The Ride Home

On the bus ride home we did what is called a marshmallow contest. In other words a way for Andy to keep us quiet. How you play it is, you have to keep the marshmallow inside your mouth for the longest to win. The top 3 would win another marshmallow. The record was 13 minutes from Declan who was a student at Andy’s old school. Ned got 45 minutes! Henry got 1 hour and 13 minutes and the longest time was Eva who got around 1 hour and 40 minutes, you played us well Andy.

And that was our trip.

The End

Lily James State Athletics Titles Final

Lily James, in Grade 6, ran in the State Athletics Titles Final of the U13 1500 m in October, at Albert Park. Quoting from her father's email to me, "The finalists were lined up across the starting line in qualifying order so as you can see Lily was second slowest to qualify. She managed to improve on her ranking by one spot finishing 13th."

Girls State Finals Chess

Round 1:

Kate with a quick loss to a four move variation, which she and Mitch iron through. Alice disappointed to lose from a strong position. Olivia fights back to beat a girl who had been laughing at her previously. So, so satisfying….with a back-ranking….I LOVE IT! Charlize can’t stop smiling after an early win from a losing position, again not giving up. Maisy is the last to finish in a classic hard fought match against a secondary school player (all the girls have been combined, so there are midgets vs giants!) Rook real happy, Lily unlucky to lose in the middle game. Eva annoyed with herself, a blunder leading to another blunder.

Round 2:

Olivia lost a game that she feels she should have won, but she just wasn’t thinking straight. Ebony won in strange circumstances, the opponent offering her hand, but the International Master wanders over to point out that there was an escape. However the win stands. Alice wins a tough nail-biting game. Lily somehow escapes a thrashing with a stalemate, and an embarrassed grin. Om rolls on, beating up a five year old who needed help getting up on the chair. Shame. Darcy smiling, Maddie back with a bang, Charlize falls back to earth.

I am falling behind with the write ups. There are a lot of fried liver tutorials going on. The girls are upbeat and supporting each other, and surprising themselves with their results. It’s almost as though they’ve been playing for years….!

Kate gets her first ever four move win.

Round 6 coming up and we’re sniffing around the edges. First is possible, so is fourth. The top three go to Nationals. COME ON GIRLS!!!

Round 7 is coming up, and it’s on! We need some big results from the last round: our top five girls to rise to the challenge. Lily and Olivia lead our players in an intense warm up / yoga session, while other teams just sit and watch, mesmerised.

History! I mean Herstory is in the making!

Om, Eva and Kate knock their opponents over in quick style. It’s down to Rook and Alice in their final games. It’s been a huge day. Rook is against one of the secondary girls, Alice’s opponent looks up for it as well.

Rook fights hard, but succumbs eventually. My god, it’s down to the Moffat…. Trustworthy, capable, hardworking, intelligent and handsome. Go Girl!

And the Moffat does it! Alice has played a blinder and got the team over the line. A rush of intense pride, a tear in the eye, a pounding heart: I’m delighted for this fully supportive, very positive sisterhood of chess. Not only are five of them through to the Nationals, but as the results are read out, not only have they won the primary school competition to become the CHESSKIDS VICTORIAN SCHOOL CHAMPIONS!!!!! But they also win against the secondary school too, to become the greatest girls’ chess team (to turn up) in the state!!! AMAZING!!!

What follows is the loudest happiest singalong on the bus as we race back, scrape in and catch the buses at 3.35 completing one of my most enjoyable chess day outings.

Fun In The Sun With Kitchen Garden

On Tuesday morning, we (year 1/2y) ran down to kitchen garden to help Steve do some planting. The first thing to do was plant some green beans. The soil felt soft and clumpy and we liked breaking it up between our fingers. Next was taste testing where we tasted some yummy blue flowers, fresh mint, spicy wild rocket and some chocolate mint which wasn't very popular.

Then we tried sticky weed which we were surprised to learn was edible!

