2021 Term 2 Week 3 7 May 2021

New Code of Conduct – Parents

At Lindisfarne Anglican Grammar School, we appreciate the education and welfare of each student requires support from the entire school community.  Following most independent schools, Lindisfarne has now developed a new Code of Conduct which provides guidance about how parents can provide that support.

The new Code of Conduct – Parents is available on the School’s website here and covers a number of the School’s expectations for parents, including in relation to respectful and courteous communications; technology and social media use in connection with the school and visiting the school. 

Lindisfarne also recognises that parents ultimately want the best for their children.  Accordingly, the Code of Conduct – Parents also outlines how parents may productively raise concerns with the School so that these can be resolved.

I ask that all parents take the time to familiarise themselves with the new Code of Conduct – Parents, which is ultimately about ensuring that parents, students and staff work directly and cohesively with one another so that Lindisfarne can continue providing an engaging and supportive learning experience, which achieves the best individual outcomes for all students.

As this is the first version of this new Code of Conduct – Parents, the School will review its practicality and consider changes at the end of the school year (following any feedback from parents, students and staff).

Today I shared an important event with our Parent Community, the annual Parents and Friends Mother’s Day High Tea. It was a delight to gather in this way and honour the Mother’s and significant people in our School and the wider community. Around Mother’s Day each year I find myself particularly nostalgic as I reflect on my late Mother Desley’s unconditional love for me and my siblings, the love I see my wife Wendy share with our children and the love our daughter-in-law Tara shares with our newborn granddaughter. In my view as parents, the greatest gift we can share with our children is our love as they grow and develop and find their own pathways in life.

It’s incredible to think that our love whilst enduring also extends to sharing the gifts, boundaries, guidelines and at times rules, and consequences, that will allow our children to grow into responsible young adults, able to live independently of us and serve the communities in which they will live.

Happy Mother’s Day to all our Lindisfarne Mums and thank you for being the most remarkable of people.

Stuart Marquardt
Principal

Please find following the link to the 2021 Higher School Certificate Exam timetable. 

2021 HSC Timetable Link

Kind regards, 

Caroline Jeffries
Dean of Studies 

A reminder that Parent/Teacher Interviews for Term 2 are scheduled for: 

Monday, 10 May - Years 5 to 11
Wednesday, 12 May - Years 7 to 11

These interviews will be held in Ngahriyah.

Come and join us for a gala event as part of Lindisfarne @ 40 featuring live music from students, followed by Lindisfarne's favourite Aussie rockers, Thirsty Merc. This must-see event includes a two-course dinner with drinks at bar prices.

When: Thursday, 17 June 2021 at 6.30pm
Where: Twin Towns Showroom
Cost: $100
Booking Now Open

NAPLAN

Just a reminder that NAPLAN tests start on Tuesday, 11 May all students at Mahers Lane must ensure that their device is fully charged and that they have headphones every day. 

The testing schedule is available here to view. 

Middle School NAPLAN Schedule 2021 

Senior School NAPLAN Schedule 2021

Any student who is absent will have the opportunity to do catch up tests until Friday, 21 May.

Subject Selection Evenings 

Monday, 31 May 2021 at 6.00pm in Ngahriyah for current Year 8 students 

Tuesday, 8 June 2021 at 6.00pm in Ngahriyah for current Year 10 students

Caroline Jeffries
Dean of Studies 

This week, as part of our Band Program, our Year 4 students spent a day learning, rehearsing and mastering a musical number in order to perform as a band before our Junior School students.  It is always such a fun and engaging day and I am pleased that we have the flexibility to be able to offer our children such unique experiences.

The highlight was of course the bands performing at the end of the day, working together to recite a song and tune that was challenging enough for all students to beam with pride at their accomplishment.  I would like to thank Mr Edwards and our music tutors for facilitating this opportunity for our Year 4 students.

Each week at the Junior School, an astonishing 332 peripatetic lessons occur.  These are lessons that occur in addition to our regular music program and co-curricular offerings. Students take lessons on guitar, drums, trumpet, trombone and saxophone, clarinet, violin, cello and double bass, as well as voice and drama lessons to name a few.  I am an avid believer in the benefits for children of these arts offerings.

