Whittlesea Anzac

For the last nine years Peter has marched in the Whittlesea community Anzac parade, and this year with the seventy odd Whittlesea Primary School children who volunteered to do the march. Like in previous years, the kids had to show great patience by waiting a good half hour before the sound of the drums, way up in front, sounded the start. The school was represented along with other schools and allocated to march at the rear. Up at the front was a 'Light Horse' rider on his steed (very authentic), followed by a large brass band, numerous army and air force cadet and scout troops, then the schools. Because there were many involved children from many schools, there were loads of parents who served as a large clapping crowd which seemed to move along with the parade itself. The parade route took in an Anzac shrine (pictured) and an Anzac statue at different parts of the town. The whole circuit, including the speeches, poetry, burgle, national anthem and laying of wreaths, took around an hour and a half. The children were at their very best. Some would have loved to have stopped for a drink along the way (the day was warm and dry) but they held their nerve and made it back without creating awkward moments for school staff. The inclusiveness of the Whittlesea RSL has created an excellent community focused way to remember fallen.

Posts on earlier marches are here and here.

2019 Tesselaar KaBloom Day

We had the good fortune to hear about this event at the Tesselaar flower gardens, Silvan (east of Melbourne). The last time we visited the place was blooming with tulips, now it was full of Snapdragons, Marigolds, Zinnias, Cosmos, Dahlias, Sparkler Roses and the rest. We brought our lunch but we could have bought any amount of food there. Good friends joined us so it was a bit of a party and there were activities for kids. There were loads of families visiting from all ethnic groups. There were quite a few merchandising shops for any amount of souvenirs. The day was absolutely perfect for us as an excursion goes, but care a thought for the farmers waiting for some drenching rain.

School Camp

In the second last week of the term, Peter worked with a number of other school staff to make Whittlesea PS years 3/4 camp a resounding success. These caring adults worked as a supportive team and remained buoyant, even with lack of sleep. The outcome was extremely positive with plenty of good feedback. Even the child who broke his arm wanted to rejoin the camp wearing his plaster cast! He was permitted to do so and got through the next night well enough. The children were divided into ten mixed groups which remained on a rotation to experience ten different activities on a smooth running timetable. The camp was the fairly well known Camp ADANAC at Yarra Junction, east of Melbourne.

Indian Potters Incursion

This was a very special 'biennial' event at Tallarook PS. Peter was delighted to be there because on other occasions the Indian potters came on a day when he wasn't there. The potters come from a remote village in India, so much so that their English was very scant. They had an Australian potter as their guide. This meant that everybody had a rich cultural exchange especially through the doing and touching as opposed to speaking about it. The children learned to 'spin' their own little pots or bowls and the Australian potter promised to fire them all in her kiln and bring them back next term.

The wheels had to be manually spun all the time.

A 'fun' demonstration.

As well as teaching, the potters were selling miniature pots for $2 (500R) each.

Wellbeing Balloons

For part of Peter's wellbeing program at Tallarook, he provided lots of thin balloons for the students to 'experiment' with. He gave a few basic ideas about what could be made by twisting the balloons so that they 'locked' or 'knotted up'. The kids took their creations home after school.