The Hero's Journey
This year's end-of-year production by the school is our play, The Hero's Journey. Parents will also be presenting one segment in this play! There have been sewing bees, costume preparation, rehearsals and much contributions by parents and friends.
The school is alive with the sounds of achievement, through love! We have so many super seamstresses, choreographers, musicians, artists, wordsmiths, dancers, craftspersons, clay-makers, lantern builders, stage managers, songwriters, script writers and so much more. Parents contributions and skills make such a difference! The whole play has been written and developed in-house ... so filled with creativity flowing from Love.
On the eve of the Play, Sathya Sai was thrilled with so many heroes walking around in gorgeous costumes and make up. Each class was getting prepared in their own way. Helping each other to get dressed, admiring the beauty highlighted in each one, warming up for the dances and moves that they'll be performing for the official day.
Grade 2/3 trying out costumes made by Diane Russ and assisted by Buvana Small. Below: Mr Baker and Grade 3/4 showing the attitude to dance their hip hop!
Grade 5/6 having a moment for reflection and concentration before the spontaneous moves of salsa.
The Art of Self Control
Freeze-frame! As we all prepare for the end-of-year celebrations, we are so aware of how important right conduct is for our happy learning. Children are becoming far more aware of the need to think and care about others and delight in their success, as much as our own. Freeze-framing is control of our senses to achieve our real goals from the heart and freeze frame out catastrophic thinking. Teachers are assisting children to release creativity with this great tool!
Step 1. Recognise when a stressful event is shaping up or taking place and "freeze the frame" at the instant of recognition. Freezing the frame is like pushing the pause button on your DVD. As soon as you realise a stressful event is manifesting, freeze your state of mind.
Step 2. Shift your attention to the area of your heart. Focus and hold your attention there for a few seconds you will need for step 3.
Step 3. Recall a joyful positive, fun-filled event in your life, or bring to mind some person whom you fully love. Form an image of that person or event as best you can, from your heart area.
Step 4. Keeping your focus on your heart, open to your intuition and common sense and with utmost sincerity, ask your heart what would be the right conduct you could make in this situation.
Step 5. Listen to what you then hear or feel as your heart's response.
Step 6. Act on the heart's response. All this can take place in a pause between breaths, though it is slow going in the beginning and must be practised lots.
Human Excellence: Students and Competitions
48 students from Sathya Sai Primary School have been recognized for reading 20 books in the Premier's Reading Challenge organized by our Librarian Kylie Freeman. These students will have their name published in the Sydney Morning Herald with names starting with A - K on Mon 19 November 2007 and L - Z on Mon 26 November 2007.
Five of our students have been successful with works to be displayed in folders at the Les Peterkin Portrait Prize for Children being hung at the Tweed River Art Gallery between 22 November and 9 December. The folders of Rhaboni Warren, Nitara Broughton, Blandine Ranque, Avatar Rotstein and Jasmin Matthews will be on display. The exhibition is called 'When I am 64'
Institute of Sathya Sai Education Workshops
Early November, Drs Pal and Tehseen Dhall from the Institute of Sathya SSai Education attended, along with diploma students from Melbourne, Canberra and Bathurst. Staff, teacher aides and parents from the School attended a weekend of workshops and presentation on Education in Human Values. Our Staff are students, too!
Lantern Making
Class 5/6 took part in a wonderful workshop on Tuesday with three ladies from the Lismore Lightenup group - they made 25 BIG 5-pointed 3D stars which our students will carry on Saturday evening at the LANTERN PARADE at Jack Evans Boat Harbour. These lanterns will also be used at the end of year Production, The Hero's Journey.
Parents and Friends and EHV
The Sathya Sai Parents and Friends requested an EHV lesson, so one Friday morning, 9 participants (including one small child) who attended the EHV lesson. They were deeply moved by the love revealed in the EHV hour on Truth and Honesty, the values for this fortnight. School EHV convenor Mrs Sandy Naidu provided some overheads showing EHV awakening the language of understanding and emotional intelligence; the 'WHY we do EHV'.
Sandy then took us through silent sitting, Mrs Roz Molloy and Mrs Gowing unfolded a mind map and Roz told a story about Truth and Parables with people dressed in a skeleton and veiled in hat and scarves respectively. Cath Brown played the flute for our values song and Mrs Naidu took us through an activity followed by a visualisation by Roz, who spoke about the powerful integration of values through these 7 Teaching Techniques.
Every child experiences this for the first hour of each week plus constant integrated awareness all week!
Visit to Green Hills Nursing Home
Classes Kinder to Year 3 had the wonderful privilege of spending time with the elderly at the Green Hills Nursing Home. Through Right Conduct and Love, the children brought gifts of music/song and lovingly knitted knee rugs and socks made by the "Smiley Club" with Edith. Despite the differences in age, the elderly were treated with respect and dignity, worthy of our praise and admiration. Well done, Smiley Club!
