From the Co-Heads of School

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Winter night, stars shining bright
And on a Winter’s morning, frost on the ground
Stars all around, heaven’s glow foretelling…
No dark we fear, the light is here,
Sun in our hearts aglow,
No dark we fear, the light is here and ever it is so…

And so it is with days shortening and the longer nights growing chilly, that we begin to really feel Mid-Winter is near… All around the school, preparations are being made, in making story, song, music, verse, lantern and light, in celebration of the longest night.

During our initial planning conversations in which we reflected on last year’s Winter Festival, we realised that one of the ‘gifts’ of Covid, was the beauty and quiet experienced by our High School students in walking the spiral, and lighting their candles, with such presence and reverence. And so, in particular, in what is proving to be another unique year, our collective focus and intention is to again design our Winter Festival in a mood of reverence that will allow for quiet reflection and harmonious depth for all. In holding this intention and our wish to invite parents as central; we also needed to minimise the possibility of cancellations that could arise due to Covid incidents out of our control. Hence, in a similar way to last year, we have planned a number of more intimate festivities spaced over several days around the Winter solstice. We are particularly pleased that whereas last year we were unable to include any parents in the Winter Festival, this year each student will have a family member able to join them.

In other news, please do read closely the information below from Mat and Jon in our ICT Department regarding the importance of our Parent App, and how to access our new photo archive system through the Parent App.

Warm wishes

Paddy & Teera

Project Archive – CBRSS Photo Archive

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We are thrilled to announce that our much anticipated CBRSS Photo Archive is ready to access, for parents who have the Parent App. Project Archive will enable staff to share photos and videos going forward, and parents to view a gallery of photos and videos from our archive through the Parent App. Each gallery is specific to a Class group, so in most instances the content will only be of students from that year group. Exceptions to this may be if we include photos of other school events, such as a Festival. As each Class progresses through the year, we will update a shared folder with content that can then be accessed by parents of each individual Class.

To Access Please log in to the Parent App – open Parent Lounge – Events and Payments – and read the Terms & Conditions in your Class Photo Archive. 

By opening the link to the Photo Gallery you are agreeing to not further share any of the included photos/videos via social media or any other means.

Parent Communication 

Please note some important changes that are now in place:

  • Parent absentee reporting is very quick and easy through the Parent App. Notify the school for future absences, or prior to 9 AM whenever possible. SMS will be sent to parents of students who have not attended roll call, requesting parents to notify the school via the Parent App.
  • Push notifications to the Parent App will be used in place of SMS for school reminders and brief one way communications (please enable notifications in the Parent App / Settings / Notifications).
  • Daily Notices/Calendar Events are easily accessed through the Parent App. Including notices for the day or upcoming events.
  • SMS will only be used to notify parents of student absence and for Emergency/Immediate communication.

For help with the Parent app click this link

Friendly reminder re School Fees due

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Term 2 school fees were due Friday the 14th of May 2021. Thank you to all who have already paid.

If you haven’t paid for Term 2 yet and you are not on an approved payment plan please address this promptly.

Please remember to include your parent code when paying fees so we can identify you.

Email Finance@capebyronsteiner.nsw.edu.au Phone 02 6639 9303

Thanks
Julia & Janice

Catching the bus on Friday when the Market is on

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Hi Parents, we hope you have been able to stop by for the Friday Markets now that we are able to hold these again. Could we please ask that if your child/ren are catching the bus home on a Friday, remind them that it is important to make sure they are watching and waiting in the bus line when it arrives? We are unfortunately finding that students are missing their bus or the bus is being held up due to students buying items at the markets.

Thank you for your help.

Music Lessons at CBRSS

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We welcome to our school some new music teachers.

Nerida Hornery VOICE
John Dixon. GUITAR
Steve Berry GUITAR

Please let Loani know if you would like to have private lessons. loanim@capebyronsteiner.nsw.edu.au

Reconciliation at CBRSS

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Thanks to Peter, Teera and Penny for planning this year’s Reconciliation Week Assembly where we were fortunate to have as guest speakers two Arakwal Bundjalung women, Karena and her daughter Taleah. Rosie (cl.12), Naomi (9) and Evie (9) sang “Beds are Burning” accompanied by Sam (cl.11) on acoustic guitar, Rosie gave a speech about the significance of this week, and Andy closed with a heartfelt thanks to our guests for their ongoing custodianship of this land we all love.

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags were then raised together, alongside the Australian flag, on the new flag poles – note, all of equal height! – in our carpark, on a clear blue day. Thank you to all who made that symbolic change happen.

Alix

Autumn Bulb Planting

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The joy of working in the garden and planning/planting ahead has been experienced by all students at CBRSS recently.
We have planted 380 Spring Flowering Bulbs as an extension of our Autumn Festival.
We had to wait for our bulbs to arrive & now we will have to wait for them to pop up out of the ground and then we will have to wait for them to flower. Patience!
Depending on weather bulbs in the subtropics can choose their own time to appear, indeed some previous Daffodils are raising their heads now.
A good time to remind everyone now. Please leave the flowers for all creatures to enjoy!
Dutch Iris, Daffodils, Jonquils, Ranunculus and Freesias. A Blooming Festival of Colour.

Have you cleared out your closets lately?

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Class 9 will be hosting a fortnightly Op-Shop at the Friday markets to raise money.

If you have quality, unused clothes suitable for donating we would very much appreciate you bringing them down to the Class 9 veranda (located next to the swings) over the next few weeks.

