Centralian Middle School eNewsletter

Important dates

Tuesday 17 September	Year 7 & 9 Immunisations
Friday 20 September	Last day of Term 3
Monday 7 October	Staff Professional Development Day
Tuesday 8 October	First day of Term 4
Monday 4 November - Friday 8 November	Year 9 VET
Thursday 5 December	CMS Awards Night
Tuesday 10 December	Year 9 Formal
Thursday 12 December	Last day of Term 4

Werte, Hello!

And just like that, we find ourselves arriving at the end of Term 3. The year is absolutely flying by! Term 3 has been packed with many exciting events.

Our future Year 7 students visited for their transition day, while our Year 9 students had the opportunity to explore Centralian Senior College. It was a fantastic experience for everyone involved, allowing students to meet their future teachers and ease any concerns they might have about moving to a new school next year.

Our Year 7 students have just returned from their camp at Ross River, where they had a fantastic time hiking, playing sports, and engaging in team-building activities. It was a memorable experience for both students and teachers. We’d like to extend a heartfelt thank you to everyone who helped make the camp a success.

The first VET block commenced this week for our Year 9 students. In total, thirty students were able to get a taste of tertiary studies in Salon Assistant, Retail and Engineering Pathways at Charles Darwin University. Our students had a wonderful time and enjoyed experiencing learning in a different setting.

In the second half of this term, we’ve been working on fostering a culture of reading for pleasure. Enjoyable reading not only enhances critical and creative thinking skills but also introduces new ideas, improves concentration, and boosts vocabulary and writing abilities. To support this, each year level is now dedicating one Home Group lesson per week to quiet reading. To support this initiative at home, consider asking your child about the books or stories they’ve been exploring in class.

Lastly, we want to extend our congratulations to everyone who has been involved in team sports over the past few months. With several semi and grand finals taking place recently, we are incredibly proud of your dedication to your teams and the sport.

Thank you to everyone for helping to make this term so great!

Emma Forrester
Year 8 Assistant Principal

Free internet for eligible families

The School Student Broadband Initiative is a Federal Government voucher system that aims to make at-home internet connection affordable for all families with school-aged children. Eligible families can access free internet until the end of 2025.

Applications need to be made by 31 December 2024.

To apply:

Contact the National Referral Centre on 1800 954 610, from Monday to Friday 10am - 6pm (AEDT) or visit anglicarevic.org.au/student-internet.
Responding to questions that assess your eligibility.
Eligible families will be provided with a voucher they can use to connect to their chosen participating internet provider.
Connect before December 31st, 2024.

Term 3 Wrap Up

The Resilience Project & Sunrise TV visit CMS

In Week 7 CMS played host to some big names and a television crew from Channel 7's Sunrise breakfast program. This year CMS students have been taking part in The Resilience Project, practicing skills around mindfulness, gratitude and empathy to strengthen mental health and wellbeing. CMS was selected as one of 20 schools across the country to be visited this year by the Project's founder Hugh van Cuylenburg and some big names in sport and cooking.

The day started with a whole-school assembly with Hugh before breaking off into groups with some students lucky enough to head to the cooking rooms to cook up a storm with MasterChef winner Michael Welson, while others took to the oval to have a kick with Port Adelaide's Sam Powell-Pepper. In true CMS style we finished off an eventful morning with a well-deserved BBQ. Thanks to our staff, students and, of course, visitors for making it a great morning.

The segment is scheduled to air on the Sunrise morning show on Channel 7 next week, Friday 20^th September, so be sure to tune in.

Last week marked a highlight of 2024 for a lot of our year 7 students - Year 7 camp! The year 7 team headed to Ross Rover for three days of fun in the sun - walks, art, sport and well-earned sleep seemed to be the highlight for many of our students.

A big thank you to all of our year 9 helpers who helped make the camp such a success and, of course, all the teachers and adults who tagged along too.

Lucy 7.3

Before I went to camp I didn’t know a lot of people but when I went to camp the teachers put me in a cabin with a group of fun girls and now I am good friends with most of them. The activities were sport, walking, painting and making stress balls. In sport we played games that included teamwork and communication and they were mostly fun. Walking was walking up a very steep hill which made my legs burn but when we got to the top the view was worth it. Painting was either painting patterns or free painting. Stress balls were just balloons and cornflour with another balloon with holes over the top which was very messy but fun.