I would like to thank our parent for their support of the Arts program at the Junior School.  There is significant commitment from parents as they assist in supporting practices, transport to rehearsals and performances and endless encouragement.  As the students journey through to the Middle and Senior Schools, the opportunities in the Arts will increase, as will the chances for parents to be involved in supporting the School in this area.  The smiles on the faces of the children as they perform their musical items makes all the effort worth it.

Mark Douglas 
Head of Junior School

AFL Auskick

AFL will be running their AFL Auskick Program in Term 2. The program will kick off in Week 4 (13 May 2021) on Thursday afternoons on Arkinstall Park. This program caters for students from Kindy to Year 4. A flyer has been sent home with students and is below. All information on how to register can be found in the flyer. For more information please contact Junior School reception or Nathan Croft on email ncroft@lindisfarne.nsw.edu.au. 

Rugby Union

Junior School will be entering a team into the DNK Cup run by All Saints College. For those interested students there will be a meeting in 4R on Monday at lunchtime. Trials and training will be held in school during lunch. More information will be sent home to selected students. 

Futsal

Junior School will also be entering into the 2021 School Futsal Titles. For interested students there will be a meeting in 4R on Monday at morning tea. Trials and training will be held in school during lunch. More information will be sent home to selected students. 

Nathan Croft
Head of Sport Junior School

This week after extensive training for our Year 7 homeroom teachers as well as an information night for parents, Year 7 undertook their first lesson in the Heroic Habits program. We firmly  believe that by building an understanding of, and an ability to live out these 18 habits, will make our students more responsible and their interactions with others more rewarding.  The hope is that in developing an understanding of how we act out these habits we can also benefit those around us.

Our initial lesson revolved around the notion of “ Heroes”. What words come to mind when they think of the word Hero? Of course the superheroes were one of the first things discussed but as we dug deeper we heard stories of heroic actions students had witnessed and been a part of in their short lives. Some were very big acts of kindness and bravery but then we progressed to the smaller everyday acts that also make a huge difference

The goal of the first lesson was to remind students that heroic actions don’t have to be big things they are smaller everyday actions that can benefit others and while we may think they are small to others they can make a world of difference.

The key takeaways from this week were:

1. That all the heroes make a choice.
2. Sometimes it’s only a  small choice.
3. They did something when others weren't.
4. That heroes aren't born- they make a decision to act a certain way.
5. We are all "heroes in waiting".
6. Heroes can make big choices eg choosing to rescue someone or they can make little choices that still make a huge difference eg- reaching out to someone who is sitting alone.

The conversations were interesting, engaging and heartwarming at times and it cemented in my mind that we have absolutely chosen the right program for our young learners. Feedback from teachers was very positive and we look forward to getting into the actual habits in our next wellbeing lesson.

Julie McDowell
Year 7 Coordinator

Camp Week

School camps are an important part of the Lindisfarne curriculum - they build confidence, ignite creativity and problem-solving, stimulate a sense of adventure, encourage social interaction and team-building, and promote independence. I understand that for some students the thought of sleeping away from home can be nerve-wracking; however, the benefits of participating in these excellent co-curricular opportunities are profound. It is important to help young people feel positive about camp and to overcome the fear of not enjoying themselves. Parents are encouraged to contact their child’s Head of House if there are any concerns in relation to the camps that commence on Monday 24 May.

NIDA Workshop

On Friday, Year 11 and 12 Drama students attended a workshop with a tutor from the National Institute of Dramatic Art, Australia’s premier theatrical training school.  This workshop was organised in order to honour the School’s ongoing commitment to providing high-quality Drama education. The workshop focused on the process of Group Devising in Drama and Playbuilding.  These components account for major areas of assessment in both Year 11 and 12. The aim of the workshop was to further equip students with the skills required to assist them in achieving their best results in these areas.  

