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Our annual awards are a very special part of the year. Throughout the year our students have earned many Merit Certificates for the specific effort that they have put into their learning. These merits are hard earned and when a student has received 5 merits they get to have a special morning tea with the Principal. The really special part is getting to choose the cake that the Principal bakes for them.

At the end of the year, we recognise the achievement of our students with our annual awards. These awards recognise the specific attributes of learning and being part of our community that we value the most.

Each award is aligned with our core aspirations of: know and discover; understand and dream; and grow in faith. All awards are named in honour of prominent Australians and recognise their contributions to our society. The student awards are:

• Douglas Mawson Award for Knowledge and Exploration
• Connor McLeod Award for Great Ideas
• Fiona Wood Award for Creativity and Innovation
• Shane Gould Award for Sporting Achievement
• Richard Tognetti Award for the Performing Arts
• Elizabeth Kenny Award for Christian Character and Service

This year saw the introduction of a new staff award, the Ian Hewitt Award for Googong Learning. This award is presented to the staff member who has demonstrated servant leadership, enthusiasm and creativity in the classroom to bring to life the school’s core aspirations. In doing so, they have created an authentic learning environment which has challenged and engaged the students in their learning.

Ian was the Foundation Principal of The Anglican School Googong and is leaving our school at the end of this year. He believed that the three core aspirations of ‘know and discover, understand and dream, and grow in faith’ were the essential components required to ensure our students were equipped for life beyond school. He was instrumental in bringing this vision to life but also recognised that it required exceptional teachers to put this vision into practice for our students.

The inaugural recipient of the Ian Hewitt Award for Googong Learning was Portia Bellew.

Congratulations to all of our 2017 award recipients, you have each shone in these areas which are most important us.

We had a proud moment last week when three of our Year 3 students attended the opening of Googong’s newest park, Yerradhang Nguru. The naming of the park recognises the connection that the Ngunawal people have as the traditional custodians of the land on which Googong is built.

Yerradhang Nguru means Gumnut Camp and was chosen to indicate that this was an area frequented by the Ngunawal people as they moved along the pathways in their travels. A ‘camp’ for them was a place to take a break and look around. Ngunawal representatives performed a traditional welcome to country and cleansing ceremony with didgeridoo accompaniment which our students participated in.

Aboriginal place names have been assigned to other key locations in Googong where the names make a meaningful connection with the indigenous habitation and use of the land. The four locations that received new Aboriginal names were Googong Common, Hill 800, ‘The Gumnuts’ park and Montgomery Rise park. Googong Common is now Bunburung Thina meaning small lizard track and the park at Montgomery Rise is now Munnagai Woggabaliri, which means come and play.

Hill 800 has been renamed Nangi Pimble which means see the district or look at the district. This is the area that our students planted some Allocasuarina verticillate (Drooping Sheoak) trees on earlier this year. This particular species is a primary food source for the Glossy Black Cockatoo (the bird on the school’s logo).

Saturday saw the sun shining on what was an amazing day for 10 of our year 3 and 4 students as we headed up to our ‘backyard’ in the Snowy Mountains. After an early departure from Googong, we set out from Guthega for our snowshoe expedition. For most of these students this was their first time on snowshoes so what a treat they had with a blue-sky day on some great snow.

This trip is part of the school’s outdoor education program and helps our students learn a wide range of new skills, work as part of a team and push themselves beyond their usual experiences.

Over the course of the day the students learnt many new skills and had a wonderful time experiencing the snow from a different perspective. After an initial walk along the trail to Guthega Dam where we learnt a few snowshoeing techniques we headed ‘off track’ towards the Rolling Grounds.

We walked to an area which had a deep stash of snow and learnt some snow craft skills from Mr Hewitt. Here we learnt how to: cut blocks of snow to build snow walls to protect us from the wind; make furniture in the snow so we could sit on a snow seat; and we even got to build a small snow cave which was amazingly warm and quiet.

The snow walls that we built came in very handy to hide behind during the snowball fight as well! Thanks to all of the parents who helped make this day possible. We all had an amazing day and certainly hope we can get out to do this again.

We’ve had a great day of celebrations to mark Indonesian Independence Day. This year has been particularly special for us as we have had Pak Adel and Ibu Titin from our partner school, SMP Katolic Rajawali in Makassar visiting and joining in our celebrations.

Our day started with a visit to the Indonesian Embassy where we were welcomed by His Excellency Mr Yohanes Kristiarto Soeryo Legowo, the Indonesian Ambassador. We then joined the Indonesian community for their flag raising ceremony.

