The Bark Term 4 2024 Issue 58

Candlebark Fete

2024 saw yet another successful Candlebark Fete. There was a variety of stalls ranging from fortune telling, treasure hunts, homemade crafts, beauty salons to incredible food.

This year, the total amount raised from the Fete was $6323.85! An incredible amount, all of which will be donated to a charity or charities chosen by the children. Stay tuned to learn what charity or charities are chosen.

Sarah Lewis

Prep News:

Prep Bike Week:

The Preps have completed their first (of many) Candlebark biking adventures. This term saw the Preps participate in a week filled with various activities. They dominated the school grounds by riding their bikes around the buildings, zooming at top speed down the grass hills and lifting off over their own made jumps. They travelled to Lancefield Oval where they engaged in an assortment of bike skill activities, followed by an epic afternoon at the skate park. Next the Preps went to Woodend. Here, they rode along a winding trail surrounded by large trees, completed a road crossing and finished at the park. The Preps also headed to Hume Valley School to utilise the road track set up. It was a lot of fun stopping and starting at the traffic lights. To complete our busy week, we concluded at Rowallan Scout Camp, the perfect venue to rest and share stories from the busy week.

Sarah Lewis

Year 7 Pit Firing

At the end of last term the year 7s had the opportunity to experience the drama, flames, and unpredictability of firing their pots in a pit firing. The pots had been built using clay generously donated by Macedon Ranges artist Chris Sage. This meant they could be large and some students went to town coiling up some gloriously grand pots. These pots were then burnished - a laborious task using the back of a teaspoon to polish the surface of the clay to make it smooth and receptive to the colours generated in the firing. After a low-fired bisque, the pots were then wrapped in layers of eucalyptus leaves, alpaca fleece, orange peels, banana peels, and copper wire stripped from old cables. They were placed in a deep pit with waste rotting bits of lumber, egg shells, nut shells, some bones and old coffee grounds.

The pit was lit as the sun was setting and the fire soon took hold. Students added more wood and soon the fire was roaring. We stoked the fire for hours, adding wood and watching as the pots started to glow, first red then orange and finally a bright yellow as temperatures neared 1000 degrees.

As the clay heats up, the surface of the pots becomes receptive to the colours produced by the organic items added to the firing. As the pit cools, the clay pieces are fumed by chemicals and vapours from various combustibles as they are exposed to oxidation and reduction atmospheres.

Near midnight, Jarno covered the pit with corrugated iron and it was left for 2 days to cool.

When the pit was ready to unpack, it was one of my favourite days of the school year. It was as exciting as unearthing an archaeological dig. Pots were lifted from the thick ash and brushed down to reveal the surfaces' reds, greens, blacks, greys and purples.

Eden and Jarno were incredible in their support and energy, as pit firing is a huge amount of physical work. However, working with the elements of fire and chance means it is a very rewarding art form.

Katy Penman

5/6V Woodend Neighbourhood House and Food Bank

5/6V had the good fortune to visit and volunteer at Woodend Neighborhood House and Foodbank this term. We participated in three different experiences - painting terracotta pots for the garden at the Neighbourhood House, decorating the Neighbourhood House Christmas tree and helping to restock the Foodbank shelves in preparation for opening later that day.

We learned about the work of Foodbank and the important role that volunteers play in both the Neighborhood House and Foodbank. It was interesting to learn about which items are particularly valued as donations including muesli bars, individually wrapped toothbrushes, honey, granola, instant coffee and dog and cat food. Marisa put together a box of Candlebark food donations for us to take with us; it was gratefully received and contained multiples of their coveted items. We had a brilliant morning and everyone brought great energy and positivity to all of the activities.

Keep your eyes out for the Neighbourhood House Christmas tree in the main street in Woodend, decorated by Candlebarkers in a Foodbank theme.

Kate Campbell

Senior Choir

Back in Term 3, a group of Year 5 and 6 students from the Senior Choir were tasked with helping Kyle and Emily construct instruments for the Choir's upcoming performance in Spring Soirée. They were going to be performing 'You There in the Stars’ by composer and instrument maker Malcolm Dalglish. The piece featured a technique from Central Africa called hindewho in which a note, sung close to the top of a small bamboo shoot, or bottle, is cut off with a burst of air that creates a new note with a windy "pan pipe" sound and pitch.