Finally, we watched the busy buzzy bees being busy and buzzy looking for pollen.

It was SUPER fun!!

Written By 1/2y

Preps and Queen Bees

Did you know a queen bee can lay up to 2000 eggs a day.

The Preps made 1800 eggs to see just how many eggs that is.

Chess Semi Finals

I’ve got a seat and a table and a manageable sized team in a posh school on a day that smells of rain, with thunder in the background and coffee on my breath. Teacher-heaven. First round in the Leonid Open Semi-Final and it’s taken me twenty minutes to sign in at reception on an ipad that’s taken my photo. Goodness knows how much Catholic literature I’ll be getting in my inbox courtesy of Marcellin College. The Pope looked great in his picture on the wall, something John might consider just above Michelle’s computer back at Candy Mountain.

The team have decided to wear onesies (or half of them, I mean half the players, otherwise they’d be wearing halvies) and the sheer audacity and impropriety of it has the blazered sheep running from the wolves.

I’m still in a mild funk from coming 11th in state (listen to me whinge) and missing out on automatic places in the Nationals. I’ve sent a begging/offering-to-fill-in-any-spaces letter to Tim, and we’ll see, but the fact we lost three out of four important games in the last round has me slightly flummoxed. I’m not sure if the offer of an ice cream if they reached the top ten from a previously tight Scottish killjoy blew their little tired minds, or whether they were figuring out which ice cream would cost the most, but it backfired, and certainly will not be repeated EVER again.

Anyway, good start: eight from eight.

Second round, and Leonid has just warned our little chessheads not to go near the canteen between 11.00 and 11.20 as “a thousand boys will be coming for their food, and they will smash you,” not a hint of a joke: it’s a fact, and all with a menacing Russian accent. There is no laughter, just silence. Scared, stony silence (of the lambs.)

Sasha happy with the win. Red quite quick and easy. Rook loses to a girl he had already half-decided he would lose to before a move! We’ll work on that: just look at the board, not the player. Sev eventually beats a very aggressive and unorthodox player, fully attacking with his pawns early on. Eva fights hard with a minute left to maintain her advantage, get a pawn promotion, and win the game. Cosi, with a mild headache, plays a great finish in a complicated position to beat a strong player. And Om, up against a strong player, gets into a bit of time trouble, and loses to a very strong player.

Round three, coffee breath wearing off, and like a daytime vampire, I must find some liquid refreshment. Just found the “Adults Only” room off to one side. Not as exciting as it could be, but there are plenty of biscuits safe from the disease-riddled fingers of children. The coffee is instant, and like vegetarian bacon, is just faking.

Om wins. Eva, and I don’t often use this expression in chess, simply deconstructs and relentlessly beats down her opponent to go three from three. Very impressive. Red quietly and efficiently goes three from three, representing the onesies: respect. Sasha is up against it: a queen down, but up a bishop and knight. He loses a tough match. Liam loses a second on the trot. Special mention to Liam, who jumped 130 points in the last tournament! Huge, and our “form” player.

Round 4:

Cosi and Eva are on tables one and two. Red, unbeaten, has just pulled his game out of the fire. Down a rook, with only a rook and queen to play with, and a spattering of pawns, he fights and fights, and on behalf of all onesy-wearers, demonstrates to the world, that he shouldn’t be judged by his cover or the colour of his outerskin, or simply by how silly he looks. A huge win to remain unbeaten!

Sasha gutted to lose this one. Did the last loss bring him down? Can he lift from it? Let’s wait and see. Eva, table one, is battling like an Amazon. The lack of pawns eventually costs her, but it was an immense effort against a very polished player. The only thing I saw wrong was swapping an active bishop early for the passive knight. (I.e. an attacking thorn in his side for a defensive not doing much piece; plus a bishop is worth more than a knight early on when the board is wide open.)

