Dear Families, 

We hope you are enjoying Term 4 and looking forward to the holiday break. 

Exhibitions are just around the corner, and we are seeing so much excitement and enthusiasm in our community as students prepare to exhibit their work! We have included an Exhibition Guide below to help you support your young person during this stage of their learning journey. If you haven't already, now is the time to book a scheduled timeslot for your child's exhibition via the link and information emailed earlier this term.

It has been a jam-packed few weeks around Silkwood; keep on reading to see what our learning communities have been up to! 

Silkwood School

Our final term of the year is a busy time at Silkwood! With many events and celebrations taking place, pop over and become familiar with the key dates listed here. 

With COVID bringing intermittent lockdowns and changing guidelines, we will continue to monitor Queensland Health directives and advise families of any changes to our events.  

At the end of every year, we have meaningful, age-appropriate ceremonies to mark the journey of students transitioning from each Learning Community. 

This year, due to the changes in our campus structure and learning cycles, we will hold more transition ceremonies to cater for all the year levels moving into a new learning community. We will celebrate the opening of our Senior School in January 2022. 

Bookings are required, please refer to the invitations below for more information. 

After a recent visit from the local Council, we are under strict instructions to comply with school car parking conditions in and around our school campuses to avoid further implications. This is particularly important with the number of events we have coming up.

Please read the attached notice to understand how you can do your part to ensure we operate within these conditions. 

Thank you for your consideration and cooperation to help our School comply with these requirements.

Silkwood Site & Facilities Team 

Our Summer Music Concert at Nerang Bicentennial Hall is back in Week 7! 

PERFORMER ARRIVAL TIMES

• Intermediate Orchestra: 5.00pm
• Guitars & Woodwind: confirm your call times with your teachers
• Year 3 Strings: 5:30pm, please note Cellos and Basses are responsible for transporting their own instruments to and from the venue
• Senior Strings: 5.30pm
• All Choirs: 5.30pm

PHOTOGRAPHY

This event will be professionally filmed and photographed, and we look forward to sharing this footage with the community as soon as it becomes available!

VENUE RESTRICTIONS

We are very fortunate to be able to hold this event this year, but there are certain restrictions in place at the venue, and sadly there will be no food or refreshments available. It will be a seated, ticketed event with limited audience capacity, and audience members are required to stay in their allocated seats at all times; this includes all non-performing children (performers will be allocated backstage areas and will not be able to sit with parents during the concert). 

Please be prepared to stay for the whole concert and support all our hard-working performers.

Everyone has worked so hard all year, and we are incredibly proud and excited to present to you all!

We are proud to share that our Senior Strings Ensemble achieved third place in the 2021 Gold Coast Eisteddfod! 

It was a competitive field with lots of entrants, and as our only Eisteddfod group that could compete in an 'online' competition, we are just thrilled to see our students achieve such a brilliant result. Eisteddfod Adjudicator Christoph Blicking gave us some fantastic feedback, "The Silkwood String Senior Orchestra displayed good ensemble skills. A musical interpretation of the three works, overall well done. Keep up the good work!"

Our Music Coordinator, Melanie Creamer, shares her reflections:

Exploring the land of fairytales

We were very excited to start the term with our first Book Week celebration in Week 1. This sparked our interest in stories, starting our Term 4 journey to the land of fairytales. We have been busy practising our Jack & The Beanstalk, and The Gingerbread Man plays, as well as sharpening our retell and sequencing skills using familiar fairytales. 

Our first excursion!

The anticipation for our first excursion to Paradise Country has been building. Finally, this week we had the chance to get an up-close experience with a number of different native Australian and farmyard animals! There was so much to see and learn about, and our curiosity is now bigger than ever.  

This term Year 2 were excitedly preparing for our first overnight camp! We headed to Thunderbird Park, where we enjoyed bushwalks and fossicking for thundereggs, building friendships and creating moments that matter. 

We have been learning about Celtic Saints in IU and hearing about their miracles and how they helped people. 

In Seed this term, we are learning about the forces of push and pull. We have experimented with using each of these forces to move things, and soon we’ll be designing a game that uses these forces as part of the play. Speaking of Seed, have you seen the sunflowers we grew from seeds in Term 3? They are amazing!

In Math, we’ve been learning about using money and counting collections of coins and notes. There have been opportunities to “buy” items in our classrooms with our play money, and we are getting really good at counting up the totals needed to buy the things we want.

