PRINCIPAL'S MESSAGE

TREE DAY ’07: Tree planting makes a positive difference to the environment, with benefits for both schools and communities. It also helps native animals and plants survive in Australia’s diverse natural settings.

This Thursday we will commence a new “partnership” with the Mackay City Council as they provide personnel and resources to help us extend last year’s plantings.

Each class will spend half an hour being “educated” and planting trees in the top portion of the ground ploughed for us by P & C president Frank Perna.

An outdoor learning area will be constructed using large logs as seats, and the remainder of the strip planted out later in the year.

If you would like to come along and join in with your children on Thursday, please do! The timetable will be: prep-1 12.00; years 2/3 12.30; year 4/5 1.45; years 6/7 2.15.

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: I have often highlighted the importance of community involvement in allowing us as a school to provide the wide range of opportunities we do for our children.

Extensions of educational programs, development of social skills and strengthening of values which underpin our beliefs and attitudes about the society and environment they are all growing up in, are enabled through the involvement of volunteers (parents and others) here at Hampden.

Rock-Pop-Mime, Tree Day, Anzac Day, R.E., School Camp, Fitness Program, Tuckshop, Groundscare, Reading Rosters, P & C, Voluntary Teacher-Aides, are all examples of how we as a whole school community are creating these opportunities for our children.

Thank-you for your contributions, and please keep up this vital work.

Howard Frost

Principal.

TEN PIN BOWLING: All participants from the very young to the “quite old” staff literally ‘had a ball’ at the Mackay Leisure Centre on Wednesday during the behaviour management outing.

It didn’t take our young ones long to get the idea and there were some good scores registered, including many strikes!!

Unfortunately we arrived back at school too late for Auskick, but an extra lesson will be scheduled as a replacement later in the term.

SUPER SOFTBALLER: Jade Barratt continues to excel is his sport of softball and will soon travel to Mt Isa as part of the Capricornia Team to contest the State Titles.

Good luck, Jade!!

LEISURE CENTRE VOUCHERS: Accompanying this newsletter are vouchers obtained when we visited the MLC on Wednesday.

As well as providing discounted rates for participants, the school will also receive a commission for each voucher used.

SCHOOL CAMP: The children in years 4-7 took home their first official School Camp Newsletter yesterday.

Edition 2 will follow next week and will contain costs and a daily program of activities.

CRICKET CONGRATS! Congratulations to Michael Volker who was selected in the North Mackay cricket team last Friday.

North Mackay will now play South Mackay and one team will be finalised for the Capricornia trials.

Best wishes for continued selection, Michael.

CRICKET COMPETITION: The Mackay North S.H.S. Cricket Academy are running a Super 8’s Cricket Carnival on Sunday 19^th August.

Hampden hopes to field a team and interested students have been given information sheets to take home.

ARTS COUNCIL: A reminder that the term 3 presentation “Power Trip” will be held here at school this coming Wednesday, commencing at 9.30.

Parents wishing to attend are welcome to do so, free of charge.

PIE DRIVE: Any outstanding pie drive orders must be returned to school on Monday. Orders have to be collated and numbers forwarded to the bakery for production.

Thank-you for supporting our students in their endeavours to raise funds for school camp.

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK

A clever person turns great troubles into little ones and little ones into none at all. --- Chinese Proverb

ROCK POP MIME!

Practice again this Sunday from 10.00am – 12.00 noon!

As a result of the meeting on Thursday we have decided to have a sewing session in the EEC Withdrawal room during the practice session on Sunday. If you are able to join us, please bring some good sewing scissors, and (if possible) a sewing machine. Tea, coffee, and muffins available from the EEC kitchen!

We have been off and racing in the Prep/Year One Grand Prix with racing cars we designed and made ourselves!

Our students had a choice of building materials and investigated various designs before the start of the race. We tried different chassis lengths, wheel sizes, weight displacements, a variety of materials (Lego, Duplo or Mobilo) and shapes. Our winners were – First Ashlyn Burley (Duplo), second Andrew DePaoli (Duplo) and Joel Ashcroft (Mobilo). Racing was tense and exciting, and the judges were meticulous. “Mrs Medway, make that barrier straight! My car’s got further to go than the others!”

We have now decided that safety is an issue as many cars self destructed at the finish line. Our next challenge is to design a car that carries a driver (marble) safely and quickly.

Our Prep students also made treasure maps this week and now they are going to bury their treasure. Their challenge is to first find where Mrs Medway has hidden it!

P & C NEWS

RUGBY LEAGUE BARS: In the lead-up to the end of season finals, Hampden P & C has again been provided with the opportunity to raise funds by working the Rugby League footy bars.

This is very easy work, and is actually quite enjoyable. Each bar requires 3-4 people on about 2 hours shifts, and raises $300 of much needed funds for our school.

Bars will be operating on August 12, 19 and 26, as well as September 02.

If you can help out, or would like more information, please phone P & C president Frank Perna on 49540274, or contact the school.

Meeting Reminder - a reminder that our meeting for August will be on Monday 20^th, commencing at 7.30pm.

Calendar Survey – Don’t forget to complete the calendar survey from last week’s newsletter and return to Lorraine Insch, Julie Burns, or the office.

GROUNDSCARE NEWS

Well the first half of the year has raced by us, as have the Sports Days. Thank-you again to our June/July volunteers for maintaining the grounds over this time.

August’s volunteers are the Medway family (Mike & Annette) and the Balsillie family (Clint & Michelle).

We are still looking for additional helpers for later in the year, so if you think you may be able to assist please give me a call at the office on Tuesdays or Wednesdays.

Kathy Frost

(Co-ordinator)

Issue no.24, 3rd August 2007

Issue no.24, 3^rd August 2007