251  Bridge  Creek  RoadMaleny  QLD  4552Phone  (07)  5494  3559Phone  (07)  5499  9359  (ECC)Fax  (07)  5494  3577admin@amriverschool.orgwww.amriverschool.org

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Editorial ☺Welcome to Term 1, 2014. What a great start to the year we have had. It was fantastic to see all the children’s smiling faces on Tuesday and to welcome our new families to the River School. Everyone settled into their new classes beautifully and comfortably, including our two new teachers Kristy (Currawongs) and Belinda (Regents) and new teacher aide Cheryl.

We also welcomed back Gurumurti as our cleaner, Jaro as our grounds/maintenance person and bus driver, and Jon and Satya as our other bus drivers. A big thank you to Irma who has taken on the role of tuckshop coordinator this term, and to all our sta! who arrived back after their holidays full of energy and passion for the coming year. 2014 is going to be amazing!

Editorial 1Announcements 2Noticeboard 13

"Real  education  leads  to  a  pervasive  sense  

of  love  and  compassion  for  all  creation."  

Prabhat  Ranjan  Sarkar

River SchoolNewsletterFebruary ☺ 2014

Term 1 ✼ Week 2

“You are never alone or helpless.

The force that guides the stars guides you too.”

Shrii Shrii Ánandamúrti

This is a very ‘newsy’ type newsletter this week as we haven’t taken a whole lot of photos yet, nor have we started a lot of our exciting adventures, but they’re not far away! The most important thing I need to check with you all is that we have your current email address – if we don’t, please let us know, as this is the means by which we keep in touch and keep you updated with all the school news.

Jenny

Welcome to Our New Students!A big, warm and all-embracing welcome to our new River School children and families:

Red CedarsLauris Dwyer Kyra Quinn-Ross

RegentsSachi Mehta

CurrawongsParul MehtaAlliyah Hill

King!shersYindi NormanLilliana Schwabe

GumnutsLilli BrunckhorstTom Gicquel

LillipilliesLily GicquelJosh O'neill

Sugar GlidersLuca BabbageSummer CarneyKailash DeaconJih D'havillandIshtah Keylar BettsAmelia LaheyGrace McguireBrandon MohrFreddie MonahanLilu O'duhringChe RowlingsonDusty SchultzKaine Simpson WestonLucas TerreySacha WilliamsAuraillia Von Dayme

MeditationOur beautiful Morning Circle, where we all come together for singing and mediation is held each Monday morning at 9am. Our Sugar Gliders and ECC students engage in Morning Circle in their classrooms, while students in Years 1 to 7 come with their classes to the Jagrti. All parents and family members are welcome to attend this uplifting start to the week.

Whole School Meditation now occurs every Tuesday to Friday at 10.15am. At the sound of the large gong donated to the school from Tibetan monks in exile (in India), the whole school puts down their work and participates in varied meditation practices with their classroom teacher. The energy in the school this week has so uplifting, and all the children and sta! are enjoying this Quiet Time.

For a recent article on the benefits of meditation in schools, go to:www.sfgate.com/opinion/openforum/article/Meditation-transforms-roughest-San-Francisco-5136942.php

Neohumanist Virtues

This year we are continuing our Neohumanist Virtues program where we go through one of ten major virtues that are central to our Neohumanist philosophy each week. A couple of changes:

We are replacing Creativity (which happens naturally and spontaneously in so many areas of our lives) with Knowledge.

So our 10 virtues are now:

1. Love: the sweetest and most special feeling of happiness within yourself.2. Compassion: spreading the feeling of love within yourself to include others.3. Service: when you express your compassion by helping others without expecting anything in return.4. Respect: positive regard for yourself and for others.5. Honesty: using your words and actions for the bene#t of others as well as yourself.6. Responsibility: when you act properly for yourself, others and society.7. Courage: doing the right thing, whether it's easy or hard, because you know in your heart it's the right thing to do.8. Simple Living: living in the best possible way for yourself, others and the planet.9. Contentment: being satis#ed with what you have and how you live your life.10. Knowledge: increasing your understanding of yourself, others and the world.