Camp was extremely hot so when they put on the sprinklers that was definitely a highlight and also going to sleep after a long and tiring day.

Camp this year was amazing compared to the others I’ve been to and it was a fun experience. Everyone had fun and got along. One of the highlights was the last day where everyone sat in a circle in the shade and everyone just looked so happy to be there. Overall it was a fun camp and I would go again if there was another time I could go.

Some of the other activities we had were sport and fauna and flora walks. During the walk my group spotted a perentie and it was really cool. The food we had was like burgers, chicken schnitzel and bacon and eggs. It was decent.

William 7.3 The food was great. My favourite bit of camp was when we had free time and do whatever we wanted. We could go wherever the camp was.	Sherri 7.3 My favourite parts of the camp were dessert and sleeping in the cabins. The sunset walk was also my favourite because of how many times I slipped and almost fell.
Tanus 7.3 My favourite thing from camp was kicking the footy and messing around with Ashton, Terence and Xanda.	Shakylah 7.4 My favourite thing about camp was the sprinklers because it reminds me from back in our childhoods of playing in the water with our friends.
Chelsea 7.4 I liked playing games with my friends and getting to know people more. Also, being able to do fun activities with my teachers like climbing a hill and then back again and even playing touch rugby with Mr McPherson. Camp was just amazing.	Teancum 7.5 At the Ross River camp my favourite activity was making stress balls. The sleeping experience was full of memories and was boiling hot because the AC didn’t work. I really loved the food and am extremely grateful to the year 9s and Ms Vicky for making camp really fun.
Kayla 7.4 The best thing about camp was sleeping in cabins with friends. I enjoyed the free time and sleeping.	DJ 7.5 I loved playing in the sprinklers. What was challenging was waking up so early. I liked hiking on the hill.
Nathan 7.5 Camp was fun. My favourite bit was when we saw the perentie – one of the first things we saw! What luck!	Tina 7.5 My favourite part about camp was sleeping in the bunks because I got to talk to my friends and hang out. I didn’t like the hike but the view was really nice.

Of course, we made sure even those students who couldn't make it to camp still got to have a great week at CMS.

Sarah 7.5
I played Kahoot and ate the food with the new people and experienced woodwork for the first time.

Indigenous Storytelling

For the past three weeks, Year 8 have been doing an English unit on Indigenous Storytelling. We have re-visited the NAIDOC theme of “Blak, Loud and Proud: Keep the fire burning”, and considered concepts of identity, racism, connection to Country and deep listening. Students have engaged with stories from Indigenous leaders such as Matika Little, Adam Briggs, Tui Raven, Elder Bob Randall and Dr Miriam-Rose Ungumer Baumann, and have created posters based on their research of a famous Indigenous person of their own choosing.

We were also lucky to host members of the Rubuntja family at school on Wednesday 11 September. Local Artist Marlene Rubuntja along with her daughter Vanessa and Gurindji man Winton Splinter came to school to share part of their story and to help students create their own artworks. The Year 8 boys painted in response to stories from the local area, while the girls created woven sculptures with Marlene’s expert guidance.

The visit was a great success and students enjoyed both the stories and the hands-on activities greatly. Year 8 would like to express their thanks and gratitude to Marlene, Vanessa and Winton for their time, to Mr Gordon Mallard for his valuable assistance and especially to Ms Delean Holtze for the time and hard work she put into planning, organising and co-ordinating the day.

Year 9 VET

Year 9 students have been participating in vocational training at CDU this week. They’ve been learning what its like to work as a hairdresser, in a beauty salon, or in a sheet metal workshop. All students have been enjoying the experience of adult-education at the university campus and are learning key skills to help them in a range of fields. In the sheet metal class, students have been creating their own toolboxes. In the hair and beauty program they have been learning a range of techniques and styles and practicing these on each other. Even Mr Gill got a much-needed makeover!

Meanwhile, students taking on the Engineering or Construction streams in vocational education have also been kept busy. Engineering students have crafted their own camp ovens while the Construction team are hard at work improving the CMS facilities by building a shade structure for outdoor classes near the school oval.

