Thanks Xander for the great news – Pink and grey galahs have made a home in Nesting Box 5 ! Watch carefully to see whether you think the eggs have hatched yet.
If you see anything interesting please write it into the book in the library – by the door – (it is there for children and adults to use so please write or draw as you wish). It is simply any observations in chronological order. If you get any good photos or video clips please send them to the post and / or stick them in the book.
Yes I can help you to find the flowers which are weeds and you can take them away to put in a vase. Today the council is fencing the other virgin bushland areas of Alfreton/Glengarry Reserve. There will be an effort to leave a bike trail. Education is needed for visitors to understand how to care for seedlings and to know that damaging the bush is a criminal offence.
Ways the bush can be damaged:
I will be there from 11 to 1 today. I am searching for small West Australian native plants and putting shields around them. You can help by pulling weeds and cutting Freesias (It’s OK to pick these flowers! In fact there are a lot of flowering weeds) Come along if you are interested.
We need you! I encourage you to come along just once. I can make a time to suit you. We have binoculars, so can keep the children busy bird watching and flower spotting!
Here is a Pink Fairy, The Albino Pink Fairy and a Granny’s Bonnet. Some people are not aware that wildflowers do not last when picked and do not grow when dug up. It is illegal to pick wildflowers, so please be sure that your children know this.
I will be in the bush this Saturday from 9am till 12.
On Tuesday 27th at 8:30, I am meeting someone from the council to discuss further fencing. I need to hear comments from anyone whose children ride their bikes through the bush. I’m hoping there will be one trail left for riding and the rest is to be fenced.
Our botanist considers the site is still valuable in patches but it’s gasping because of all of the damage. The Urban Bush Council has just had a major win – Perth region bush sites listed as endangered. For more information their website is: http://www.bushlandperth.org.au/activities/perths-banksia-woodlands/banksia-woodlands-a-tec
Sadly local patches of bush land are only here because of friends groups speaking up. Please add your support and help save the diversity of species.
Here is some of the food for our bush creatures, I took these photos today. Many of the plants we put around the edges are now thriving – well done team!
Coming up:
We have a problem with vandalism being: bike tracks, the fence has been cut again, cubbies, litter, picking & digging up plants and general tramping over plants off the track. The other problem is weeds taking over. These should come out before they drop their seeds. They are easy to pull. I’m happy to stay for a family clean-up and sausage sizzle/play if there’s any interest.
CAN YOU HELP? Anyone interested in meeting for a problem-solving session, please contact me on pam.algar@education.wa.edu.au . I need a couple of parents/guardians (grandparents perhaps) to help with planning and practical organization of bush club meets.
We may be able to fix a permanent bike trail to stop all the damage to native plants. The council is willing to fence the other half of the reserve and is supportive in collecting rubbish bags. I am also excited to meet with an ex-student who is an accomplished biologist and saw the diversity of plants when he was at Glengarry in the nineties. There is HOPE for our bushland.
Our youngsters are coming through and we had a great day at the Arena! Once again we were very proud of our team’s efforts, sportspersonship and behaviour. We had two overall champions: Leo Halden was Year 4 Champion boy and Nathan Rawlings was Year 5 Runner-up Champion Boy. Please note only Years 3 to 6 are considered for points. Cross-country, jumps, throws, 400m, 200m and sprints are included. Well done boys and especially to all of the other champs who won a ribbon.
We came 5th on the Meritorious Shield list (for most improved school) and 5th on the Outright Shield list just 18 points behind North Beach. I’m aiming to find more time for team game practise next year. The races were very close.
Well done to all competitors! Here are the House scores for each event. The top two competitors in each event will go to the inter-school competition and the next two are reserves. Please try to do a few training runs. You could try timing yourself. Remember we will be happy with you just competing and trying your hardest, even if it isn’t your best. The purpose of training is to make the event feel a bit easier for you, so go to it!
Special thanks to Mrs Rawlings and Mrs Gabbitus for assisting with the throws.
JUMPS BANKS36 FORREST44 DAMPIER42 STURT23
THROWS BANKS72 FORREST24 DAMPIER81 STURT44
400m BANKS20 FORREST22 DAMPIER22 STURT15
TOTAL BANKS128 FORREST90 DAMPIER145 STURT82
HOUSE ATHLETICS J, Th,400 DUTIES 26 8 16
Here are the times for Friday. Children will be bringing home notes to inform you whether they have qualified to compete. If you are coming to see your child, please consider helping in officiating and/or packing up. The training sessions have been reduced this year, so please speak up immediately if your child feels that they have been unfairly overlooked. I can try to measure them during a lunchtime.
Please consider helping out with the House Athletics Carnival. We need someone to start the sprints. This just involves saying ‘Take your marks’, blowing a whistle for ‘set’ and banging the clapper for ‘go’. There is an assistant to line up the children for each race. The job could be shared into morning and afternoon races.
We also need some help on the finish line to give out ribbons. Please email me if you would like to do one of these jobs – pam.algar@education.wa.edu.au . We can share the jobs to avoid anyone working all day.
Banks had a comprehensive win! Please praise all children who ran for their willingness to have a go and improve their endurance.
| House Cross Country Results 2016 | |||||
| Banks | Dampier | Forrest | Sturt | Best house per race | |
| 1 girls | 70 | 45 | 47 | 47 | B |
| 1 boys | 60 | 17 | 54 | 38 | B |
| 2 g | 43 | 53 | 49 | 76 | S |
| 2b | 60 | 56 | 45 | 63 | S |
| 3g | 54 | 52 | 54 | 50 | B & F |
| 3b | 70 | 68 | 44 | 29 | B |
| 4g | 86 | 35 | 35 | 71 | B |
| 4b | 82 | 64 | 33 | 34 | B |
| 5g | 72 | 68 | 44 | 29 | B |
| 5b | 14 | 45 | 49 | 47 | F |
| 6g | 59 | 34 | 60 | 30 | B |
| 6b | 65 | 45 | 55 | 44 | B |
| 735 | 582 | 569 | 558 | ||
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | ||
Congratulations to the fastest six in each group. 7th and 8th are reserves. The inter-school event is run fast. Children who are very aerobically fit will do well.
Training sessions at Davallia can only go ahead when parents take direct responsibility for their children. I am sorry if the impression was that this training is run through me. Anyone who is interested in helping with a training program, for next year, please get in touch. I’m happy to coach.
Unfortunately, my emails do not link through this blog but I’m happy to receive emails to pam.algar@education.wa.edu.au .