Cosi working hard on table two: and offering a draw!? Discuss. Om finally putting away her opponent with two queens. Rook is so so unlucky to lose ON TIME, missing a checkmate. BUT this is a practice tournament, I don’t overly care about (that’s what I’m telling everyone, but secretly I’m pathologically fixated on winning it and burying the devastation of the last finals…) and so learning from the mistake here is so, so much more valuable than learning about it at the Nationals. Have I mentioned we’re off to Nationals?

Round 5:

Eva mixing it up. Cosi on a high table, but Red, the mighty onesy, table one playing Eva’s previous opponent, and so far holding his own. Sasha back from a queen blunder. Eva ice-cold and playing a blinder, remembering the finish with the king pawn that Om went over at the start of play. Red fighting like a true redman (ie Liverpool supporter) against Eva’s previous opponent and it’s completely even coming into the endgame. So exciting to see some of the old faces waking up from their stupor and playing really good strong chess. God, I’m so proud of them right now. Cosi a rook down, but fighting hard. Om down on time but not panicking. And Red, all quits against a 1200 player. Should he offer the draw? Red makes one mistake, and it costs, but I’m so impressed that he pushed that player so hard. Rook regathers herself and gets a win. Now onto the next game. Cosi eventually succumbs to the inevitable, but handles it with a certain sangfroid. Outrage as is appears another school has come across and stolen our chocolate biscuits. Om loses on time eventually. There is 15 minutes on the clock, but no 3 second add-on, which we’ve been getting used to with Tim’s tournaments. Om will often take her time, then do a lot of repeat checks, or fast moves at the end and actually build her time up again: no go here.

Round 6:

Sasha quick win, Red quick loss. Easy come, easy go. I would have put money on those results. Red slow to reset after a loss, Sasha one a roll. Sev fights long and hard, and finally chases the opponent’s king down to get a solid win. Eva is unlucky to lose a good game, just getting out of position momentarily in the end game. Rook offers a draw, and is happy to be up and running again. Liam is walking with a swagger and a smile at last: aiming for five…let’s see! The chocolate has gone out, it’s one thirty, it’s the last round. Hurrah!

The Last Round:

Barring an act of God, we have qualified to the State Finals in the top eight. So many finals, so little time. We are going to run and race home to catch the Friday afternoon bus, and I can’t wait! The team have certainly lifted from the last tournament that shalt not be named. It’s good to be back on the horse, and in another large Catholic venue, illustrating something, maybe a resurrection or something tenuous. There’s a kid playing the last round holding a sickbag under their mouth. Talk about psychological warfare, brilliant! Might use it at Nationals, or at last one of our players, boom boom! Spew! Om with a quick win. Rook with a draw. Cosi last game playing! Red pretty devastated to have finished the day with another loss. It’s now more an indication of how to respond to disappointment, nothing to do with ability. Cosi had led the team through a guided meditation on the bus arriving, and when the giggles had died down and the six of them tuned into it, they loved it. And judging by round one, it’s something they might consider for Nationals. Oh, didn’t you know? Yes, we’re off to Nationals. Again. Cosi finally, last game of the day Cosi, wins.

A good day! And we’re off.

Indigenous Art in Kyneton

On Friday the 10th of October the Grade 4s and 6s took a bus to Kyneton. At Kyneton we went to the museum to see some indigenous artefacts and art from all over Australia. One artefact that they show us was a Marngrook ball. It’s a football made from possum fur and filled with rocks. They also showed us some types of boomerangs which are used for hunting different animals. Then we had a look at the art on display.

Then we went outside the museum and saw what houses would have looked like in the 1800s. There were stables, carts, a laundry, a kitchen (with old things like milk crates, out-of-date flour, antique cups and saucers, an old stove top and irons.

