1 2nd November 2018 McDonnell Creek State School CELEBRATING LEARNING WITH EVERY CHILD EVERY DAY! Principal: Sandra Bulger Phone: 4067 5389 Thanks everyone for supporting our recent trip to Fitzroy Island. We had a very lovely day and I m sure your children told you about the boat trip over, the Turtle Rehabilitation Centre, the Secret Garden and our adventures on the Reef. I will include some of the stories from the students in this newsletter. We are in the process of making a movie & Power Point to share. Date Claimers Thursday 8th November Remembrance Day Parade Sunday 11th November Remembrance Parade Gordonvale (optional) Wednesday 14th November Premiers Readers Cup Challenge Dress-Up Wednesday 21st November Bravehearts Personal Safety Thursday 29th November Swimming Carnival Saturday 2nd December Christmas in Babinda Friday 7th December Award ceremony Thursday 13th December Christmas Parade & afternoon tea Every day, in every way, every child is learning and achieving. High Expectations High Achievement Dear parents and families,
2 McDonnell Creek State School Newsletter Reef trip to Fitzroy Island We were able to provide this fabulous Fitzroy Island for our students at no cost as we were successful in obtaining a grant from the Cairns Regional Council which covered all fees. We were accompanied on this excursion by Justin Bovery, a qualified Marine Biologist who runs educational tours through- Reef Magic Education. Justin was accompanied by Jeremy, an Indigenous Team member of Reef Magi Education who grew up in the region and holds an intimate knowledge of Fitzroy Island and he provided an Indigenous cultural perspective to our Reef and Island experience. I am really happy to tell you that all children were wonderful representatives of our school, they asked great questions, were very curious and were very respectful and interested in the information they can learn from the experts supporting our excursion on the day. Please enjoy some of our photos from the day.
McDonnell Creek State School Newsletter 3 Fitzroy Island stories from our students Look out! That Stingray was so camouflaged I nearly didn t see it. Our school went to Fitzroy Island to learn about the environment, turtles and its history. We went the Turtle Rehabilitation Centre. First we took a school photo outside the centre and then Barb showed us around the turtle tanks and told us what had happened to each turtle. Some of the turtles were sick because they ate plastic bags thinking they were jellyfish. Barb fed the turtles shrimp and squid while the volunteers helped out by cleaning the tanks. Next was the Secret Garden Walk it was a very rocky walk. Jeremy the smart and tall Indigenous man showed us all the check points on the walk. I asked Jeremy what his favourite animal was. He replied that his favourite animal was the Nutmeg bird, a Torres Strait Island pigeon. He liked it the best because it was always doing his own thing and it was not a trouble maker. I also learned that men trained on one side of the Island and ladies trained on the other, so they didn t get in each other s business. My favourite thing was next, SNORKELING! We got dressed into our togs, I couldn t wait to get into the water. There was a stingray about 1 metre long near me when I was snorkelling. We also saw some jelly fish, a school of fish that were blue with yellow tails, a sea cucumber and a tiny shark. Some of the fish nibbled on my toes, I didn t like that very much. We lined up at the jetty to board the boat and we saw a man getting his Jet Ski ready under the jetty. There was a crowd waiting to board the boat with us. The boat trip felt long on the way home but we saw the Jet Ski man pass the boat. We said thank you to the crew when we got off and dad was waiting to take me home. My legs really hurt but I enjoyed our exciting day at Fitzroy, I would like to go again. The Great Island, by Sage Ray, Prep. It was a sizzling, burning hot day when I went with my school on a boat to Fitzroy Island. We were at the Cairns jetty. I was feeling scared because I had never snorkelled or had goggles on my head. The boat went slow and then fast. We were inside the boat. There was a TV in the boat. When we got to the island I looked at the coral and shells on the beach. I found a cat s eye which is the bottom of a shell and is very rare. We walked to the Turtle Rehabilitation Centre with Jeremy and Justin. We saw 6 turtles. They were sick because they ate plastic bags. They thought they were jelly fish. There were about 8 tanks. Not all had water in them. A lady volunteer worked at the centre. Then we walked to the Secret Garden. Jeremy showed us checkpoints that told us about the island. They told us about birds and lizards. We saw a lizard on the wood. We saw a stingray that blended into the sand. I had a life jacket on so I didn t sink and get electrocuted by the stingray. My goggles hurt my head so I took them off to swim. Miss Kerry and Miss Lesley were the checkpoints and I couldn t swim past her or I d swim to Cairns. All the kids and teachers went swimming. We played in the water. Then we went home again on the top of the boat. We saw some black and white stripy fish. We had our school clothes on. I never got sea sick. The trip was great and fun and the best. The best bit was finding the cat s eye shell. It was yellow with a black dot in the middle. It wasn t from a Diginee cause if it was from a Diginee it would be old. It was illegal to bring it home so I left it on the beach. I want to go again. It was better than America and playing. It was the best day I ever had.