Red Earth

There are some exciting opportunities ahead for students in the Senior School to make meaningful connections with remote Indigenous Australia. In the next couple of weeks, we will welcome a representative from Red Earth to speak to all students in the Senior School about an immersion program in Cape York. Red Earth immersions are a unique way for people of all ages to connect with Indigenous culture in a safe and meaningful way. Their programs are designed to maximise the time spent on Country with Elders and Traditional Owners, connecting with Indigenous culture through the people and their stories.

Kate Cornell
Head of Senior School

Last Saturday, several Year 12 students successfully competed in the Tweed Rotary Model United Nations Assembly, 2021. In smaller groups, they represented Cuba, Iraq and Iran. They were up against students from 12 schools from northern New South Wales and the southern Gold Coast. It was a fabulous competition, stimulating discussion, and at times heated debate.

Our students performed very well indeed. Cooper Bridge Tough was one of only four delegates chosen to represent the Tweed Rotary Club at the MUNA finals in Canberra later in the year. Oscar Veldhoven, Neave Butler and Trixie Meeves were the runner-up team of the competition as representatives of Cuba. Keeley Rose, Georgia Worrad and Ocean Carrette received an honourable mention. Fantastic results for students who were competing in MUNA for the very first time.

Mike Lush
Teacher

Careers and VET

As Term 2 continues it is important for our senior students to utilise the resources available to them to make sure they are maximising their opportunities for the future. 

Year 10 students are completing their Natural Ability activities, with those who have completed theirs by the Friday, 7 May deadline receiving their summary and personalised video of their results. This will be useful when considering subject selections for Year 11 and considering their future pathways.

Year 11 students are encouraged to review their progress so far and think about the strategies they are using to support their progress. Year 11 is the time to really perfect the habits which will support them to achieve their best in Year 12. Developing a study plan and asking teachers for help are simple but effective ways that students can proactively manage stress.

Year 12 students are encouraged to book an interview time with me over the coming weeks and there will also be opportunities during Camp Week. Camp Week will also offer the opportunity to examine various post-school pathways, early entry and scholarships.

Finally, please see the attached link for the Options Career Bulletin. There are a number of upcoming careers events including the Brisbane Careers & Employment Expo on the 21st and 22nd of May.

Lauren Ward
Director of Careers and VET

NCIS Cross Country Championships

The NCIS Cross Country was held at Lennox Head on Tuesday, in suitably mild sunny weather  - perfect for distance running. Congratulations to the following students, please see the details and results linked below.

CIS Cross Country Advancers 2021

NCIS Cross Country Results 2021

**Please note that Honor Paul came 4th in her 10 Year Girls race and isn’t on the advancers or results sheet.  NCIS will rectify in the coming days**

Lindisfarne won the carnival across both Primary and Secondary schools - well done to everyone for all your hard work on the day. Please find results here - All schools report top 10 NCIS Cross Country 2021.

Above: Coby Ellison, Oliver Clarke, Flynn Cairncross, Jackson Wright, Padric Hedger

Above: Kaimana Lowien-Britt, Isabella Arghyros, Matilda Daniel, Madison Fernance, Siara Travaglia

Above: Padric Hedger, Flynn Cairncross, Coby Ellison

Above: Mahlia Watson, Charli Hedger, Farrah Melville, Isabelle Daniel, Honor Paul

Above: Coby Ellison and Flynn Cairncross

Training is running out of the Mahers Lane campus every Wednesday and Friday mornings at 7.15am up until the NSWCIS event. Anyone is welcome to attend, we meet at the school gym. 

Further to our Lindisfarne Cross Country carnival, congratulations to Andrew house for coming first place in the cumulative pointscore. 

Placegetters below:
1st -  Andrew
2nd - Barnabas
3rd - Cuthbert
4th - Stephen

Rugby

We are well on our way to growing the grassroots of our Rugby program as evidenced earlier in the year by our 15-a-side U15 Boys inception into the Gold Coast Schools Cup. Although we have had girls playing rugby over the years, it was very satisfying to see 3 standalone girls teams (U13, U15 and U18’s) head up to Miami State High School for a 7’s tournament yesterday. The driving rain and cold weather were not ideal for a multiple game format tournament, with many girls frozen to the core after each game. But to their credit, they continued to back up for each game and held their own. Many of our girls were new to the game, so had a steep learning curve when up against numerous sizable and skilled opponents.