FACTS ABOUT THE MUSEUM:

• The iron was heated up on the stove
• The maid lived outside in an old cottage
• They had the kitchen, laundry and toilet outside because of risk of fires
• The museum used to be a bank and the banker lived on the second story

We then wandered up to Kyneton Town Hall to meet an indigenous artist named Nathan Patterson. He usually paints indigenous symbols and loves painting animals in bright colours (e.g. bunjil the eagle, magpies, kangaroos and more).

He taught us about some of the common symbols used in indigenous art including a person sitting which is like a U shape and multiple circles which can represent a waterhole, campsite or meeting place.

Nathan had painted the outline of a wedge tailed eagle so he could teach us how to paint feathers. There were different colours that he gave us to work with. Each class painted one half of the eagle, and by the end of the day we had painted a beautiful eagle for Candlebark to cherish.

FACTS ABOUT NATHAN AND HIS ART:

• He has painted many guernseys for AFL Indigenous Week at the G including one for Richmond, Essendon, Collingwood, GWS and Geelong
• He paints at least one painting a day to stay skilled
• His mother is from the Wagiman clan in Pine Creek, Northern Territory
• He grew up in the east of Melbourne and lives on the coast near Geelong

Written By Alice & Nell

Grade 5 Camp

On the first day back the Grade 5s went on a camp to Walkerville with some La Trobe students.

Day 1

We all got to school early and ready for the long week ahead of us. But before we left we met the La Trobe students. There was Anina, Jarod, Penny, Ya, Hebe, Rachel and Laura. They all study outdoor ED at La Trobe and this camp was a part of their course so they planned the whole thing.

After meeting everyone we hopped on the bus. It was a 4-hour drive with a 1-hour lunch stop at a park.

When we got there some people went to the beach while others helped set up our tarps, which we were going to be sleeping under. Then we just hung around and played on the beach until dinner. Dinner was spag bol, which was as good as…well, spag bol.

After that we stood around the campfire and picked out a name from a hat. Whoever that person was you had to make a gift for them, and at the end of the camp we exchanged our gifts. That night we all went to sleep very “peacefully” while we listened to the sound of the waves crashing against the rocks, but it was as cold as Antarctica.

Day 2

In the morning for brekkie you could have eggs on toast or cereal, which by the way, was delicious. Ellie went to put on her boot and she could only find 1. We searched high and low but it turned out A WOMBAT STOLEN HER BOOT and for the rest of the camp she had to wear thongs.

That day we walked north up the beach. It was tiring but worth it. On the way we saw lots of crabs. We stopped for lunch at a beautiful creek. Some people went exploring and some people just lay in the sun like lazy lizards. Then the girls turned Rachel (one of the La Trobe students) into a beautiful mermaid!

After that we walked back to camp to have a relaxing evening. Well mostly relaxing but some people played a game of capture the flag. That night we had sausages for dinner, and for dessert we roasted marshmallows on the campfire. That night we didn’t go to sleep as peacefully.

Day 3

The next morning we all woke up while the birds were singing [chirping]. We then got up to have brekkie, which was the same as yesterday, but still just as good.

We then walked south down the beach and we saw a dead octopus body on the rocks. After walking for a while we stopped and did some activities on the beach.

We then went up a big mountain and did some more activities up there. We visited a cemetery and talked about what we were grateful for. Then we listened to a story about bird rock, which is a big rock that had a dope arch in it and it’s in the water.

After we walked back down to the beach, we played and made sand castles. Some people had a splash in the water, while others played cricket.

After that we went through a magic portal [a cave]. On the other side of the magic portal the tide was very low so we went exploring in the rock pools and we walked all the way out to bird rock. It was pretty. We walked all the way back to camp along the beach.

Back at camp we did some activities. The first one was acting out different birds and saying what their threats were and what we can do to stop it. After we made nests for our birds. Dinner that night was fried rice, it was delicious. Instead of going to bed peacefully we partied all night until it started raining really heavily and some of our stuff got soaked.

