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| Wednesday 27th November | 2025 New Student Orientation (2) |
| Wednesday 4th December | Celebration of Learning (9.30am) |
| Thursday 12th December | Amber Lawrence Music (Extravaganza 12-2pm) |
| Wednesday 18th December | Reports issued via School Bytes |
| Wednesday 18th December | Students last day of Term 4 |
Dear families,
The school Director David Leydon visited school on Monday November 11th to meet with me about Department of Education matters. It was a pleasure to share with him all that we have been doing at Karonga, and he was duly impressed. He met with the school leaders during this time (William from Room 5 and Brendan from Room 4) and even posed for a photograph which we shared on social media.
We thoroughly enjoyed a live band performance from Carlingford High School this week. On an annual basis they hire a coach to perform at a number of schools, and it is always a favourite occasion. They have a range of bands and choir members perform, and even bring costumes to mingle in the audience as Star Wars characters, or to offer to our students to dress-up in. A good time was had by all.
Today we had special visitors in the form of Channel 9 film crew. We have been asked by Woolworths to showcase the Mini Woolies they installed for us in February this year. We are only too pleased to be included, and we have a range of students who have permission to be filmed on Tuesday. More of this in the next newsletter.
Warm regards,
Ruth Rogers
Principal
Term 4 has come around faster than anyone was expecting in Room 5. What a year we have had! It's been full speed ahead for the students in our busy little class, and Shiraz and I couldn't be prouder of them. Let's take a quick stroll back through what has been an eventful year for us.
In Term 1, one of the first things we resolved to do this year was a solid and consistent exercise regime for the class. From Week 1, every student has thrown themselves into a range of different exercises and varying intensities. Chris has led a terrific example for his classmates for the entire year. William also began his school Captain duties, taking responsibility for the flags in the morning and afternoon, and meeting officials visiting our school. Ever a musical class, all our students take enormous pleasure in Music Therapy with Bec, or simply listening to music during class time. Kaden happily volunteers to DJ for the class, rolling through a few whole-class favourites.
Term 2 brought on a whole new schedule for our class. We had a new class responsibility in running Kiosk in our Mini Woolies. All our students have shown great enthusiasm in this program. Mike may be the finest shelf stocker to ever grace the aisles of a Mini-Woolies, showing minute attention to detail. Everyone tried their hand at working behind the till. A highlight was Timmie taking charge of Kiosk when the computer systems were temporarily down, while Shiraz and I had simply been scratching our heads, wondering what to do. Brilliant initiative by Timmie!
Term 2 also saw the beginning of Community Access. Since then, we have done all kinds of things - bushwalks to bowling, shopping centres to nurseries, ferry rides to sailing on the harbour, we've done it all! You can always tell it's a Thursday by how excited Om is to go on another adventure with his friends!
Term 3 proved to have very little room for new activities as we all carried on with our already packed schedule. Everybody continued to grow into their roles and responsibilities until Room 5 operated like a well-oiled machine. We even enjoyed Founders Day for Karonga's 60th anniversary celebrations. What an amazing day - ice cream, petting zoo, a real-life fire engine, and so much more! Some of the boys took some fantastic group shots in the photo booth to take home.
All this has brought us to Term 4. Reports are being written, yet goals are still being kicked, and Room 5 keep on moving forward. We almost don't want the year to end, but then we think of all the amazing possibilities in store for us all in 2025!
Thank you all for a terrific year!
From Liam and Shiraz
Can you believe we are already halfway through Term Four? Time flies! The end of the year is just around the corner. Room 6 has had a fantastic year! As transition year students, they participated in numerous work experience programs at school. They packaged bandage packs for Royal Life Saving, arranged stocking of shelves at Mini Woolies, and shopped at Karonga Kiosk using credit cards while keeping a spending record diary and completing messenger jobs independently.
In Semester Two, as part of an integrated unit titled "The Earth is the Source of All Resources Needed in Everyday Life," students focused on contributing to school recycling projects. These included composting, the Return and Earn initiative, and worm farming to reduce landfill waste. Thank you to all the parents and staff who contributed cans and bottles for the Return and Earn project! Massa and James always remembered to put their empty juice box in the Return and Earn bin. Additionally, the students learned how to prepare and manage worm farms during an incursion led by Parramatta Council, and Room 6 actively participated in this session. Naya and Geonwoo enjoyed watching the worms while Louisa and James helped prepare a worm farm.