McDonnell Creek State School Newsletter 4 Island Adventure By Emerson Year Prep I saw lots of silver fish swimming under the jetty when our whole school went to Fitzroy Island for an excursion. We sat inside the boat and ate some of our lunch on the trip over. The boat trip was slow and bumpy. At the turtle rehabilitation centre Barb fed the turtles some prawns and squid, but I learned that turtles love to eat brussel sprouts. I got to see Quasimodo the cute baby turtle, it was very small with a funny jaw and Angie the Olive Ridley who had been attacked by a crocodile. Jeremy took us on the Secret Garden walk he was very smart and told us lots of interesting things like how men and women had special sides of the Island. The walk was very hot and there were lots of rocks on the path, I saw little lizards on the rocks when we were walking. I had a purple snorkel and mask for snorkelling and a red vest so I could swim and float. When I was snorkelling I saw a little stingray on the bottom of the water. Some of the coral was spikey and some was an oval shape. Justin took Anneliese, Tyson, Alexis and I for a little snorkel around the Jetty and we got to see some blue fish with yellow tails and some big silver fish. Eli dropped his hat into the water when we were waiting for our boat and a lady had to swim out and get it for him. I was very tired on the boat trip back so I had a little sleep on my seat. Anneliese s mum picked us up from the boat and took me home to daddy. It was an exhausting day I really enjoyed it especially the snorkelling I would love to go there again one day. The Reef Trip By Cassidy Fitzgerald, year 4. Wow, look at Julz. Today were at the Fitzroy Island Turtle Rehabilitation Centre. Julz was here because she had holes in her back from spears and she is a green sea turtle. The centre volunteers had the water levels higher on the day we visited because it was the turtles swimming and exercise day and the higher water encourages the turtles to swim more and use their flippers. The next turtle we saw was called Laila, when we came to look at her she was sleeping so Barb the volunteer person that was showing us around poked the little shelter that she was sleeping under with a stick which woke her up and then she started swimming around. She was in there because she was really skinny because she ate a tiny piece of plastic but luckily the vets got it out. Leila is about eight months old and she also is a green sea turtle. After we finished looking at Laila we went to see a turtle named Jackie that was in there because her shell was badly hurt from the propeller of a boat. She was fifteen years old and was a green sea turtle. The baby turtle name Quasimodo was also at the Rehabilitation Centre because she had lost an eye and she was a nine months old green sea turtle. Another turtle we saw was called Lord Lu, he was my favourite. Lord Lu was swimming around the tank popping up and showing everyone his beautiful face. Lord Lu was an Olive Ridley and was sixty years old, he was in there because she got caught in a ghost net. After seeing Lord lu we went to see Angie, when we got there she was near the bubbles, Angie was over a hundred years old and was never going to be released, Angie had a croc attack and she was also an Olive Ridley turtle. She had a lot of air in her digestive tract because she was tossed around and around during a cyclone. The last turtle we saw on our excursion was called YuKo, she was forty years old and had no front flipper and was a Green Sea Turtle. I felt happy that I got to see all these beautiful sea turtles up close but I also felt sad because they all had an injury caused by humans. After the Turtle Rehabilitation Centre we went to the secret garden walk. On the walk the surface was rocky and it took about thirty minutes to get to the top. There was check points along the way and one of them was talking about a native bird at the very top of the walk. It was a nutmeg bird from the Torres Strait Islands which migrates to Fitzroy Island regularly. We saw a big skink and then one of my friends spotted another one. Jeremy told us that his spiritual name was Jarawa, which means thunder. He said he sleeps well in thunder when other people don t. We also got a chance to interview him about lots of stuff when we got to the top of the walk. The next thing we did was go to the beach hut, we had to try on the flippers and then go to the man that was working there and he gave us our size which were all a different size and I had white flippers, then you asked for a snorkel and got one. We had to get changed and then we hopped into the water. We soon realised that the further out we went, the colder it got. I saw a brown fish and I asked Justin the Marine Biologist who was helping us what fish it was and he said it was named a chocolate dip fish because it looked like a fish that got dipped in chocolate. I also saw a dory but I got told later that the real name for it was Regal Blue Tang. We saw lots of different types of coral and one was called a mushroom coral which was free living so you could pick it up. I had my head under water and I saw a school of Regal Blue Tang. When I came close they all hid under the coral. Then we started to head back to shore. When we got back Shamus and Molly went with Ms Sandra under the bridge. When they came back Cade and I went with her and saw about twenty-five baby trevally. Then we came back and it was time to get out and get changed. After we got changed we returned the equipment we were using. Then we interviewed Justin about his job and he answered the questions really good. Justin showed us a tiny crown of thorns star fish that was in a little glass container. At the end of our day on the Island the boat arrived and we hopped onto it and we sat outside. The wind was in my face and I was tired so I almost fell asleep. When I got off the boat Alexis told me she saw flying fishes. Cade and Annelies s mum were picking us up. When we were going to the car Justin was behind us and said we were taking him too, but he was just joking. Then we hopped in the car and drove home.