Another change is that, so as to develop our own River School unique picture of each virtue, the weekly Morning Circle presentation (which each class will do once a term) will be an artwork developed in the classroom through discussions between the children and their teacher, and materialised in their art sessions with Tracy. As well as the artwork, they can also do an additional presentation (play, song, story, picture, music, poem, etc.) just like last term if they have the time and inspiration.

And #nally, this year we have set up blackboards around the o$ce and library area with the current virtue written on top where the children can draw any ideas they have for each virtue.

This week’s virtue is Honesty.

We welcome any input that you may have on the virtues.

WebsiteOur website has been updated for 2014.

In particular, our new sta! page:www.amriverschool.org/school/sta!

Our key dates for this year:www.amriverschool.org/calendar

Our new ECC page:www.amriverschool.org/early-childhood-centre

And our publications and products page:www.amriverschool.org/publications

Also, please note that the password to our Parents Resources page:www.amriverschool.org/parents is now riverparents2014

Lunchtime ActivitiesThe River School is changing the way we do lunchtimes! They start at the same time and have the same duration, but after feedback from parents requesting more activities during the longer break of #rst lunch, the teachers have jumped into action.

Library The library will be open 3 days per week at #rst lunch, with reading and borrowing available for all children. Board games are also available for students who wish to play quietly with their friends. We would love to see the library open 5 days a week and would love some parent volunteers to help us achieve this.

The Studio  The Studio is open on Monday and Friday at lunchtime. The Studio is sta!ed by a teacher and is a place for children to go for some quiet time, to have a relaxing chat with friends, to play quiet games, or spend time with a trusted member of sta!.

Fantasy Club  The Fantasy Club was an initiative of one of our lovely students in 2013. In the school foyer is a basket of a variety of dress up and play materials for children to get together to engage in imaginative and fantasy play. It was a huge hit with many of our students last year, but some of our dress ups are becoming a little worse for wear. If you have anything at home that might be suitable, we would really appreciate your donation.

Wednesday Picnic  Every Wednesday at lunchtime, all the students from Years 2 to 7 gather outside the library for a whole school picnic (bring your own lunch), followed by organised activities on the oval. Classroom teachers will take turns to organise and run these activities.

Art The Art Shed is open twice a week at lunchtime for students to engage in artistic projects with Tracy.

Music  We are starting to build a collection of musical instruments in the foyer. We have a piano and didgeridoo at present and would love more items including a guitar and various percussion instruments. Students are welcome to spend their lunch breaks exploring their musical talents.

More to Come  There is more to come and parent volunteers are welcome to help us organise and run di!erent activities for our students. Being such a small school, we simply don’t have enough teachers to do it all and teachers do need a lunch break! Organised sports at lunch are certainly on the agenda, and last week a group of children asked for a table tennis table to be placed outside the o$ce (near the cob pizza oven) for children to play at lunchtime. Does anyone have an old table tennis table they would like to donate?

Volunteers If you have time at lunch times and would like to organise or participate in an activity with the children, please let us know.

BusesOur bus timetables have changed slightly so that we have more chance of delivering our students to school on time. Please ask at the o$ce or email admin@amriverschool.org if you have not received this information. Please note that it is absolutely essential to inform the o$ce if there are any changes to your child’s transportation home after school. The last thing we want is to leave anyone behind or put them on the wrong bus. Also, we really don’t want to race around the school looking for a child who is on the bus list but has gone home by car. For bus changes, please phone or email Bec on admin@amriverschool.org before 1pm daily. We really appreciate your help and consideration with this.

Driving Through the SchoolPlease do not drive up into the school grounds between 8.20am and 3.00pm. A lot of our children are at school early and many stay late waiting for parents, and the road at the top of the school forms part of the playground. We need to work together to keep our children safe. All vehicles will need to park in the carpark adjacent to the ECC.

