Here at Preschool, our Banksia Rose children have been busy making horsie reins this term. First, we chose just the right colours and we fluffed and puffed the fleece to lay out out onto bamboo mats. Then we rolled up our mats and dipped them in warm soapy water and we rolled and rolled and rolled! We all enjoyed the slippery feeling of the soap and seeing how many bubbles we could make. When we unrolled our mats, to our surprise, the fleece had joined together in a beautiful rainbow of all our colours!

We have enjoyed our visits from Year 9 students Scarlett and Tom, who joined us for their community service: helping make the beds, washing up, cleaning the kitchen, buttering crunchy buns, wiping down the tables, sweeping the floor and caring for our guinea pigs Scuffles and Snuggles. 

Last week we went for a walk to see what adventures could be had under the shade of the Coolamon Tree. On our way, we stopped to smell the sweet scent of the native star jasmine on our fence, and the marshmallow sweetness of the bower vine (which we just want to eat!) and the delicious honeysuckle. But when we saw the gardenias, oh my! The children nearly tripped over their feet trying to get a smell, with their noses pushed deep within the petals, to breathe every bit of scent into their whole being!

Continuing on our walk, we bumped into our beloved Farmer Beau (who often appears in our Preschool stories) without his flippy floppy hat! The children called out "where's your flippy floppy hat, Farmer Beau?" Farmer Beau went to his shed to find his hat and, on the way, cut us some sugar cane to take back to Preschool. Thank you, Farmer Beau! 

On we went to see what else could we find and, when we reached the Coolamon Tree, to our surprise, we came across four fabulous forest cubbies to play in! Thank you, dear friends of Linda's Class 3. What adventures we had playing together amongst your magical creations. 

We are looking forward to another walk next week in search of more adventures.

Susan, Margaret and Karen
​Banksia Rose Room

​In true Shearwater style, the Phoenix (and the Dragon) have risen from the ashes of the pandemic in a remarkable display of reinvention, creativity and resilience, as students and staff from the High School, alongside community volunteers, come together to bring our 2020 Wearable Arts Performance event to the people, in an exciting new format.

Not to be undone by COVID-19 restrictions, Dragon Days (Plan C) will see the much-loved annual community event make its film debut, instead of the four-night performance format we have grown to know and love.

Director Josh Rushton describes the challenge of reinventing the twenty-year old event as a "wonderful opportunity" for the almost 300 High School students currently singing, scripting, building, dancing, designing, sewing, filming, documenting, catering and playing a myriad of roles, minor and major in this epic production.   

The competition garments have arrived and are hidden behind closed doors until next week's judging day. A Parisian laneway to rival Baz Luhrman has sprung up outside the High School workshop and the performers are perfecting their moves in the Hall (see a sneak peek above).

Our Year 9 and 10 Visual Design elective students have been busy on the merch front, with limited edition hand-drawn and screen-printed WAVE 2020 T-shirts now available to purchase from the Office for $10.

Our budding Year 8 and 9 journos are keeping everyone abreast of the latest news in their WAVE Weekly broadsheet. Watch this space for updates! 

Before the holidays, our two Kindergarten classes came together at Crystal Creek to celebrate the Spring Festival. We shared songs and dances from our stories about Queen Honey Hum’s Hive, before enjoying a play and a picnic by the creek.
 
The children lovingly sprinkled our garden with a “secret magic potion” (biodynamic preparation), to help Mother Earth nourish her soil and plants, and the sense of joy and wonder was tangible when they returned this term to a bountiful harvest of strawberries, Madagascar beans, cherry tomatoes, multitudes of mulberries and sweet nectarines.
 
Out in the garden, the children are continuing to stretch their limbs and their capabilities, trying new tricks on the monkey bars and building tricky obstacle courses and elaborate cubby houses.
 
In craft, we spent most of last term finger-knitting rainbow balls of wool, and this term the children are very enthusiastically weaving their finger-knitting “over and under, over and under, over and under 1-2-3, pull the wool so very gently”.
 
Throughout this long-term ‘will’ project, the children have discovered the pleasure and satisfaction of making something beautiful, which requires perseverance and thoroughness, as well as wondering what their creations will become.

Kara Mallory
Kindergarten Teacher