Touch Football

We have the NCIS Touch Football tournament looming on May 18 for our U15 and Open students. Many of the squad members have been training throughout term one already. We have the following training days scheduled for afterschool with our coach Danni Davis: Monday - Year 5 and 6 girls and boys - 3.30pm - 4.30pm (beginning May 17 and going for three weeks - the Primary NCIS carnival is on June 3 in Ballina). Wednesday: 7 to 12 girls and boys squad - 3.30pm - 5.00pm (continuing indefinitely).

Basketball

Further to last week's Lindisfarne Lions Basketball wrap, part of the structure of the GCJBL competition is that they video certain games on the so-called ‘Glory Court’. If you want to catch a glimpse, here is footage of our Lindisfarne Lions KULAS - one of our two U17 Boys teams. 

Football

The Bill Turner Cup (boys) played St Josephs today, and won in a landslide - 9 nil. Well done lads!

The Bill Turner Trophy (girls) played Kingscliff High School and lost 4-3 in a very tight contest. Kingscliff scored in the last two minutes after our girls couldn’t land the final blow. We should all be very proud of our young girls team.

CIS Open Girls Football - Round 3 

We wish our Open girls football team well who are travelling to Sydney on Monday to play a game against Abbotsleigh School. This will be a very tough challenge, but one that we are up for.

Cricket

Our Senior Cricket QLD T20 Knockout fixture versus Emmanuel College was washed out this week for the third time. 4th time lucky perhaps!

Hockey 

We had around 70 students from Years  5 and 6 busy at the Fitzpatrick Shield today playing in the rescheduled annual tournament of beginner level hockey.

Hockey U21 Qld State team

Three of our past students who were members of the Sports Academy have been selected for the Hockey U21 Qld State team. Congratulations to:

• Jade Reid
• Jesse Reid 
• Kendra Fitzpatrick 

AFL

Congratulations to the following students who secured the CIS Secondary Boys and Girls AFL positions in Sydney yesterday. 

• Bridie Bedford 
• Charlie Heath
• Lily Alford
• Shakyah Jordan
• Harlan Oliver

Bad luck to Josh Watters who was on the cusp, but just missed selection. 

Jax Cornwall (Year 6) played in the Australian Football Championships (AFL) with the Primary CIS team on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday this week. The competition was fierce amongst the 13 teams, with the CIS team placing 3rd in the competition and narrowly missing out to play in the grand final by 1 point. It was a fantastic experience, well done Jax!

Damian Clucas
Head of Sports and Activities

Monday Night Netball

Well done to all players who competed in the Monday Night Season 1. Grand Finalists, The Glitter Bombers play at 7.00pm on Monday, 10 May. Let’s all cheer them on against The Storm! The Lindisfarne Mum’s team beat them this week, but Storm were still crowned minor premiers.

Saturday Netball

The weather cleared and we took to the courts on Saturday for Round 1 fun! Some great results and some promising performances from all of our teams.

Go Lions!

Round 2 - May 8

Next week we have the 5-6 year old NetSetGo players start on the grass courts.

Netball Centre of Excellence 

Most of the Netball Centre of Excellence teams were victorious on Saturday:
The Division 1 Gold Lions and the Stage 3 Aqua Lions team both won close games by just two goals. The White Lions beat the Red Lions. The Navy Lions won 35 -24 and the Green Lions smashed Centaur 58 - 17!

The NSW Cup for Years 7 - 8 and 9 - 10 boys and girls was on Thursday at Mullumbimby. The Year 7 Green Lions finished a very respectable third in the competition, only losing to the Lindisfarne Year 8 girls and Xavier College. All of the other teams were undefeated on the day and will now continue with their Cup journey at Lismore on July 20. Special mention to the senior boys team - as they were so looking forward to seeing their efforts in the newsletter! The Lions and Lion King players were: Zephyr Togo, Joseph Maynard, Jules Loemker, Tex Milroy, Thomas Ojiako-Pettit, Fletcher Burdekin, Liam Reardon, Zac Brims, Baxter Fitzgerald, Oliver Jeffery, Trishul Sivabalan, Callum McNicoll, Brodie McDowell, Oliver Henderson, Rupert Fahy and Jesse Freier.

