‘Waterwise’ at the Performing Arts Festival

What a great Term 3 we have had at Dunoon!  We are all eagerly anticipating the completion of our two new classroom blocks and expect to be moving in before the end of the year.  It has been very exciting to see the building work coming along and now that the roofs are on, the inside fitting out is well under way.
Participation in our District Athletics Carnivals was wonderful with several students being selected to compete at Zone and Regional level.  Kevin Warid was outstanding in the Junior Discus event.
In July the Year 5/6 students had the opportunity to hear famous Australian authors Jackie French and Morris Gleitzman speak about the writing process, as part of the Byron Bay Writers’ Festival.
The Marimba Ensemble travelled to Sydney to perform at the Opera House in August.  The seven students and Mrs Slocombe had an excellent 3 days and their performance was brilliant!
Our school hosted a Marimba Enrichment Day for other schools in our “Big Scrub Learning Community”.  This was a great hands-on day of experience with the marimbas and all of the Year 5/6 students involved, thoroughly enjoyed learning four marimba pieces during the day.
The whole school performance was a triumph at the Performing Arts Festival this year.  Miss Jodie does it again!  Being “water-wise” was the theme of the singing and dancing action on stage.  The marimba group entertained between acts, several students sang in the Small Schools Choir and many Dunoon students were part of the wacky instrument parade.  The Festival requires huge commitment from staff, parents and students, but when you see the enjoyment and confidence gained from this exhilarating experience, it is well worth it!

Book Character Parade for Book Week

Book Week was celebrated with a delightful book character parade, made even more fun by the inclusion of tiny tots from Dunoon Pre School who joined us for the event.
What a privilege to have a visit from the Northern Beaches Secondary College Band in September!  A group of 38 students entertained the school with some fantastic music, inspiring everyone who was lucky enough to be here at the time.  This extremely talented band (some of them had played for the Olympic Games in Beijing) offered to visit Dunoon on their very short tour of the North Coast.  In return, they were treated with a marimba performance and a wacky instrument parade – and were so impressed.  They obviously chose the right school to come to as there was much reciprocal appreciation of musical skill!
Our term ends with the traditional Teams Day at Coronation Park, The Channon.  That should be a fun day of friendly competition, exercise and social interaction with 12 other schools taking part.  
Major events planned for next term include the Marimba Ensemble performance at the Schools Spectacular at Sydney Entertainment Centre in November and the Year 5/6 excursion to Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast in December. There will be some fundraising to help cover costs for the Sydney visit, although this is already underway after a very dedicated group of students held their own stall at the Big Scrub Rainforest Day at Rocky Creek Dam recently.  Mia, Tessa, Calem, Jack and Pascoe cooked up a storm and sold cakes, fruit and juices all day to the crowd of visitors.  A super effort!