Then to wrap up our day we had a great evening with our whole school community joining us for dinner followed by the students performing a number of traditional Indonesian songs and dances. The whole school sang Pelangi Pelangi which is a lovely traditional song about the rainbow being a creation of God. Then they performed Marendeng Marampa from Toraja, South Sulawesi. This dance is to motivate people from Toraja to be strong in their lives. They also performed Gemu Fa Mi Re which is a dance from Maumere, Flores to invite people to enjoy life and always feel happy.

To finish with our choir provided us with a great performance of the ‘Great Australian Bight’ to add a uniquely Australian flavour to the evening to enhance our intercultural understanding.

What a great way to celebrate with our Indonesian partners, on this their special day.

2018 is fast approaching and it was an exciting time today when we saw our students in the new school uniform for the first time. This included some of our students in year 2 and 3 as well as one of our new students who will join us in year 7 next year.

Meanwhile, we have welcomed Eleisha Smyth who has joined us as the Senior School Teaching and Learning Coordinator. Eleisha is seen here with our Principal, Ian Hewitt and one our first year 7 students.

Eleisha is beginning the designing of our cross curricular projects which will encourage our students not only to be citizens who make a positive impact on their community, but lifelong learners who dream big, stretch themselves, and see their potential as world changers.

As we prepare for our senior school, Eleisha is preparing a rich and invigorating program to ensure our students will be stretched in their knowledge and application of the curriculum. Projects will develop a sense of pride for the students as they create ‘beautiful work’ to share and inspire others. This could be in the form of a performance, a creation, an innovation, a development – creatively presenting what they are learning in authentic ways. Learning this way creates meaning beyond the school walls and empowers learners to achieve at the highest levels.

Our Stage 2 building program is well underway in preparation for our first year 7 students to commence in 2018.

In preparation for the commencement of the Senior School with year 7 in 2018, the expansion of the Junior School and the increase in staff numbers Stage 2 will comprise:

• A number of flexible and specialist learning areas
  • 2 general learning areas
  • Shared/flexible learning area
  • Maker classroom (messy space for design technology and art)
  • Hospitality and textiles area
  • Science laboratory
• New staff administration area
  • Reception
  • General office areas
  • General meeting room
  • First Aid room
  • Staff offices
  • Staff work areas
  • Staff amenities

Many of our students are enjoying the view of the construction activity from the playground. Like them, we too are excited about this stage of development and look forward to its completion in preparation for the commencement of the 2018 school year.

While Canberrans were celebrating Canberra Day, just across the border students from The Anglican School Googong and their families were hard at work creating a new sanctuary to protect the vulnerable Glossy Black Cockatoo.

Together, they started planting trees on the highest hill overlooking the new Googong township. The hill, known as Nangi Pimble by its traditional Ngunawal landowners, provides a panoramic view across Googong and will be home to the town’s new water supply reservoirs.

Over the next four years, more than 3000 trees will be planted in a four hectare reserve that is being created to provide a passive recreation and educational space for the community and a salute to the area’s rich Aboriginal heritage.

The initial tree planting includes native species like the Drooping She-oak, the primary food source for the Glossy Black Cockatoo which is part of the school’s logo, and gum trees that will provide nesting habitat in the future.

The Denby Family was one of the first to pitch in as students from School rolled up their sleeves to help plant trees in celebration of the school’s annual Founders’ and Grandparents Day when they focus on their community.

Jacob (9) was in Year One when the school opened. This year he is part of the school’s first Year four class.

His parents Simon and Kathryn Denby and grandparents Reg and Norma Gee, from Watson, are regular volunteers at the school which is an important contributor with close ties to the new community.

“The school is inspirational,” Simon said. “The parents all want to be involved, not just for the good of their own child, but for the good of the school and the rest of the community.

“Even though it’s getting bigger all the time, the school still feels like a family – more like a close knit community of friends which is something you don’t often get in a bigger, more structured environment.”

The Denby family moved from their 250 acre farm at Bungendore so they could be more involved and juggle school activities with the pressure of two busy fulltime jobs.

After the tree planting, the Year 3 and 4 students joined the rest of the school community for fun, games and morning tea with visiting parents and grandparents, followed by a family picnic.

We’ve just reached 1000 likes for our Facebook page. Thank you to all our followers for your support. We launched our Facebook page in March 2014 and since then our school has been built and we welcomed our first students in January 2015.

Thank you for liking as well as commenting and questioning. We really love it when the conversation and excitement about what we are doing connects with you. Please share our Facebook page with your friends. Let’s get up to 2000 likes soon so we can spread the word about #GoogongLearning and #School22.

To our 65 students and their families – we have lots of friends who love seeing what you do!