The Fast5 Mixed Competition for Years 11 and 12 was on Friday in Ballina. We had a severe downpour during the first game but it didn’t dampen the enthusiasm and spirit of our players. Great fun was had by all but the call was made early to end the gala when thunder rumbled overhead and more rain saturated everyone and everything! The Fast5 Lions were: Oliver Churchill, Corban Thomson, Fletcher and Lewis Koppel, Lukas Wilson, Connor Wilson, Jayden O’Rourke, Sam Cox, Samantha Harvey, Abby Pirotta, Giselle Smith, Ebony Richards, Tahlia Evans, Jemma Grant, Cedar Maycock, Ruby Sullivan, Bailey and Brooke Gadd.

The NRCC Netball Championships were on Tuesday, 4 May at Arkinstall Park. It was a really hot competition in equally hot conditions! There were 7 matches for each of our teams, against St Mary’s, St Joseph’s, Xavier College, St John’s Woodlawn, Trinity, Mount St Pat’s and Emmanuel Anglican College, Our Year 9/ 10 NSW Cup girls (minus Tobi Chapman who was qualifying for Sydney at the NCIS cross-country and plus Tahlia Evans) finished a credible third in the 16 girls age group. The Year 8 team were the only 14-year girls team undefeated all day, with five wins and two draws. This was enough to win the tournament!

Thanks to all of the students who have umpired over these competition days: Ebony Richards, Bonnie Starling, Lily Hodges, Ella Mitchell, Sienna Phelps, Tobi Chapman, Tahlia Evans and Aleisha Weston - who was so good we didn’t even notice she was umpiring!

Rory is still continuing to help with the teams off the court each Monday. Busy times!

Lindisfarne Netball Club Parent Support Group

Our “Carnivale Fundraiser” and Duty Day on Saturday, 22 May is rapidly approaching. Donations are to be collected by the managers this weekend. If anyone from the wider community would like to offer any items from the list below or help sell, cook or braid on the day, please contact our fearless fundraising leaders: 
Jane Daniel Phone:      0401277710
Carly Griffiths Phone:  0414562543

Fundraising Donations are:

• Tubes of bubbles 
• Bags of lollies
• Litres of Coke
• Litres of Fanta
• Litres of Creaming Soda
• Bottles of coloured hairspray
• Hair elastics
• Hair ribbon
• Water spray bottles
• Cheap hair brushes
• Tail combs for parting hair

The next meeting will be for all of the coaches and managers to join the PSG at the Terranora Pavilions for a chance to share ideas and concerns  … and the good news about the fundraiser! on Tuesday, 1 June. More details to follow.

Please enjoy some of our photos of Netball over the last week.

If you have any questions re: netball, please do not hesitate to email me.

“I’m here if you need!”

Gay Maynard 
Teacher in Charge of Netball

Head of English, Mrs Kylie Rossington offered our students the challenge: snap a photograph of yourself during the holidays READING.  The aim was to promote a love of reading during the Easter vacation and also to foster a sense of imagination as students created their photographic proof of them actually reading. 

A range of engaging responses was received and some of these are showcased below. Additionally, some students provided a number of entries, with different novels, to reflect the range of texts that they enjoyed. Sadly, there can only be one winner for each section. The winners are:

The Stage 3 winner is Julia Silva and her dog, who both look engrossed in the novel that they are reading.

• The Stage 4 winner is Chloe Chaseling. She is reading Ruth Park’s novel ‘Playing Beatie Bow' which is set in The Rocks in Sydney. Chloe is shown standing just about where the main character (Abigail) travels back in time.

Julia and Chloe were awarded their prize at their Middle School Assembly.

Some other interesting submissions were:

Suellen Walker
English Coordinator

Students in the Senior School were asked to use concepts in maths to make a NAIDOC poster with theme 'Heal Country'. Please see the student descriptions and their posters below.