Community Wisdom ~ Health Week
Sathya Sai Primary school received many visits during Health Week, in ordre to imbibe the community wisdom and learn healthy choices. Wendy Cameron visited and taught about the importance of food choices. Uncle Arthur and Poppy Hillcoat visited and told stories about not reacting. 'I love you' is a great thing to say from our hearts ... we recalled the Value of the Week, Right Conduct - lived as 'responsibility', and our quote, 'I am responsible for my own actions'.
In the Year 1/2 classroom, for Health Week, students started doing some outdoor physical activity: they exercised, went for a walk or jog in the fresh air, then we did some Yoga. Returning to the classroom, they brainstormed what being healthy is. They decided that health includes mental, physical and spiritual health.
The school hall was very busy on Wednesday during the First Aid and Police Officers' talks to the students. Fay Gleave, regional officer of Saint John's, engaged all the students in the talk on first aid, especially by inviting some to role play some situations of danger. Incidents like snake bites, a broken leg were some of which aroused most children's curiosity.
After that, students and teachers benefited from listening to very important information given by the police in the talk on alcohol and drugs. They highlighted that the damage caused by them is not only physical and psychological, but social as well, once it affects one's family, friends and the way interaction happens with society.
Murwillumbah Fire Brigade visited on the next day. Two members from the fire brigade came and showed students around the fire truck. They showed the gas tanks, biohazard suits, a breathing apparatus, gas masks and the water control panel. After the tour all students lined up to shoot witches hats with the high pressure hose into a goal net.
On Friday love and wisdom flowed from Moyia O'Brien who, with her sister Dorothy, ran SWARA in central Brisbane for many years, caring as occupational therapists for handicapped young people. The primary focus of all of their work has been the human values philosophy of this school. During her address to the school assembly at the end of a stunning week, Moyia spoke about adding to Love in the World by living the values.
Visit to Organic Farm
Grade 5/ 6 and Kindy 1/2 went for an excursion to an organic farm and learnt all about keeping the soil healthy by composting. Composting creates friendly bacteria, worm juice and appropriate pH levels to help plants grow naturally. When the soil is healthy the plant becomes healthy. We also leant that a natural way to deal with weeds is using woodchips from the pine trees.
A group of students who showed character by concentrating on a small area and weeding that area with love and concentration - the best they could. After they finished the area they moved on to the next area and after 25 minutes they had weeded about 5 metres of the garlic beds. It looked excellent! What a life lesson. Sometimes things can look so overwhelming but when we do our best and take one step at a time - we accomplish excellence.
MHS Principal inducts new SRC leaders
Murwillumbah High School Principal, Mrs. Carmel Thew, inducted the new student leadership team at Friday's assembly. Mrs. Thew said that it was a delight for her to see parents and friends so involved with students at the school. After a 45 minute assembly, she was delighted with the behaviour of the students and said that she could feel the peace in the school, as she walked into it. Mrs. Thew thanked the Principal for inviting her and later said how good it was "to see values not just as an add-on to the curriculum, but so obviously integrated right through it".
The two musical performances that achieved first place in the local festival were performed beautifully. The SRC and EHV leader, Mrs. Naidu, was proud to introduce the new school leaders and to lead them in their pledge.
The Student leaders pledge:
- I will live the five human values of Love, Truth, Right Conduct, Peace and Non-violence with respect and responsibility in all of my own behaviour.
- I will model the values for those I lead.
- I will achieve my goals through the work of others without using position or power.
- Serving myself, my class, my school and my country; I will do this with all my heart and courage.
Musical Excellence:
Festival of Performing Arts
Sathya Sai Primary school entered in two sections of the annual Murwillumbah Festival of Performing Arts at the Tweed Civic Centre from 17th June - 10th July. There were several rehearsals in the streets of Murwillumbah. Here are the senior students with recorder teacher, Jenny Hibberd.
Congratulations to all students who performed so beautifully at the Murwillumbah Festival of Performing Arts in June. Both groups won their sections playing musically, with good ensemble and excellent discipline both on and off stage. Here, you can see the ensemble rehearsing in town:
What a pleasure it was for Mr. Jenkins and Jenny Hibberd, Recorder Teacher, and supporting teachers and parents to be part of this event, winning is only the obvious result of a competition. What these prizes showed was:
- A commitment by both students and their parents (especially because it was in holiday time) to arrive at the venue on time and dressed correctly.
- The students ability to plan and work consistently towards a goal
- Initiative on the part of the students in learning and practising their parts at such short notice.
- Responsibility and reliability at attending rehearsals
- The ability to concentrate under duress
- The cohesive and supportive staff at the Sathya Sai School
All of the above are necessary life skills needed in the workplace, family life, school life and social situations.
A wonderful trust in the staff and students from Mrs. Gowing, who enabled the school to purchase the new recorders that have so fired up the enthusiasm of the students.
Academic Excellence
International Competition & Assessment for Schools
27 of our students this year participated in this international competition. The University of NSW, Sydney conducts an annual assessment opportunity for students and this year we had a growing number who tested themselves against themselves, gaining great experience. The test also enabled them to transcend test fear and release their innate academic strength. 5 Students participated in English, 11 students participated in Mathematics, 4 students participated in Science, and 7 students participated in Computer Skills.