TuckshopOur tuckshop is open on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, with a simple and healthy sentient vegetarian lunch on o!er. Orders need to be made in the morning and given to the classroom teacher.

Parent CommitteeOur wonderful Parent Committee meets on the #rst Monday of every month and is involved in many aspects of school life. Fundraising including the organisation of the Spring Festival and the running of Café Nights are part of their commitment to the school. Each class has a class representative. The role of the class representative is to be a spokesperson and advocate for the parents, as well as a conduit between parents and the classroom teachers.

Head - Steve SkullVice - Natasha StaceySecretary - Rod JohnsonTreasurer - Bec Judah

Class reps:

ECC - Duncan StaceySugar Gliders - Peter ThompsonLillypillies - Liz (Flora's Mum) / John (Shaun's Dad)Gumnuts - Bec JudahKing#shers - Sonya Weston, Rowan Hudson, Matt DuncombeCurrawongs - Su C and Sue PSilky Oaks - LibbyRed Cedars - Cecilie, Matt Duncombe

ElectivesOur electives program is continuing this year after very positive feedback from both parents and students. Electives in Term 1 are o!ered to all students in Year 1 to 7. This round of electives will start in Week 3 (next week) and include activities such as cooking, bird-bath making, science, French and ball games. If you have a special skill that you would like to share on Tuesday afternoons (for a 4-week period), please contact the o$ce.

Service

A signi#cant aspect of our school’s curriculum is service. This term we will continue cooking for and serving meals at the Maleny Neighbourhood Centre community lunch. Students from Years 4-7 will be invited every second Thursday (starting next week) to attend and be involved in this service project. We are hoping to #nd a parent volunteer to go with the children, supervise and help them serve. It is a fortnightly commitment for about one and a half hours. Plus you can have lunch! If you are interested in being involved as an energy levy project, please let us know.

Energy LevyThere are a number of energy levy projects that we will be starting this term. If you are interested in helping out in your child’s classroom, the point of contact is your classroom teacher. However, there are a number of other projects that you can become involved in.

We would love to start small working groups on the above projects (and many more to come!) so that parents can be actively involved in an area of interest that bene#ts the children at our school. If you have ideas for other projects, or have other skills that could be put to good use, please let us know.

Energy Levy Project

Who to Contact

Classroom help

Your classroom teacher

Maleny Neighbourhood Centre community lunch

Office

Tuckshop

Irma at the tuckshop

Gardening – general gardening or upkeep of vegie gardens

Office – we will form a group to work with our groundskeeper Jaro

Friday swimming at Maleny pool

Classroom teacher or office

Electives

Office

Art Shed – helping out with classes, special projects or revamping our Art Shed

Tracy in the Art S hed or the office

Office help – policy writing, newsletters, etc.

Office

Sports shed – we would love someone to clean out, organise and maintain our sports shed and equipment

Office

Library – working at lunchtimes, sorting out books or covering books

Office

Red Cedars Project Club

Ann in Red Cedars or contact the office

IT – any skills!

Office

!

hed or office

Laurie’s LessonsWe are delighted to welcome Laurie back this year, running his private guitar and keyboard lessons on Monday and Tuesday mornings. The cost is $30 per half-hour lesson. If you are interested please contact the o$ce who will get you in touch with him.

A reminder that the River School is a

No Junk Food zone!Please provide your children with only

wholesome sentient vegetarian food for

school. Thanks :-)

Laos Student Trip

Dear Families,

This year again we are looking forward to a visit from students from the Sunshine School in Laos. This year eight students have been selected to come. They are 14 or 15 years old. We are looking for host families to host either one or two students for the four weeks of their visit at the beginning of Term 3 (July - exact dates still to be determined). This is a great opportunity for your family to experience another culture and share your life with others.

Students make a small contribution to their host family for food and other expenses.

Families who hosted the students last year made comments such as:

"We had some really magical adventures."

"A very enriching experience for all of us."

"A good experience. We'll all miss them."

"My kids loved it."

