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Writer's pictureEmma Wynn-Jones

Learning Spotlight

Read more to hear about Year 6 Art with Mr Somanader, Primary Cross Country, our Primary Sport Days, the excellent results from our Cake Decorating Club submissions to the Hawkesbury Show, and an overview of our recent DE Connect days.


Year 6 Art with Mr Somanader

This term Year 6 is looking at iconic Australian artists. This week we looked at Mambo. Reg Mombassa is an iconic Australian artist who has been creating art for over 30 years. His designs are renowned for their vibrant colours, bold patterns and unique style. Mambo’s artworks have become a symbol of Australian culture, with their prints adorning t-shirts, posters, surfboards and more.

Students learned that Mambo’s artwork has become iconic in Australia, thanks to its distinctive style and bright colours. The company was founded in 1984 by Dare Jennings, who wanted to create unique designs that could be worn as everyday clothing. Since then, the company has grown to become one of the most recognisable names in Australian fashion.

They particularly loved hearing about how the company’s signature style is based on a combination of traditional Aboriginal art with modern streetwear influences. This is evident in the bold colours and patterns that are seen throughout the range of products produced by Mambo.

Students this week began to create their own version of Mambo artwork.


Primary Cross Country


Students have just arrived back from a full day at our K-6 Primary Cross Country. We all met at Rouse Hill Regional Park which was a great course for our Grades 3-6's to run either 2 or 3km's. Our K-2's used up all the energy they could muster to run either one, two or three times around the oval - they did such a great job.

The event was cheered on by all our fantastic parents and friends who came for support. There was clapping and hip hip hoorays as the students ran their very best!

We have many thank you's - Mr Parsonage for organising the whole event, Our High School Students who supported the students as they ran, St Johns Ambulance for their care, the staff for efforts galore and for the students and families for being there as great encouragers. Enjoy the photos and great memories of the day.


Primary Sport Days - Wednesdays for Term 2

Our K-6 Sports Days have kicked off every Wednesday. Our Stage 1 (Grade 1 & 2) are spending their time working on their gross motor skills with kicking, jumping, running, hopping, throwing and listening to instructions - there is loads of laughter and smiles every week!

Our Grade 3 - 6's have been heading off to Riverstone Oval where they have been engaging in rotations to learn and upskill in Soccer, Oztag, Cricket, T-Ball, Netball and Basketball while also spending time with Mr Parsonage fine tuning their athletics skills for the upcoming Athletics Carnival in a couple of weeks time.

At the end of the day, our Kindergarten teachers and students enjoy the new oval and go through a series of rotations continuing to grow their coordination skills. Well done, Primary students!


Cake Decorating Club with Mrs Truman


Congratulations to the members of our Cake Decorating Club who have won prizes at the Hawkesbury Show!


Results are:

  • Raelene Thomas - Winner, Novelty (Year 7 - 10)

  • Esther Sidhu - Second Place, Novelty (Year 7 - 10)

  • Ruhani Aatly - Winner, Wedding (Open)

  • Jiaa Doshi - Second Place, Wedding (Open)



These young women have done an amazing job creating such vibrant cake designs. A special mention to Ruhani and Jiaah who competed in the Open section, which is a huge feat to compete and win against adult entries.


Our Cake Decorating Club is a very popular club held on Thursday afternoons and currently has a waiting list.


DE Connection Day with Mr and Mrs Leffley


On three separate occasions in the last two weeks we have had the supreme pleasure of taking our kids to work, and our work has literally been a picnic in the park. It is little wonder that the DE Connection Days are fast becoming one of our favourite parts of our jobs here at ACC (closely followed by Empower Week) and we are excited to watch them grow and for friendships to be forged as the year progresses.


We, and many other ACC staff have ventured to parks, playgrounds and tennis courts across Wagga Wagga, Yamba, Lake Macquarie, and Western Sydney to meet with our DE students and families. It has been an immense privilege to hear your stories (often stories of resilience) and to learn of the great opportunities that learning from home is affording you. Thank you for passionately telling us about what you love, (from breeding bunny rabbits and lorikeets, to tap dancing, cycling, wild game hunting and serving in your churches), for sharing your coffee, and for honestly sharing the challenges that many of you have faced before finding a place to settle in DE.


We have seen God at work in helping to create friendships, often providing another friend from the same year group at just the right time and in just the right place. It was so encouraging to see so many of our DE families dispel the notion that Distance Education is isolating in the way that new friends and acquaintances banded together on picnic rugs and en masse games of red rover. Year group and age were no barrier to conversations and play and often distance was irrelevant as many of our families travelled several hours to be a part of these great days.


God blessed us with perfect weather on each of our Connection Days but even the delightful sunshine could not compare to the warmth that we experienced in being allowed to share life with you for a few hours.


If you have not yet tried one out, please let me encourage you to check out the dates on the Distance Education 'Community Hub' for the future events in your region. It is our prayer and our hope that all of our DE families will feel as richly blessed by the Connection Days as we do. Until then, we will be practising our yard games, and repairing our caravan. We cannot wait to see you.




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