The 2021 NAIDOC theme, ‘Heal Country!’ is the idea of seeking greater protection of Indigenous lands, as well as providing the correct help and management. Aboriginal Australian’s have a strong connection to their country and land, as it correlates to their identity, language and culture. Through the creation of my Desmos poster, I aimed to highlight the connection to culture that the Indigenous Australian population possesses. This was incorporated through a wide range of different symbols, shapes and colours which were constructed with a variety of functions and equations.

The use of circles in my poster was to create Indigenous symbols. They are symbolic of a few different things, such as meeting places, campsites or people sitting together. This was influenced by the idea of uniting as one, to ‘heal the country’ or recognise the land. This is a recurring idea throughout the poster.

Mia McKinley
Year 10 Accelerated

A NAIDOC Week poster must portray the significance of Indigenous Australian’s history, and the culture that fuelled their being and sense of belonging for so long. The theme ‘Heal Country!’ allows for many historic allusions and traditional Aboriginal symbols to be recognised, further illustrating the ties between human and country, past and present. 

In my NAIDOC Week poster, a total of five equations were used, to allude to the Aboriginal symbols that were found throughout all of Australia’s numerous tribes, though, with slight variations between. Trigonometric equations were for the symbol of water, which appears at the bottom of the poster. Linear equations can also be noted for their depiction of flat lands as well as their appearance in many, if not all, letters that spelled out ‘Heal Country!’. Quadratic equations have been added to illustrate many aspects of the land, such as the symbol for mountains. Circle equations allude to Aboriginal symbols such as campsites, found within the main mountain on the centre of the poster, to symbolise the unrooted living arrangements found in Aboriginal culture.

Zia Mowbray
Year 10 Accelerated

To best reflect the theme “Heal Country!”, much of the inspiration for this post and motives for design choices were derived from NAIDOC’s explanation of the theme, from where the quotes below were obtained. “Country is inherent to our identity”. To reflect this, Australia itself was chosen as the primary, salient image for the poster. “Healing Country means hearing those pleas to provide greater management, involvement, and empowerment by Indigenous peoples over country.” 

“For generations Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have been calling for stronger measures to recognise, protect, and maintain all aspects of our culture and heritage for all Australians.” The colour scheme used was based on the colours black, red and yellow, colours sacred to Australian Indigenous peoples, who believe them to have been given to them during the dreamtime, and the dots orbiting the centre of the poster allude to the style of dot painting which has been recognised as distinctive and intrinsic component of aboriginal art internationally. The dots also draw the eye to the centre of Australia, and as such the sociocultural and legislative centres of the nation where change must occur to resolve “many of the outstanding injustices which impact on the lives of our people”. 

Tom Leach
Year 11 Advanced Mathematics

The Aboriginal flag becomes whole during the animation with the use of the k variable, as the two people representing the letter H begin to hold hands. This represents the Indigenous people of Australia and the European people who have adopted Australia as their home coming together. This represents the healed country as everything that was separated comes together, including the word “Heal Country!”, with the H being completed. The letter H in the text “Heal Country!” is made up of two people, representing the indigenous people of Australia and the European Australians. This is shown by the colours of the two people, with the aboriginal person having the colours of the aboriginal flag, black at the top, yellow in the middle and red on the bottom. For the European Australian, they are red in the top right corner, and the rest of them is blue, This is based on the Australian flag, being mostly red and blue, with the union jack in the top right corner,  the rest of the flag is the southern cross on top of a blue background. The picture of Uluru is used in the poster as it is a sacred site for aboriginal people and is part of their cultural heritage which they have strived to protect for many years. It is a world heritage site and is a large part of Australia’s recognition of Aboriginal culture. It is located on the bottom of the map in the red area. The red in the aboriginal flag represents the red Earth, so the placement of Uluru seems appropriate in that space, having a sacred site, on what represents their sacred land.

