Sleeping Beauty Rocks

Last Thursday our students and staff were  entertained by the fabulous actors of Alpha Shows. The show was Sleeping Beauty with pop songs, modern touches and lots of audience participation. Student comments on my previous post have encouraged me to add some more of the many photos I took. I hope you enjoy them. It would be good to hear about which was your favourite character and why.

Sleeping Beauty @ Taylors Lakes PS


Today I am posting one of the 217 photos I took at the performance at our school of “Sleeping Beauty” by Alpha Shows.The costumes and sets were outstanding and the actors talented and amusing. The audience participation, which was encouraged, made for a delightful show which will long be remembered by our students and teachers. Best Wishes to all our students and staff for a fun filled school holiday. School begins for Term 4 on Monday, October 10th.

Koalas and Kookaburras Sit

One of the activities that our native Koalas and Kookaburras are most often seen doing is sitting. Visitors to zoos are often excited  to see the cuddly looking koalas but disappointed to find that they just sit, often with their backs to the visitors, and sleep. This sleepiness is due to their diet of Eucalyptus leaves. Kookaburras sit too. They often sit alone high on electic wires or a tree branch waiting to catch a glimpse of movement as a delicious snack comes into view. They then swoop and grab their prey before going back to sit and wait. Catherine  of 5PL drew and then painted a kookaburra on some fabric before adding it to a plain cushion. Ashvini of 5AA made two koala puppets, named them Lucas and Lucy and set up a tree where they can sit. Perhaps you can think of another conversation they could have as they sit. Congratulations to both students upon making these great Australian characters.

Natalie’s New Rabbit

Recently one of our Grade 5 students, Natalie J of 5PL, brought in a calico rabbit she had sewn at home. She had spent time over a weekend with a little help from her Mum to create the rabbit she calls Miss Flopsy. She initially dressed her in some  of her doll’s clothes. In order to make it all her own work I showed Natalie how to make a simple outfit from some cut up socks. Socks are excellent for this purpose as they are stretchy and minimal sewing is involved. I’m sure you will agree that Natalie’s bunny deserves some Worldwide attention and some comments.

Spring has Sprung 2

My sister in law, Cherrie Osborn, is a wonderful artist. She uses oil paints and pastels to create sensational artworks and has, on occasions, visited our school to show our older students how to do their best still life drawing or even oil painting. One of the messages she conveys is that the first skill necessary in becoming a good artist is to become good at “seeing”. Careful observation is all important. How many different greens and purples would you need to paint these irises? Where are the areas you would need to shade or highlight?
Vincent Van Gogh painted Irises while he was staying in a hospital during a period of depression about a year before he died. Little did he know how much joy his paintings would bring to others in the future.

20,017 reasons to smile

Over the past few weeks I have been looking forward to our Blog reaching its twenty thousandth visitor. On the first day of Spring  (for us in the Southern Hemisphere) that moment arrived. As Grade 1LW sat on the floor looking at the peach blossoms I had posted in honour of Spring two flags came up on our ClustrMap. One was from Istanbul, Turkey and one from Connecticut , USA. Our  students with Turkish background smiled proudly, as did the little boy who was born in the USA. Later when 3/4 SV were at Art someone from the Philippines was “watching us” as the students say. That made three boys from that class extra happy as they have Filipino background. Through the power of our Edublog and thanks to ClustrMaps our students have a connection with the World which was not possible when I was their age. We look forward to comments from our visitors and more reasons to smile.