Going on excursions has been the highlight of our week! In Term Four, Room 6 developed their travel skills by visiting various places using public transportation, including buses, metros, and ferries. Geonwoo and James enjoyed travelling by bus, while Louisa and Suzie loved the ferry. Aiden, Massa, and Naya preferred riding the metro.
Dipti and Sujung
Lego Club has been in full swing in Term 4. Every week the keen and creative builders of Karonga come together to explore, create and have fun.
Mike amazes us every time with his ideas and creations. Pranay loves to build everything with wheels. Harvey’s love for Lego letters continues, but he has also discovered the Lego figurines and has found joy in building with bricks. Jordan likes to follow the instructions and Timothy often creates Lego scenes that include a house. Farhan’s focus on building is amazing.
Have a look at the photos of Lego Club in action and some of the wonderful creations.
Janina & Sujung
This term in Improvisation Club, we have been exploring how different instruments make different noises. Gabriel has loved experimenting with the piano and making high and low notes. Matty has been very interested in Bec's guitar and watches carefully when she plays along to songs. Maddison has been making herself a drum kit each session by lining up different bongo drums and playing them all together.
Chris
Our students work hard, there's no doubt about it. Karonga School's history is jam-packed full of stories about students achieving their goals, big, small and anywhere in between. Well, here is one such story.
At the beginning of Term 1, the Room 5 staff decided that one of their key focuses for the year would be for each student to explore a healthy, balanced lifestyle as part of PDHPE.
They had no idea how inspiring one student in particular was going to be.
During Room 5's first visit to the gym, way back in Week 1 of Term 1, Christopher was encouraged to have a go on the treadmill at the lowest possible setting - 1km per hour on a flat surface. Chris, not having a great deal of faith in his own movement skills or balance, was, quite simply, scared. This first attempt, lasted all of 2 minutes, full of shouting and protestations. Early signs were not promising. Not to be deterred, the next day Room 5 were back. Chris walked for 10 minutes this time, with a constant barrage of encouragement.
From this point, Chris realised he could do this and started to become self-motivated after he received so many words of encouragement from staff all around the school. As the weeks and months rolled by, Chris gradually increased his efforts on the treadmill. He walked faster, longer, and even uphill! Additionally, he tried out all sorts of different exercises, including shoulder presses, crunches and rowing. When the elliptical machine was added to our gym set up, he bravely put his balance to the test, and after a tough first week, learned to use it comfortably.
It's now Week 6 of Term 4, and Chris is still visiting the gym every day. He excitedly runs ahead to get on the elliptical for his 5 minute warm-up, before jumping on the treadmill. He now walks at 5km per hour uphill for 20 minutes. That's over 1.65km every day!
Despite being the youngest in his class, there's no doubt Chris is a leader and an inspiration for his peers. His movement skills, fitness and self-confidence grow every single day.
We are so proud of him.
From Liam
We practice the evacuation drill several times during the year so all students and staff are familiar with the procedure. Today was the final time for 2024 and I was so impressed with how quickly and safely the students & staff moved from their classrooms to the evacuation meeting point.
P&C Meeting
Please note there will be no meeting in December as it would fall on the last day of school for 2024.
The next meeting is planned for February 19th 2025 at 6.45pm in the PL Room preceded by the 'Meet the Teacher' event 5.30pm-6.30pm.
Regards,
Yee-Foong Stone
P&C President
The Rotary Club of North Ryde presents Carols on the Common
For further information please go to our website https://www.carolsonthecommon.org.au/contact_us or to our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/RotaryCarolsOnTheCommon/
HOWE CARE SUMMER HOLIDAY PROGRAM
ABLE TO PLAY - Specialised sport and social skills groups for children with disabilities
Disclaimer:
Articles published in the Community Noticeboard section of the Karonga Newsletter are provided for information for our school community only and their inclusion no way constitutes an endorsement of the product or service by Karonga School.