History in the making!

"What does Australia have in common with Ireland, Finland, Germany, Liberia, India, Argentina, Bangladesh, Iceland, Lithuania, Croatia, Switzerland, Kyrgyzstan, Costa Rica and Trinidad and Tobago? No, it's not the letter ''A''. What we have in common is that our leader is a woman."

(The Diary, The Sydney Morning Herald, 25 June). 

A day is a long time in politics.  Just before 10.30 pm Wednesday night,  Kevin Rudd announced that there had been a formal call for a change in ALP leadership; then, well before 10.30 am the next morning we learn we have a new prime minister - Julia Gillard.

Politics aside, this is a historic day, and one that the children of our current students, who are working away in their classes right now, will study when they are at school.  So kids, remember where you where when you heard the news - one day your own children will ask you about it!

Read these!

                                     I am Nujood, age 10 and divorced.

It's hard to imagine how different other people's lives are from our own.  This is an extraordinary true story told by Nujood, a 10-year-old girl who won a divorce from the man she was forced to marry, courageously defying both Yemeni customs and her own family. With harrowing directness, Nujood tells her story, beginning with  her married life, and ending the day she slipped away while running an errand .

Also newly arrived in the library is Stephanie Myer's The short second life of Bree Tanner.  Enough said: come and get it!

Lions Youth Leadership Quest, Spelling Bee, WR Cross Country

Public speaking continues to thrive - last Monday evening saw Grace Best, Ben Kelly and Jessica Kiss compete in the Lions Youth Leadership Quest. All three spoke remarkably well; Grace gave a speech on the Grenfell Town Band, Ben on professionalism in sport and Jess on the challenges of the future. The impromptu speech asked the competitors to comment on Jessica Watson, the 16 year old who recently sailed solo around the world. The public speaking section was won by Ben and Grace took out overall champion. She will now go on to represent Grenfell Lions at the zone level.

Well, the wait is over - our spelling bee champion for 2010 is Rowan Wilson of Year 7. Congratulations to Rowan and well done also to our other finalists, Emma Taylor and Grace Best. Many in the audience were overheard remarking on the spelling skills of all three!  Time to revisit Spell Sardoodledom, a previous post on this blog.

After placing in the top six at Wellington last week, Rowan Wilson and Kate Mitton are off to compete at state level in cross country later next month.  We'll keep you posted.

Henry Lawson Festival of Arts

Another successful festival with unusually  kind weather! It was astonishing to note the variety of contributions made by our staff and students: Year 12 student Melanie Carter played cello at the opening of the art show on Thursday;  the school's band and choir performed at the festival concert on Friday evening and there was a knockout ballet performance from Year 10 student Miranda Foster, followed by singing sensation SASS girl Jennifer Kelly;  Megan Crossley and her senior Hospitality students assisted in the catering at Saturday's civic reception while other students performed for the gathering's entertainment; and the great turnout for our entry in the festival parade won the prize for Best Community and Sporting Entry.  Our staff and students were involved with the Henry Lawson Festival of Arts in so many differents ways - what great community spirit!

Gerard Smith - first to finish cross country!

Congratulations to all the age champions and well done to everyone on your participation in last week's cross country event. Spotlight on Year 11 student Gerard Smith - 17 year boys champion, (6kms) and also the first to make it back to school (8kms) in only 35 minutes. Gerard ran steadily all the way, stopping only once at the 6km checkpoint to register his arrival, then continuing on to the school to be the first one to arrive from all age groups. Gerard has been in training for some time in preparation for both this event and the upcoming City to Surf fun run to take place in Sydney in August.

Spell sardoodledom!

It's hard to believe that the finals of a spelling bee can have an audience seated on the edge of their chairs, anticipating the next letter in a word, but that's exactly how it was for us last year, and we are certainly looking forward to this year's final.  Watch out though, there are some very odd words in the English language - play this video to see what one student was hit with in a spelling bee.

Bulla

Jilly here - you may have noticed I was missing from my desk during week 6. Instead, I was soaking up the tropical atmosphere of Fiji while attending my niece's wedding there. Fiji was wonderful! The weather was warm and balmy, the food divine and the Fijian people so friendly and caring. I enjoyed snorkling on the reef but had to leave the water rather hastily after spotting a sea snake.

It's nice to be back at school and surrounded by books and students again, though I'd like to return to Fiji if I ever have another chance. Oh, and bulla means hello in Fijiian.