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Showing posts from August, 2016

What is a Goanna Lizard?

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Just When I Think I Know Enough, I Learn Something New I hope that is always the case - for my whole life! Last Friday I was fortunate to accompany my Year Two students on an excursion to the Gibberagong Environmental Education Centre.  It was a lovely day full of learning for both the students and for me! First - here is a link to the website for Gibberagong: Gibberagong Education Centre I continue to be amazed at the enrichment opportunities offered to the students both within and outside of school.  In addition to this excursion just this term we have had an Indigenous Australian Cultural Incursion, gymnastics classes provided by the YMCA, and a wonderful program called Life Education.  Here is the website for the Life Education program which my students thoroughly enjoyed: Life Education - New South Wales But now - let me get back to Gibberagong!  This was a day of walking through preserved Australian bush land, learning about the environment, how the Indigenous...

We Made the North Shore Times!

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World News Hello Elementary Friends, During Term One of this year my principal, Malcolm McDonald, asked me to think of an idea from home that I could share with Beaumont Road this year.  Several years ago Mortensen had an emphasis on being a kind and compassionate school, and we implemented a program called Rachel's Challenge.   Here is some information on the program: Rachel Joy Scott was the first person killed in the Columbine High School shooting on April 20, 1999. But that was only the beginning of the story. After her death, many students that Rachel reached out to shared stories with the Scotts about the profound impact her simple acts of kindness had on their lives; even preventing one young man from taking his own life. They soon realized the transformational effect of Rachel’s story and started the non-profit organization that is Rachel's Challenge today. Since 1999 when we lost twelve innocent lives, including Rachel, her legacy has touched 22 million people and is ...

Where in the World is Dubbo, NSW?

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We Traveled Farther West than We Have Been! Dubbo, NSW Hello Elementary Friends, As I shared in the last blog, over the past weekend we traveled west from Sydney about 5.5 hours.  It was intriguing to watch the topography change as we ventured over the Blue Mountains and into the Orana Region of New South Wales. Dubbo  is a city in the  Orana Region  of  New South Wales , Australia. It is the largest population hub in the Orana region, with an estimated population of around 40,000. It is located at the intersection of the  Mitchell ,  Newell  and  Golden  highways. The nearest city,  Orange , is approximately 144 km (89 mi) away. Dubbo is located approximately 275 m (902 ft) above sea level, 400 km (249 mi) northwest of Sydney and is a major road and rail freight hub to other parts of New South Wales. It is linked by national highways north to  Brisbane , south to Melbourne, east to Sydney and...