We had so much fun dressing up for book day in Week 1; there are always so many great stories to choose from! We also enjoyed doing some reading-related activities to share our favourite books and stories with our advisory.

Ruth, Paige & Donna

Setting the pace for the final term together for the year, the first few weeks have been studded with incursions and our much-anticipated camp!

With some last-minute changes to the location, we were lucky enough to camp in our local surrounds of Springbrook. Although we were slightly anxious about the night away, we had a wonderful experience. The activities were all based on team building, relationships, bonding and making memories. We all canoed without falling in and were able to work together to move around the lake as we played "Canoe Tiggy". We then moved on to team challenges. These challenges demonstrated the importance of teamwork and communication, as we created a supported ladder for a peer to walk. The milk crate stacking challenge was a team challenge and a personal challenge for each of us, which we all succeeded in. The photos do not do it justice, but we were up high! While up high, we also needed to catch a crate while balancing on top and stacking to continue to make our tower higher.

After dinner, we enjoyed winding down by the fire. The morning brought a flurry of activity as we packed up and then headed for our hike to Twin Falls, built a raft and cooked damper. We learned new things and discovered a bit more about ourselves. We all do have resilience, persistence, and courage within us.

We came home tired (exceptionally tired) but happy that we solidified friendships, conquered our nerves, built self-confidence, and created lasting memories full of moments that matter. 

Year 4 have enjoyed a fun-filled few weeks - making the most of the final term for 2021! 

We were thrilled to camp at South Stradbroke Island, where students spent two nights and three days exploring the bush, hearing local Aboriginal stories, learning how to locate and source food and water and reconnecting with the land. Each group created many memories and embraced moments that matter, reflections we will carry with us throughout the term and beyond. 

We are also lucky enough to have three regular incursions happening: two art and one dance class. We can't wait to see the final masterpieces! One art piece will tie in with our Integrated Unit: Geometric Patterns, where students create their own mandalas. The second art piece will be related to our Integrated Unit: Norse Myths 2, where students create a character from the myths they have heard. Our dance class ties into our performing arts learning, taking the form of hip hop, thanks to our weekly Specialist Hip Hop Teacher. 

On top of all that fun, we've squeezed a little more in and are taking fortnightly trips to PCYC Nerang to learn gymnastics skills. In addition, we are sharpening our T-Ball skills in preparation for the T-Ball Tournament at the end of term.

It seemed to take so long to get to High School, but now none of us can quite believe that Year 7 is almost over!

From the first day back, we continued to expand on what we had learned at the Dreaming Festival. Uncle Boomerang, a Birrunburra Bundjalung Yugambeh Yuggera Turrbal man whose ancestral lands are Southeast Queensland and Northern NSW, returned to teach us traditional fire starting and string making. He shared some of the ancient stories of the land that we come to school on every day. He even taught us a game that is now a favourite for break times.

For HPE, we have been heading off to surf school on Mondays. Some of us are experienced surfers, and we're using this time to get our techniques down pat, while for others, it's their first time on a foamy. Together we are supporting one another on this journey. Our classroom is the beautiful Burleigh Beach, and we're hoping for some good weather each week so we can get the most out of this experience.

Our Integrated Learning has us finding out about chemical mixtures and getting into the Science Lab for the first part of the term. Later, we'll be discovering India and China and their histories and cultures today. We are learning to speak some Mandarin and to cook authentic food from traditional Gujarati recipes. To truly get into the culture, we will immerse in a shared meal together, heading to Southport for a Chinese banquet where we will order our meals in Mandarin. We're also going to Masala Shanti on Tamborine Mountain for a traditional Indian feast. 

Nya-nyah-bu for now! (Translation: bye/see you again in Yugambeh language) 

What we're reading! 

Year 9 are exploring the novel ‘Private Peaceful’ this term. The book, written by Michael Morpurgo (author of War Horse), follows a young Private Thomas Peaceful as he remembers his childhood before the war. However, as the moments tick by, his life as he knows it will change forever.

We are enjoying reading and unpacking the novel, which also links to our Integrated Unit focused on World War I. The unit will deepen our knowledge of the war, provide further context, and enhance our understanding of the book.

We are looking forward to further exploring both units, immersing in rich discussions to be had and the deep questioning to be developed throughout our tasks.