5 McDonnell Creek State School Newsletter Thursday 25th October Students of the week Thursday 25th October Gotcha awards Thursday 2nd November Student of the week Thursday 2nd November Gotcha awards Thursday 25th October Sight Word success Happy World Teachers Day Thanks students, staff and parents for helping us recognise and celebrate the wonderful teachers in our school. We all appreciate your thoughts and extended kindness.
6 McDonnell Creek State School Newsletter Produce from the garden Well I can tell you, I m loving all our gorgeous tomatoes from our garden, we ve had a bumper crop this term and we will be making tomato pasta sauce for our pizzas and pasta to share at lunch time. We also made some dahl. 1. Heat the olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat and add the onion. 2. Gently fry the onion until translucent and add the garlic. 3. Cook for 1 minute and add the crushed tomatoes and basil. 4. Bring to the boil and add balsamic vinegar. 5. Reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Cooking with kids We had a fabulous time cooking on Tuesday with our fresh produce.
7 McDonnell Creek State School Newsletter Produce from the garden Ingredients PIZZA DOUGH 375ml (1 1/2 cups) warm water Pinch of caster sugar 2 teaspoons (7g/1 sachet) dried yeast 600g (4 cups) plain flour, plus extra for dusting 1 teaspoon salt 60ml (1/4 cup) olive oil, plus extra for brushing Method Step 1 Combine the water, yeast and sugar in a small bowl. Set aside for 5 minutes or until foamy. Combine the flour and salt in a large bowl and make a well in the centre. Add the yeast mixture and oil. Use a roundbladed knife in a cutting motion to mix until the mixture is combined. Use your hands to bring the dough together in the bowl. Step 2 Brush a bowl lightly with oil. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 10 minutes or until smooth and elastic. Place in the prepared bowl and turn to coat in oil. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside in a warm, draught-free place to rise for 30 minutes or until dough doubles in size. Step 3 Dust work surface with flour. Knead dough and form into a long cylinder. Divide into thirds. Use a rolling pin to roll each third into a 20cm disc, then add your favourite toppings and bake
McDonnell Creek State School Newsletter Why Cook with Kids? 8 Exposure to scratch cooking helps kids develop a mature palate and a taste for fresh, wholesome ingredients. The earlier kids become accustomed to nutritious foods, the less likely they will acquire a taste for processed foods. Kids are much more likely to eat what they make. Is there anything more fun than eating your art project? Cooking creates a sense of ownership. When kids help in the kitchen there are fewer meal-time battles and more willingness to try new foods. Meals prepared from scratch usually contain more nutrients and fewer calories, chemicals and sweeteners than prepackaged foods and restaurant meals. Cooking together provides a natural way to discuss nutrition and the impact that food choices have on the environment. The more educated children are about food, the more likely they will appreciate your suggestions to eat something healthy. The earlier they learn how to cook, the sooner they will learn an essential life skill. It s hard to imagine that teaching a three year old how to break an egg could result in culinary protégé, but kids often become quite talented in the kitchen. This makes messy floors worth it down the road when they start to cook for you. Spending time in the kitchen gives them confidence. Kids thrive on feeling accomplished. Cooking is an ideal way to boost self-worth and teach responsibility. There is nothing cuter than watching children proudly serving their food to others. Preparing meals together means quality time as a family. Cooking with children when they are young offers an opportunity to communicate with them on a regular basis. Your time chatting and cooking in the kitchen together becomes even more important as they reach the adolescent and teenage years. What else do they learn? Science, language, counting, fractions, budgeting, weighing, sequencing, measuring, problemsolving, sharing, fine motor skills, reader, and learning about other cultures- to name just a few important things! Excerpt from Easy Meals to Cook with Kids by Julie Negrin 2010
McDonnell Creek State School Newsletter 9 RETURNED & SERVICES LEAGUE AUSTRALIA Gordonvale Sub Branch President, Mr Stephen Carr cordially invites McDonnell Creek State School to the Remembrance Day Commemorative Service at the Cenotaph, Norman Park Gordon Street Gordonvale Sunday 11th November 2018 10.30 am for 10.45 am start The 100 th anniversary of the armistice which ended the First World War (1914 18) Remembering those who died or suffered in all wars and armed conflicts RSVP by Friday 2 nd November 2018 Steve Carr Mobile: 0412 935 473 Email: Secretary.GordonvaleRSL@gmail.com