, although he was down on pieces. Not the greatest first round, but jeez it’s great to be out!

Second round

More focus after a chastening first round. Just about everyone gets a reward. Albert is unlucky, but it was a good close game, he just needs to keep his head up and focus. I think it might be his first away tournament.

Third round

Poor Woody has to talk to me again after a quick loss. He’s promised to sit on his hands whilst visualizing before moving a piece! We’ll see…

Felix and Henry A on the top two tables. So impressive from Felix, who loves his chess (to be fair they all do) and I think this is also his first tournament. He’s playing slow and steady, not showing too much respect, but just enough. Well played!

Wow! Exciting time! Two newbies with wins in the third. Felix is now three from three!! And Albert gets his first, persisting and pushing through. Well done team!

Just found out that Ofek is still playing! Last again, brilliant: excellent use of the clock. And he never gives up, even in really tough, almost impossible positions, he makes the opposition have to win it, which can lead to unexpected draws.

Fourth round

Interesting round. The players are starting to bubble into their strata, facing beatable opponents, or having had an unbeaten run (Henry and Felix) and smacking their head against the ceiling! Regardless, the oft repeated phrase of SLOW DOWN is totally applicable. Albert gets his second win!

Fifth round

Having thought Lewis has been smashed, turns out he did the smashing. We are trying to stop four move wins! And stop using the word smash to describe a cerebral board game.

Felix is found out by a good player who “opens” him up. Arlo and Jimmy follow him out having had relatively quick losses to “very” good players. I suspect overconfidence. These games are over in under eight minutes.

The longer games appear to generally go our way. Astuto, Phoenix and Albert (!!) all get wins! Albert with three on the bounce! Awesome!

Now Esther with a win, fourth on the trot!! Great stuff!

Finn with a stalemate from a losing position. Glorious.

Finally Ofek and Basile join the others, having been amongst the last to finish. Ofek with a win, and Basile with an unlucky loss.

Sixth round:

Henry H reports the “best game I’ve ever played!” whilst rubbing his hands through his hair. It’s what it’s all about!

Jimmy is going to give his father a heart attack, it’s just too painful to watch. Phoenix reports back a win, but crikey there were some bad moves!

Seventh round:

The last one. Kids have had some chocolate, some exercise and some water. It’s been a great day, and I’d love the kids to push through and win their last one. They’ll have played seven pretty high standard games over the day, which I’d venture is the most they’ve had to think in a long time!

Phoenix, Felix, Henry A and Silas are our top four players, and with their scores, and everyone else nicking points off the other schools, we end up winning the tournament by a point!! Brilliant, and four places at the State Finals secured, with hopefully some more to come.

Well done team!

- By Andy Moffat

Winter Solstice

To celebrate the winter solstice this year some of the 5/6s took to the slopes…of the Candlebark horse paddock. What a way to start the day!

Candlebark Pottery Group

At the beginning of term 2 I showed the whole of the year 6 cohort a ceramic pot that had been pit fired. Pit firing is a process of firing clay where glazes and kilns are not used, rather the pottery is placed into a pit in the ground along with colourants such as dried plant matter, bicarb soda, wood and straw and a fire is lit and stoked on top. It is the action of smoke and heat swirling around the objects that give them their colour and textured surfaces. I asked if any of them were interested in having a go and also learning how to throw pots on the wheel. 14 eager children signed up for a series of sleepovers and the inaugural Candlebark Pottery Group was formed. Over the past 10 weeks, this group has had 5 sleepovers where they have energetically and creatively made a series of hand built and wheel thrown forms. Learning to centre, pull up and refine a ball of clay on a spinning wheel is notoriously challenging, yet week after week the group listened attentively and practised practised practised!

We used a variety of clays and techniques. Surfaces were by and large left smooth as the pit firing process creates colour and texture. Burnishing (a repetitive process using a polished gem stone or the back of a teaspoon to polish the surface of the clay) brought out the curved planes of the pieces and the school's gas kiln was running hot getting the pieces bisque (first, low temperature) fired.

Just as the pit was about to be dug at school we had a couple of set backs- lockdown and then the significant storm event. This delayed the last couple of sleepovers and these delays combined with the setting in of some winter rain meant the big pit fire event had to be delayed until Term 3.

However, in the last week of school we had a 'mini' pit firing, in a barrel, where a small proportion of the works were placed in a 44 gallon drum with layers of straw, bicarb soda, dried orange rinds, coffee grounds and banana peels. This fire was lit and burned then smouldered along for hours.

The next morning unpacking the drum was a delight! Pots peeped out from the ashes and coals. These pieces were then scrubbed clean and polished with a beeswax to bring out the shine.

On the last day of term we had a pottery group excursion to the incredibly talented local (ish) potter Minna Graham. I had wanted to take the group to see the studio of a master potter and Minna was so accommodating and put together a day that reflected the interests of the group. Her studio is on the outskirts of Daylesford and she uses local wild clay in her work. We all had a go at digging this clay and crafting it into pots. Minna has a kick wheel in her studio which gave the group an insight into what throwing pots without electricity is like. Using your foot to keep the heavy stone moving while remaining nimble with your hands is a bit like rubbing your tummy and patting your head.

We had a tour of her gallery and also her mud brick house built using local clay. Minna's partner Pete is a musician and he opened his large warm studio space for us to shelter in from the rain for lunch. The children were drawn to his warmth and he had a gaggle of curious kids asking lots of questions about his work, music and life. It was a wonderful day. The students were enchanted by the exquisite pots made in a snug studio beside a beautiful house in a picturesque valley.

Thankyou to the students who have so eagerly begun to learn a new skill, and Jo, Taran and Bliz who have helped out on the sleepovers.

- By Katy Penman

Fashion Week 2021