Primary School Update - 15 May 2026

PRIMARY SCHOOL UPDATE Miss Vivian Lee (Primary Community & Ministry Coordinator)

Settling into Term 2 It has been a joyful and encouraging fortnight in the Primary School as students have continued to learn, grow, and participate in the life of our community. We are thankful for the many opportunities we have had to gather together and reflect on the goodness of the God of the Bible.

This past fortnight, we held our first Primary Chapel for the term, where students heard the account of Jesus calming the storm. Together, we reflected on the powerful truth that Jesus is King over everything we can see. His words have authority and power, even over the wind and waves, and because of this, we can trust Him completely. We continue to encourage all students to ask alongside Jesus’ disciples in wonder, 

“Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him.” (Luke 8:25)

It was a wonderful opportunity to encourage students that when life feels uncertain or overwhelming, Jesus remains in control and worthy of our trust.

We have also enjoyed a special week celebrating the wonderful women in our lives who are mothers, grandmothers, carers, and mother figures. We thank God for the love, care, wisdom, and support they provide so faithfully each day. Proverbs 31:26 reminds us:

“She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue.”

As the term continues, we remain thankful for the positive spirit across the Primary School and for the ways students are continuing to grow in character, learning, and service to others. We look forward to the opportunities and experiences still to come this term.

The Next Fortnight

• Thursday 21 May: 3-6 Science Jollybops Incursion

• Friday 22 May: K-2 Science Jollybops Incursion

• Thursday 28 May: Primary Encounter Afternoon

MARSDEN BEAR ADVENTURES WITH KP Mrs Shellie Pratt

KP were delighted to welcome Marsden Bear to the classroom this fortnight! In Health in Kindergarten have been learning about making healthy choices. We thought about Marsden Bear and what kinds of foods he might enjoy - the next day he was nibbling on some yummy gum leaves!

The students were also excited to bring him along to the Library. Each week we learn some new words with Mrs Jones - words like, ‘yanked’, ‘wished’ and ‘carefully’! In our reading time, we read a story about potatoes. The special words we learnt were ‘gradually’ (little by little over a long time), ‘drooped’ (when something droops it sinks or hangs down), and ‘exclaimed’ (if someone exclaims, they say something loudly in surprise and shock)! We really enjoy library time and especially enjoy borrowing books to read with our families at home. 

KP loved Marsden Bear's quiet encouragement to be kind. They made Marsden Bear a necklace to wear from beads and also gifted him lovely pictures and cards. Marsden Bear encouraged us to complete our Mother’s Day cards for our mummy’s and we practised saying kind things that Mum might like to hear to Marsden Bear. We really enjoyed showing Marsden Bear our best writing on our whiteboards in learning times. We have started to learn some tricky words that we need to know by heart! We have learnt to read and spell the words, ‘God’, ‘Jesus‘ and quite a few common words like 'and’, ‘I’, ‘you’ and ‘the’. We focused on memorising the name of God so that when we write His name, we can spell it correctly. 

Lastly, in mathematics KP enjoyed doing some counting for Marsden forwards and backwards to twenty! We have been identifying that numerals have words that we can read to represent numbers. Now we have arrived at the end of the fortnight Marsden Bear has zero fresh gum leaves left to eat - so he might need a snack from another class soon! It will be sad to let him go, but we are sure we will see him around Kindergarten again very soon. 

MARSDEN BEAR ADVENTURES WITH 6C Mrs Chante Brand

Marsden Bear has been keeping us company in 6C these past two weeks, and what a wonderful guest he has been!

He jumped straight into the Term 2 spirit, tackling maths problems and joining in on activities with great enthusiasm. When the cold and rainy days rolled in, Marsden Bear did what any sensible bear would do: he snuggled up for warmth! It was a lovely reminder that even in the chill of winter, there is always comfort to be found in the warmth of community and friendship, gifts we are so thankful for.

Marsden Bear also had a wonderful time socialising around the school. He caught up with his fellow sport mascots: Eli the Eagle, Leah the Lion, Remy the Ram, and Boaz the Brumbie, and even climbed the trees outside to wave hello to passersby. He visited the Library to greet Mrs Jones, browsed the bookshelves, tried his luck at chess, and couldn't resist peering through the library window to watch the Kindergarteners play below - cheeky bear!

On sunnier days, he was spotted hopscotching across our freshly painted concrete play area with the students. What a joy Marsden Bear has been. We are so blessed to have him as part of the 6C family!