Transition Day

Week 6 saw our year nines head over to Centralian Senior College to get a taste of what's to come next year. Our students made a great impression on their future teachers and tried their hands at a range of different classes and experiences.

Back at CMS, we welcomed year sixes from local primary skills to come and get to know what CMS is all about. A great time was had by all and we look forward to seeing them back for year 7, 2025.

The best bits so far

We asked some of our year 8 students to reflect on what they've enjoyed most this term and here's what they had to say.

	Design and Tech was pretty fun; doing sport is fun (soccer, badminton). Alyce, 8.3
	I like Mr Morrison’s classes, because it is fun! Jillian, 8.3
	I enjoyed the money game in Economics. Brayden, 8.3
	We had roo tail during NAIDOC and munched out on some noodles. Te Awatea, 8.3
	I made new friends. I loved when CMS got to go to the movies. Chelsey, 8.3
	The grossest bit in Science Lab was the lamb’s heart, but it was fun & interesting. Aisha, 8.4

GUTS Dance

Students have been putting their best foot forward all term, working hard to master dance moves with the team from GUTS dance. We can't wait to see what they have in store for us at Alice Can Dance in Term 4.

Duke of Edinburgh

Our year 9 Duke of Edinburgh students rounded out a term of community service by gaining their First Aid and CPR certificates at St John Ambulance. We hope our students are as proud of their achievements as we are of them.

CMS Radio

Don't forget to tune into CMS Radio on 8CCC Community Radio (102.1FM) each Friday afternoon from 5 to 5:30pm. CMS students step up to the mic to bring you stories, podcasts and music selections from the CMS community.

CMS Radio: 8CCC Community Radio 102.1FM, Fridays 5:00 - 5:30pm.

Stars & Clontarf

Clontarf rounded out a busy term with a camp for some of our young fellas while Stars came together for some footy and a health-focused morning tea to finish off a great Term 3.

Stars

Stars AFL carnival

Our Stars students participated in an AFL carnival with all Central Region Stars Academies. Despite the heat, they showed great effort and perseverance throughout the whole day.

The students also had the chance to mingle and forge new friendships with participants from other Stars programs.

Well done to all our athletes for their dedication and sportsmanship!

Women’s health week morning tea

Last week Stars students and staff held a morning tea to celebrate Women’s Health Week. Gillen Stars students were also in attendance as well as special guest Cherisse Buzzacot.

Cherisse spoke about her experiences in midwifery, emphasizing the importance of understanding the female body. She encouraged students to ask questions and seek knowledge. She also discussed the various career options available in the field of midwifery and healthcare, inspiring many to consider their future paths.

Clontarf

Don't forget!

Term Dates

Term 3 finishes next Friday, September 20th. We wish all our students and families a relaxing and enjoyable two week break and look forward to seeing all our students back at school on Tuesday, October 8th.

Holiday Activities

Alice Springs Town Council we be putting on its usual array of activities for young people to enjoy over the Spring school holidays. From basketball, boxing and mountain bike riding to music, Lego and craft, there's a little something for everyone. Check out below for a full overview of what's on.

Facebook - Keep up to date with all our news and updates

Head on over to ‘like’ our Facebook page to keep in touch with school news, highlights and achievements of our wonderful students. We encourage people to like and share our posts.

Please read the terms of engagement before posting comments.

Click here to visit our school’s Facebook page

Community Announcements

The Alice Springs Aquatic Centre is looking for Learn To Swim teachers who are available to work school hours!

Why be a swim teacher? Being a swim teacher is a reward job!

You’re teaching important life skill to all ages and our community! Not only are you teaching a life skill you are impacting people’s lives, whether they use the skill to swim laps, keep fit or for families to enjoy swimming in their leisure time. Working at Alice springs Aquatic and Leisure Centre we have flexible hours to suit you! If you’re getting back into the work force, need hours to suit your children’s school hours or even looking to work after school - swim teaching could be for you, as we have flexible hours with really good pay!

No qualifications, no worries. We have the ability to upskill those interested in teaching Learn To Swim programs. Customer Service and Pool Lifeguard positions also available.