Experiential Lessons

Machinima – Students have been working on recreating scenes from their favourite movies with a 3D video game, Machinima. This involves script writing, shot lists, camera angles, considering the background, acting, teamwork and editing.

Science of Electricity – We’ve been looking at renewable energy in our Integrated Unit and forms of electricity and science experiments in one of our Experiential Lessons. Students have been using science kits to test different building materials for conductivity and heat transfer and to learn about solar and wind power and electrical circuits.

Health & Physical Education – Students are in the midst of their 6-week block of outdoor education at Tallebudgera Sports Centre. The activities include bodyboarding, quick jumps, rock climbing and abseiling. Whilst these activities certainly require pupils to step out of their comfort zone, the experience provides an opportunity to challenge themselves in new ways!

The final stage of a senior’s journey is always a mixture of excitement and anticipation. 

Silkwood Year 12 students have before them their final academic demands, securing pathways beyond school while simultaneously prepping beautiful outfits and the finer details of their formal to be held on Friday, November 19. The Year 12 students have held a series of fundraisers over the past few weeks, beginning with a lunchtime barbeque for students and Silkwood Team Members.

With QCAA exam week now complete, you can sense the collective joy that another milestone has passed on the journey to graduation! Students are in the final stages of working toward compiling their Big Picture Graduate Portfolios. This will end with their very special final exhibition, a culmination of the best of their work from their senior years at Silkwood.

With the pressures of these final stages of their learning journey at Silkwood, we have carved out some well needed time for play. Pre-summer volleyball at school with Paddle Pop ice creams accompanied by the sounds of The Beachboys brought fine moods and the first taste of summer to school. We also managed to squeeze in a long-awaited visit to local Nerang Stunt Park. Our playful Year 11 & 12 students made the most of this, and it was great to watch them meet the challenges of high jumps and learn stunt fighting! As always, the organisers of the day complimented our students on the support and encouragement they gave each other.

YAKK Digital Marketing Agency

Mia from Year 12 has been developing her social media marketing skills with the digital marketing agency YAKK. She is now responsible for the graphic design, social media marketing and management of three clients. Mia hopes to transition to part-time work after school while she studies communication at university.

“Currently, I am also completing a course on social media marketing to improve my skills in this area” - Mia. 

Gameloft

Shaun, Rory, and Bodhi have all thoroughly enjoyed their shadow days with Gameloft Brisbane – a video publishing and production studio facilitated through Silkwood parent Paul Clancy. Gameloft’s games include Zombie Anarchy, Ballistic Baseball and The Oregon Trail. During their shadow days, the students participated in a UX testing session that analyses how people engage in the game and how the company tests and validates new systems and procedures before they go into full production. The students also had the opportunity to engage in one-on-one sessions with experts in the industry. 

“Really good team of people, great advice and the art team even offered to look over my portfolio' – Rory.

Gold Coast Computer Centre

Tom from Year 9 recently completed a very successful internship with the team at Gold Coast Computer Centre. Tom valued the experience working with PC’s and laptops and felt the experience improved his skills and confidence in building, fixing, and setting up computers. Some key things he learnt were how to install fans, how to install a motherboard and power supply, how to set up a PC, what different issues mean, and ‘that if a PC or laptop starts beeping, it’s a problem!’

Plummit

Joshua from Year 9 is enjoying his learning explorations with Plummit and has decided that he would like to pursue a traineeship/apprenticeship in the plumbing industry in the future. As part of this journey, he has successfully applied for a Certificate II in Plumbing at TAFE in 2022 and will continue to develop his skills this term!

“I really like the hands-on aspect of plumbing and having to use your initiative.”

Healing Hooves

Year 10 students Alana, Xaqira, Jenna, and Year 9 student Eleah have a love for animals, so this term, they secured an internship with Healing Hooves. Each week the girls clean and attend to the horses while also helping their Mentor, Marianne, with this essential service. Their slogan “Bringing Horses with Special Needs and Humans with Special Needs together to find Compassion, Empathy, Connection and Purpose” – connects beautifully with Silkwood’s vision to empower young people to be inspired, get connected and make a difference!

