Week 5 Term 3
Nightcliff Primary School
Good afternoon families
This week I had the opportunity to join teachers and students on two excursions. Yesterday the Darwin Festival, A Whale’s Tale was a laugh out loud experience with a positive message on plastic, pollution and protecting our environment. Today I joined students from middle and upper primary on an excursion to the Department of Education and Charles Darwin University, NT Science Fair 2024. This year was the launch of the initiative, including a welcome address from the Chief Executive Officer, Ms Karen Weston.
The sessions were not only educational but also interactive, allowing students to experience science in action. Students’ curiosity was evident in all aspects of the experience, including the Q and A with the Australian Space Agency. One of the children asked about the temperature in space, we found out it differs but in Neptune it is so cold you can turn into spaghetti. We wouldn’t recommend the food in space either… All the food is freeze dried so that it goes hard. In space water is added to the food, mixed, and heated in a warmer. Scrambles eggs are both sloppy and slimy! One of the highlights was the opportunity to attend workshops and demonstrations, that focused on the Science Week 2024 theme, Species Survival- more than just sustainability.
Please take the time to read the articles about the excursions this week and also the other community engagement events that occurred recently at the school, including the Open Street Party and the School Council Movie Night.
Regards
Ranae Graham
Principal
Today the People’s Choice Award winners from the Art Show received there prize today.
Congratulations to Camilo 6/5K, Stevie 5K and Jayde 6M.
Active Paths Street Party
Nightcliff Primary School Active Paths Open Street Party Success
On Friday, 2nd August the school community joined Bicycle Network Australia, Northern Territory Government Road Safety Program and the Darwin City Council Projects.
Students and families showed up in force to actively travel and leave their car away from school!
At the beginning of the day, Darwin City Council Project Managers organised Traffic Management to close Cunjevoi Crescent in front of the school. This allowed students to ride, scoot, skate and walk around the streets without the stress of traffic.
Hector the Cat and the NT Road Safety Program worked with families to practice using the crossings correctly to cross the road safely.
After all the fun the 8.10am school bell rang, and students began their day with a great sense of enjoyment and pride that are active and help their learning before school starts!
Please complete the post-event survey for any queries and feedback to help our school in the future.
Open Streets post-event survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/NightcliffPostS
The impact of the Open Street Party was significant!
In an average week only 30% of 586 students said they leave the car at home and travel to school. In the lead up to Open Street Party this jumped to 40% - approximately 50 more students.
In the morning of the Open Street Party the school had over 300 students and families leaving their car away from school! Over 52% actively travelled on Friday!
Athletics Gala Day
On Thursday last week, Year 4, 5 and 6 students travelled to Marrara and participated in numerous Athletic events against lots of different schools from around Darwin. All students put forth their best effort and demonstrated excellent technique in their chosen event, with some students placing.
Well done to all involved, it was a hot but fun day out!
Teddy Bears' Picnic
We are delighted to share that our Teddy Bears' Picnic today was a fantastic success! Our Preschool to Year 2 students had a wonderful time enjoying teddy biscuits and celebrating with their favorite stuffed friends.
Darwin City Council’s annual Teddy Bear Picnic event happening this Sunday, 11th August, on the Esplanade. It promises to be a fun-filled day with activities for all ages.
The Royal Darwin Show – Junior Art Competition
The Royal Darwin Show – Junior Art Competition
Congratulations to all Year 2 Students!
‘Sunset over Nightcliff Beach’ by 2 Bubb – Second Prize
‘The Smoos & the Smeds’ by 2 Witte – Third Prize
‘Self-portraits’ by 2 Elliott – Participation Certificate
The Year 2 students worked together in their class groups to create a collaborative art piece to enter The Royal Darwin Show – Junior Art Competition.
A Whale’s Tale excursion
Our transition - Year 2 and Eco Warrior's saw A Whale’s Tale as part of the Darwin Festival.
A whale's tale is an environmental tale to warm the heart and inspire you to play your part in caring for the planet and the animals we share it with. A whale is washed up on a beach. The spirit of the whale, embodied as the Navigator, embarks on a journey to find out what is wrong, with the dubious help of Dr Walrus. Scientists forecast that by 2050 there will be more plastic in the sea than fish. The Whale’s Tale inspires you and your children to make a difference.
School Council News
Movie Night
Thank you to everyone who came along to support our movie night. It was wonderful to see so many families together on the oval; it was a great way to end the week!
A big thank you to Wren Christou and Natasha Fyles for sponsoring the event.
Another big thank you to our wonderful volunteers. Laura Wood, Lan Pham, Susannah Penman, Anna-Maria Gerbino, Louise Bright, Jo Baines, Bec Wigg, Sam Wood, Natasha Fyles, Sarah Mills and Evie and Gabe from Nightcliff Middle School.
Without volunteers, our School Community events would not happen. Please see the volunteer link below for our upcoming Father's Day Breakfast. It would be wonderful to have some new faces join us to assist in running the event!
Father's Day Breakfast
Please join us for our Father's Day Breakfast BBQ on Friday 30 August 2024! 7.30 - 8.30? (before the School Dance Concert) in the central playground.
Keep an eye out for raffle tickets in your children's bags next week!
If you would like to make a donation to support our raffle fundraiser, please contact the School Office.
All funds raised will go towards our new sports and sand play equipment. At present we are almost halfway? to our fundraising goal of $15,000.00!
A volunteer sign up link will be sent out next week via text message. Please click on the link and sign up to a slot if you are able to volunteer your time; there are different time slots to choose from. It would be wonderful to have new faces join our volunteer team to help make the event a success!
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0B4AACAA2CA2F8C43-50719133-fathers
Special Guests
We have had teacher’s dads in this week supporting kids with their learning.
5 Thompson and 5 Kokkinomagoulos was lucky enough to hear from Dr Geoff Thompson, who is a specialist in Sports Medicine about his upcoming trip with the Para-Olympic team. Dr Thompson is an expert in running multidisciplinary sports clinics over 40+ years and is proud to have worked at Olympic, Paralympic, Commonwealth, Arafura and Australian University games, and has also been the Doctor for Australian Men’s Hockey. He is part of the medical team travelling and supporting the competing athletes and leaves for Paris early next week. The classes learnt about what the Para-Olympics and how Dr Thompson would be supporting the team, as well as interesting facts about the athletes and their events.
The gardening group had a special visit from Mr Timmers (Mrs Brown’s dad) who was able to help plant new plants in our garden beds with the students.
If you have a special interest you would like to share, please get in contact with your child’s teacher.