Connor Hooley
Year 11 Advanced Mathematics

My poster design fits the heal country theme as it displays the indigenous Australian flag above the words “HEAL COUNTRY”. I have also included a rainbow serpent as it is a prominent part of their culture. In the Dream Time the Rainbow Serpent is said to have created the landscapes using its body to carve mountains and valleys. I have added red, yellow and black circles to represent the famous dot paintings.

Elise Noakes
Year 11 Advanced Mathematics

The Smithy Sprint has been run and won again for 2021. The course was different this year due to the continuing works on the new Middle School building but our wonderful athletes adapted well and were ably guided by our Year 10 PASS classes who assisted in running the event as part of their studies in event management this term. Well done to the over 200 staff and students who braved the tough course, travelling from the bottom oval all the way to the top of the school via the many walkways and stairs along the journey. It is fantastic to announce the following athletes who took out their respective categories:

Teacher
Liam Francis
Tracey Foyster

Middle School
Lachlan Arghyros
Lyla Williams

Senior School
Bridie Bedford
Levi Dangerfield

Sam Dick 
PDHPE Teacher

Ever wondered what it would have been like doing a Physical Education class at Lindisfarne Anglican Grammar School 40 years ago? 

How much has PE changed in that time? What has stayed the same? What do we now do that would have seemed impossible back then?

We asked Sunshine Avenue PE teacher extraordinaire, Nathan Croft, for his thoughts:
 
“To assist in answering these questions, I have to remember back to my school days which were around the same time Lindisfarne first opened. I can't promise that this is entirely factually correct, but like all good yarns (and maybe me!) it is certainly getting better with age! 
 
Let us first look at the facilities. Back then there was an oval with space to run around. Now the facilities have grown and developed. We now have a basketball court, a long jump pit, marked netball courts and sprinting lanes. Nets, goals and hoops are custom made for each sport. 
 
The equipment we used brings back memories, the smell of leather footballs, hay-filled baseball bases, wooden bats of all varieties, cricket, baseball, hockey and everything only came in one size always too big and heavy, but this made us resilient and we had to work hard to succeed. Now we have the most up to date and technically advanced equipment made of unbreakable, light plastics and carbon fibre in all shapes and sizes. This allows us to practice better and improve our skills, not just our strength. 

The curriculum focused on playing sports, not learning about them. PE was touch footy, soccer, netball or tennis games where skills were learnt and practiced through playing the game. The more we played the better we got. 
Now we teach the rules, proper technique, refine the skills, look at how bio-mechanically we can make movements more efficient and our actions more effective. Students are now understanding ‘why’ we do things not just ‘how' to do them. 
 
And then there was Technology. OMG! How life has changed! LOL!  Back then the most advanced technology was the ACME Thunderer Whistle with a smooth crisp pitch and a flip over scoreboard to keep the score. Now students in Kindy take videos on their iPads! They can assess, make comments and critique their own work. They then post it to Seesaw and get marked or given feedback by the teacher and we can bring the parents into class as they can see exactly what they have done that day. 
Forty years ago, the internet was not even invented!
 
There are so many things that have changed and so many that have stayed the same. The one thing that has not changed in all these years is that PE is still the most fun you will have at school”.
 
And who could disagree with that last statement!

The PDHPE Faculty

Register for the “Cultures of Round Square” RS Virtual Conference from Gut Warnberg for ages 10-12

This is a fantastic opportunity for students in Stage 3. The three-hour conference will take place on Thursday, 20 May starting at 8.00pm. There will also be a 45-minute pre-meet at 8.30pm AEST on Monday, 17 May. 

During the conference, delegates will hear from a Keynote Speaker from the University of Munich, before breaking into baraza groups to share and discuss their pre-conference task and to have some FUN!

As a pre-conference task, our hosts would like each delegation to work together to create a poster montage of images that represent the cultural influences of the members of their delegation. Some of these might relate to the country in which they live, and others might relate to individual members of the delegation. For example, they might include certain pieces of clothing, art, special food, but WITHOUT naming the culture. 

Numbers are limited to four students aged 10-12. To register please email Mr Lush at mlush@lindisfarne.nsw.edu.au.

Mike Lush
Round Square Coordinator