The initiative is part of Class 9’s community service program which runs each year with the goal of enabling students to look at ways in which they can be of service in a community context.

Sophie Brazenor

Class Nine

Class 12 Fundraiser

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Dear CBRSS Community,
As most of you will know it is common practice for Class 12 to have an end of year celebration when graduating.
Raising money for graduation has been commonplace for all the past classes. We have created an online stall to sell donated products to fundraise for our graduation (see the link below). Seed and sprout have generously eco-friendly keep cups and lunch box bags.
Products can also be purchased at the Friday markets.
All the money raised will go towards flowers, candles, and a professional photographer. These are just a few things required to make it a night to remember.

Thank you!

Class of 2021

Please note: shipping is NOT available any orders can be picked up from the office or from our stall at the Friday markets.

CBRSS Chess Club

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Dear CBRSS Community,

The Chess Club has been running for almost a year and some dedicated students come to play every session while others drop in occasionally to play or just watch. The atmosphere is relaxed and friendly and we welcome anyone to drop by whether it be to play or to watch.

Our Chess Champions so far are Willow (in Class 8) who has been busy honing her chess skills and started to beat much older students at their game without problems. She is closely followed by Riv (also in Class 8) who comes to most sessions and has demonstrated his ability to beat even seasoned players on a good day. – Well done, Willow and Riv!

We have decided to make some changes to our Chess Club in response to changing demand.
The High-School sessions are now running weekly on a Tuesday during lunch and we are currently not pursuing competitions due to a lack of interest.
Most excitingly, we are starting to run Primary School sessions on Fridays during lunch at the library.
Starting next term, we will set up the Giant Chess Set periodically for the High School during lunchtimes and for the Primary School during lunch sometime during the last week of term. – Exact dates and place of set-up will be announced soon.
Please contact Manuela if you have any questions or suggestions. manuelam@capebyronsteiner.nsw.edu.au

Rose Room Kindy news

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When the Rose Room Children arrived at Kindy, on a chilly Autumn morn
There was a surprise, to greet their eyes
Waiting by the door.

A little parcel, and a note
Wrapped in paper bark & jute
And as Emily reads ‘Gnomish’
We discovered it was from our garden Gnome, dear old crooked root.

We excitedly discovered, the gift of warmth inside
Lovely cotton singlets,
‘To keep us warm’, the children cried.

But there were more surprises to be found, and to the children’s delight
We then discovered nature’s colours
Reds & greens & golden bright.

And so, with busy hands and happy hearts, we made our nature dyes
And our singlets became rainbows
Right before our eyes.

We thank the plants and Mother Earth, for all her colours rosy
And dear old crooked root the gnome
For helping keep us cosy

Much love from Rose Room Kindy

Class 6 Art

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In relation to their Physics Main Lesson on Light, Heat and Sound, Class 6 have been exploring how to draw the Fundamental Forms of the Sphere, Cylinder, Cone and Cube and learning how to render these forms, showing the shadows that are cast when Light shines on them.
They learn how to use willow charcoal with a diagonal stroke technique and a smudging technique.

Eleni
Art Specialist Primary

Volleyball Games with Shearwater

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This term we were extremely fortunate to share two sporting days with Shearwater.
Class 7-10 students played Volleyball in a series of round-robin games. A total of 26 students (Class 7 and 8) went out to Shearwater on Friday, May 21st. A week later we also hosted Shearwater Year 9 and 10 students.
There was a great demonstration of spirit, respect, and participation throughout the games. We look forward to continuing a strong relationship with our local compatriots.

Tim Waller

High School House Cross Country Report 2021

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Olympia – 1627 pts
Crete – 1362 pts
Sparta – 1305 pts
Athens – 1185 pts

This term kicked off with the House Cross Country at Brunswick Heads on a fine sunny day.

After the cancellation of last term (Byron COVID), it was worth the wait as students swarmed in numbers at the starting line at Torakina Park.

Many students were pleasantly surprised with their performances. In the end, it was Olympia who were crowned victors. This raised eyebrows for veteran staff, as it has been a long time for Olympia’s moment to come.

Samuel Knopke was first over the line and has now found a new passion for running, joining the local Byron Bay Runners Club. Jasmine Ruthven put in an excellent run and was 6th overall, outstanding for a Year 7 student. Both students represented the school on the NCIS Cross Country Day and were successful in gaining selection for Sydney, with Sam and Jasmine finishing 7th and 5th respectively.

Tim Waller

Cl 9 & 10 Elective Showcase

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We are thrilled to have parents back onsite for the Elective Showcase!
(Numbers restricted – Parents and Family of Class 9/10 students only, please.)

Mature Themes: We recommend an audience of 15+ Years

Art Exhibition

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Art Teachers Denis Hopking and Eleni Mann are presenting their new artwork in an exhibition called JOURNEYS IN FORM SPACE TONE AND COLOUR at the Kyogle Regional Gallery during these holidays from 7 July to 1 August. Denis is showing sculptural vessels and ceramics. Eleni is exhibiting a Rose series using pastels and portraits in charcoal. Gallery open Wed to Sat 10 to 4 pm and Sunday 10 to 2 pm. Come for a drive to Kyogle the Gateway to the Rainforest and also visit this lovely gallery.

Importance of Reverence

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Reverence must take hold of every soul that is to make progress in its development. – Rudolf Steiner