Kaelan – INS Engineering Solutions & Riviera Australia

Special mention goes out to Kaelan from Year 11, who spent his entire Term 3 holidays completing work experience for two well-known companies – INS Engineering Solutions and Riviera Australia! In week one of the holidays, Kaelan completed work experience with Riveria Australia in connection with his application for a school-based apprenticeship in 2022. Throughout the week, Kaelan explored diesel fitting and engineering – skills he has been developing through his TAFE Certificate II in Engineering. In the second week of the holidays, Kaelan finally completed his 80 hours internship placement with INS Engineering (run by one of our supportive Silkwood connections – the Bell family), a steel fabrication company in Molendinar.

Eden - Numinbah Valley Environmental Education Centre (NVEEC)

Shout out to Eden, who continues to receive glowing feedback from his internship placement at NVEEC. As a result, they have offered him more opportunities to assist this term – thanks for being such a wonderful Silkwood ambassador Eden!

University Placements

Congratulations to Mia and Casey who have already been offered places in their chosen courses at Bond University next year – we are absolutely thrilled for you!

On Friday 22 October, we warmly welcomed and honoured the many grandparents of Silkwood, celebrating the magic they bring into our students' lives every day. 

There are few words to describe the bond between grandparents and grandchildren; the everlasting love, support and wisdom they give help shape and inspire young people to be their unique selves and carry forward an abundance of love and values passed through generations.

It was so special to see these incredible bonds present in our community, how lucky we are to celebrate these moments together!

To those who couldn't join us, we hope a little bit of the Silkwood magic reaches you, wherever you may be. Many thanks to the SCCA for hosting another beautiful Grandparents Day Breakfast!

Thank you to all involved.

OLD WORLDS, NEW WORLDS & OTHER WORLDS!

It was great to see everyone sharing a love of reading and literacy and celebrating many talented authors at our belated Book Week celebrations. We couldn't think of a better way to kick off Term 4!

Sustainable Secondhand Book Shop

Hi there! 

My name is Mia, and I’m a Year 10 student in Catriona’s class. I’m currently doing my Personal Learning Project on creating a sustainable second-hand book shop. I’m going to be participating in several market opportunities and am seeking products to sell. 

If you have any new or pre-loved books that you would be willing to donate to my project, I would be very grateful. At this stage, I will be keeping most of my profits to help build the business, but I will be donating some funds to a charity (part of my research is to find what charity is best suited to this cause.)

As I’m currently interning in the school library, I have a box marked ‘Mia’s Bookshop Project’ and would be very grateful to anyone who pops by and donates!

Thank you so much, and I look forward to giving your books a new home :)

Kind Regards,

Mia 

Imagination & Creativity 

The children have been using their imaginations and getting creative as they explore painting and drawing. They have enjoyed the "inspiration conversations" with their friends, getting excited as they see their artwork added to the gallery wall at Helping Hands. The children feel a great sense of pride as they showcase their art on the wall to their friends and families. 

We have continued to explore creativity through many different forms of arts and crafts, such as 3D art, painting creations and nature craft!

Little Legends Garden

With spring in full swing, the children have been exploring their ever-blooming garden, getting excited as tomatoes begin to grow on the vines and a huge carrot is finally showing its green top. The Helping Hands garden has become an area of pride for many little legends at the service as they care for it each day, checking on the growth, scanning for weeds and sharing their excitement with their families too. 

We have seen great success with the pansy plant, and the children have watched and marvelled at the beautiful flowers as they continue to grow and bloom with more forming each week. Once they learnt that pansy could be a garnish on fancy meals, the children became very curious and were excited to give them a try! Many afternoons the children have collected a flower and shared it with their friends. It has been a fantastic experience that's brought many closer together as they share in the humour of eating a flower and curiosity about other edible flowers. As a result, we plan to plant more edible flowers that they can care for, grow and add to their fancy taste pallet. 

Curiosity in Nature

The children of Silkwood are very curious about the world around them and have a lot of fun as they share knowledge, ask questions and continue to learn. During breakfast one morning, Evie watched out the window and was excited to see a scarlet honeyeater, sharing this with Miss Dani, knowing Miss Dani loves the birds at the school. As Evie, Connor and Miss Dani watched on, the children began discussing how male and female birds look different and why this could be. Soon this conversation explored many other species in the animal kingdom where the male has some way to get the female's attention. Later the children were excited to watch videos showing the different types of dances some birds can do to get the attention of a female. Evie enjoyed eating her milk-less cornflakes while watching these clips, saying it was a breakfast version of popcorn and a movie!

Helping Hands Vacation Care kicks off on Wednesday 1st December. Take a look at the program below for more information, we recommend booking early to avoid missing out!