First, the teachers painted our faces. Big Al, the leader of the Aboriginal group, said they set a new record, painting about 425 faces in 13 minutes! After that, each group rotated through the activities until we’d all had a go at everything. Then we came back together at the end for a dance and demonstration, as well as some yummy damper.

Then our grade had to go and empty the bins.

It’s the first day of Summer and the sky is happy about it! Tonight the moon, Venus and Jupiter aligned to make a happy face in the west. The moon is at the bottom, Venus is the bright eye on the left and Jupiter is on the right.

While the planets and moon appear to be close together, they’re not at all close. The moon is 403,000 km away, while Venus is 150 million kilometres away and Jupiter 870 million kilometres away.

The smiley face will not appear again in Australia until 2036.

Photos: Mrs C from her back yard.

In November most of our grade six student will be heading to our national capital, Canberra, for four days of looking, learning and laughing as they see the sights and attractions of this special city which was designed by American architect Walter Burley Griffin.

Some of the highlights of the tour will be Anzac Parade (in the foreground of the photo), Old Parliament House (in the centre of the photo) and New Parliament House on the low hill behind that, topped by the massive flagpole and a flag which is 12.8m by 6.4 metres, or roughly the size of a double decker bus!

Other highlights of the tour include a visit to Telstra Tower, Questacon, the National Museum and the Australian War Memorial.

Image: The house that Australia built
Originally uploaded by Teon

 (Not to be confused with the US Election)

Fourth term will be full, busy and fun. We will be learning about the Australian government system and running our own election campaign in our school. Students will be devising a platform to run on and a detailed advertising campaign which will include television, radio and print media ads. Each team will put their media on their wiki pages for other teams to examine, then there will be a press conference where all teams present their work. Finally, there will be THE ELECTION, where all students and teachers cast their ballots and determine the winning party.

Term four will also see most of our Grade 6 students travelling to Canberra for a four day camp, after which they will be preparing for Graduation in December. Grade 5 students will be preparing to take on their role as senior students next year.

Stay tuned for further developments!