Day 4

Before brekkie (with milo!) we packed up our things. After brekkie we all played capture the flag. We then got in groups and we got given a bone. We had to guess what animal it was and then make up a story on how it got washed up on the beach.

We played another game where you had to stand on a tarp and try to flip it but if you fell or stepped off the tarp you had to start again. It got really tricky so we split into two groups and one of the groups did it. Then that group helped the others.

After we played another game where you had to get a soccer ball from one end to the other with only using one arm and it had to be straight. You couldn’t use your hands or anything else. We eventually did it!

Next we played a game where we had to steal “eggs” (rocks) from other groups and each group had a different super power that was related to our bird from day 3.

Finally, we exchanged gifts and sat on the beach while one of the instructors (Ya) read us a book called Magic Beach. We then sadly had to say goodbye to the La Trobe students and the beach and did the 4-hour drive back to school. So in the end we had an amazing camp!

Thank you to the La Trobe students who helped organise this camp, and Nat and Andy for coming along, making the food and driving us there and back.

Written By Eleanor and Grace

Chess Finals

So we are playing Swiss Style for the final. We have organised our players into the order of proficiency. They stay on their respective table numbers for the day, and we play other schools as a five: their best against ours. We have a substitute who can step in at any round.

Round one quite easy. We are loving the format and the five of us facing them over a long table.

Round two, on table 1 and up against one of the favourites: every game is a long struggle. Two lost on time, and there were a couple of blunders which you can’t afford to do against opposition this strong. That’s taken a bit of wind out of the sails, not necessarily a bad thing.

Round three and back down to table 6. Red on for Sasha, and it’s a decent opponent he’s up against. Red slow to get started, under pressure, but manages to win a draw. Players two and three look pretty weak, and Cosi and Sev make short work of them. Om takes her time, and wins.

Round four, another very strong school. Red with a good but overly quick, win; getting sucked into how she plays, not what she plays. Sasha loses. Om, Sev and Cosi still battling it out. Om grabs a draw from a bad position with repeat checks. Cosi is playing really well, but then blunders his queen in an exchange gone wrong. More upsettingly for me, he resigns with plenty of material left, and an opponent on one minute left. I’m really upset too! And finally, with four seconds left, Sevryn gets a result against an opponent who beat him at Nationals last year!!!

Round five: Tucker road. Sev back-ranks his opponent inside ten minutes. Sasha has a quick win. Om beats a Cordover, who just won state with a seven out of seven! Huge result, and great use of the clock. Cosi fighting on against an opponent of FIDE ranking 1400 (on table 2). Cosi wins a draw! With a minute left, just repeat checking her. GREAT result! Eva blundered her Queen, but fights to the bitter end, for a loss.

I should put Red on again now, but we’re sniffing around the medals, and I’m concerned he’ll feel under real pressure to perform for the team slightly cold. I’m faffing my decision, but go with my head, and choose to play this out with our strongest team. He takes it really well, and has been a key smiling encouraging influence all day.

Round six: and the games will keep getting harder. Sev with another very quick win! He is flying!! They all perform, and the faffing decision is vindicated.

Round seven: the kids are flying. Om is playing an opening that she knows up to 25 moves in apparently against a kid in a hurry. Who loses his queen in under a minute? Sasha nicks a queen. Eva is a rook up. Cosi is looking solid. Eva wins well. Om applies the coup de grace. Sasha shakes hands, smiling. Is this really happening? Cosi grinds out a hard win with just pawns and a rook each. So patient, so good. Sevryn is going to lose on time to a bit of a nemesis who he lost to in the semis last game. But 4-1 in the last round is massive!! Huge!

And after coming fourth in the semis, the team have just finished ……. second in the state!! Our best ever result with Leonid.

The team which came first won by 8 clear points, and last year won the Nationals in Canberra: 35-0!!!

That sort of means that we are in the top 10, possibly top 5 schools in Australia this year!!! Not bad for a little school on the side of a hill!

Chess Kids Nationals here we come!!

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