If you are interested in hosting, please contact me on 0400 222 887 or by email on inrsong@ozemail.com.au Also, let me know if you'd just like to help in general planning for the students' stay.

Thanks,

Kamala Alister

Welcome Afternoon Tea

You are invited to attend this opportunity for families to get together with all of the teachers and students and welcome in the new school year!

Next Wednesday 12th Feb @ 2.30pm

Holistic Therapist at the River School

Claire Laycock is a Maleny local, is mum to Luca (Sugar Gliders), and has many years experience as a Holistic Therapist in private practice. She holds a B.Sc (Evolutionary Biology) from the University of Queensland, and has been swimming in the Holistic Health #eld ever since. She is a professional kinesiologist, holds yogic quali#cations, is a gifted Intuitive, and plenty more. Her other passion is dressage, or dancing with horses :).

Sessions can help with:

Challenges: Emotional, behavioural, learning, developmental, spiritual, external/ life situation changes. better health: enhanced neurological function, radiant health and happiness, deeper connection and integration with your body, heart, soul, and spirit, living your life purpose.

Sessions tend to go for around an hour, and involve a short chat followed by a kinesiology balance. You can simply lie down on a massage table and relax… many clients gently drift o! to sleep, to wake up feeling clear, refreshed, and on-task.

“Claire helps me to feel strong. She is nice and funny. After I see her, it is easier for me to read and write, so school is more fun. I love it when I see Claire”. RS student, 8 yo.

Claire is here to serve students, sta!, and the wider River School community. She will be available Tuesdays and Thursdays, 9am- 2.30pm. Sessions are free... Come along and say hi, she would love to meet you! See the o$ce to register your interest, or email Claire at crlaycock@gmail.com for further information.

Shine your light bright!

Maleny Rangers Football Club Sign-On

The #rst games for the 2014 season kicks o! in mid-March. So if you haven't already, now's the time to Sign-on.

To register on-line, please visit www.malenyrangerssoccer.com where you can #nd details about our club, registration fees and of course the direct link to register & pay (CC, direct debit, or

cheque). We are still the cheapest football club in the Sunshine Coast Football Association, and we like to believe the most family friendliest.

 To register in person, please come along to one of our Information & Sign-On Days, Sat 1 Feb @

the Maleny Maple St Kiosk (9am-12noon) or Sat 8 Feb @ the Maleny Showgrounds Main Pavilion. Gear sales will be held on Sat 8 Feb. Everyone welcome. No experience necessary.

 For more information contact our Registrar, Emma Richards 0413 647 114 or Secretary, Kate

Beard 0439 735 585, malenyrangersfc@gmail.com

Sally’s Kids Art Classes  

have resumed on Wednesdays from 3:30 until 4:45 at the Maleny Neighbourhood Centre. 

If I get enough people coming I'm considering holding two classes, one for ages 6 to 9 in which we will do more hands-on making stu! - typically popular with boys,

followed by an open-age drawing class.

It's $10 for one child per class, and for families it's another $8 for each additional person. Parents are welcome to stay and assist their child. Some parents part take as paying students, and enjoy it too.

Some students like to bring a snack.Please feel free to contact me.Sally Fisher (B.Ed. Art and Craft)

phone 0407 323 328www.sally#sherart.com.au

Silat Martial Arts Classes

Silat Perisai Diri is an Indonesian Martial Art system which focuses on fast body movement and re%ex reaction. It is ideal for all ages as it incorporates the proper use of

breathing techniques, meditation and ergonomic action to develop self-defence.As we have had a such a positive response to our elective course at the River School in

2013 we have decided to begin a childrenʼs speci#c class held at the Maleny Showgrounds.

Classes will commence on February 18th.Class times: Tuesdays and Thursdays 4 - 5 pm

Cost: $80 per monthAdult classes are also available from 5:30 - 7:00 Tuesdays and Thursdays.

If you are interested in your child attending or trying it yourself please give Chris a call for more information.

Contact: Chris Sanidas 0405 604 239