The hindewho stave in the piece had both sung and blown notes. The blown notes were indicated in the score with shaped note heads corresponding to the three hindewho instruments (H) pitched at, G (triangle), Bb (square), and C (diamond). Traditional ranges didn’t apply to the sung notes of the hindewho part, characterised by a pure and well shaped “yelp” in the upper head voice. See the sample of notation from the piece below.

Hindewhos can be made of bamboo, 1/2 inch diameter tubing or little bottles tuned with water or wax. We made our hindewhos out of bamboo, and used a chromatic tuner to tune the three different pitched instruments in a process of trial and error, cutting and shaving down the bamboo to the lengths we needed to get the right pitches.

On the night of the soirée, the sound of the hindewhos leaped out of the music that was performed on the basketball court and accompanied by Dan Marsh on piano and Zöe Barry on percussion under a harvest supermoon and a starry installation in the trees created by Jo, Jarno and art students.

Emily Bennett

1/2 Mount Alexander

It was a very warm day when 1/2 Q set off to explore the Oak Forest in Harcourt. The forest was lush, green and very shady and had lovely path ways to run through and many trees to hide behind. We then drove on to Leeanganook/Mt Alexander where we had our lunch and then set off to explore the very Australian bush. Hiking through the bush, clambering over rocks, stopping to rest and admire the stunning views and a very cute echidna along the way. 1/2Q did an awesome job hiking on this very hot Spring day.

Nicky Russell

Next Step Camp

Last week the girls headed off on the Next Step Camp to Wilson’s Prom. There was much singing, dancing, hiking, eating berries and wonderful, thoughtful conversations.

What a trip!

Nat Banks

1/2 Anglesea

The busy 2024 Grade 1/2 camp schedule wrapped up with three fun-filled days at Anglesea Beach. Playgrounds, swimming pools, rock pools, jumping pillows, ice creams, and op shops made for a lively yet rejuvenating end to the year.

A heartfelt thank you to our generous parent helpers: Adam, Anastasia, Brendan, Jemillia, Jodie, Steph, and Vanessa.

Cam Kerr

3/4T Boundary Walk

On the 18th and 19th of November, 3/4 T walked the boundary of Candlebark. While the day started grey and overcast our spirits were high, very excited for the adventure in front of us. Jaxon and Tsuruto lead the group for most of the way. We walked, climbed, and crawled through the bush and launched ourselves over creeks across the two days. Climbing the hill was hard work, it seemed like it was just vertical! We finally arrived at Wignals by 3.15pm on the 18th, setting up our tents and building a fire. We had sausages on bread for dinner with marshmallow and cooking apples on the fire. Once the sun went down, we dabbled in some night photography and painting with light. Tuesday’s weather warmed up quickly and the landscape was so different on the other side of the property, changing from dense forest to open fields. We were rewarded for our huge efforts with an amazing picnic prepared by Marissa.

Nicky Russell

Year 2 Nullavale

A few weeks ago, the intrepid year 2 gang along with Nat, Cam, Wendy, Geri and Jodie headed to Nullavale for an overnight camp.

They arrived on a warm morning, hiked across the property, braved the heat and the flies and set up camp.

They then spent the rest of the night exploring, experimenting with cutlery free eating, performing magnificently in a cave talent show and snuggling into tents for a good sleep.

The following day was spent playing, packing and hiking back to the bus. They enjoyed a quick play at the Romsey Eco Park and then back to school for pick up!

Nat Banks

5/6W Autobiographies

During Term 3 students of 5/6W joined the ranks of Laurie Lee, Miles Franklin, Oliver Sacks and Dot Butler and penned their life stories (thus far).

They were encouraged to make their pieces engaging, informative, and innovative. The class met this brief with gusto. Ranging from hand-bound books to collections of postcards, a life written in haiku, and interactive jigsaw puzzle, the class opened its door to families in the last week of term to showcase their work. Caregivers were invited to spend time reading the autobiographies and chat with the authors, celebrating their remarkable achievements.

Katy Penman

1/2 Ripper Lessons

The ½ Rippers have been learning how to construct an instructional text. And what better way to learn instructions than instructing others!! They have done a delightful job of creating engaging short lessons, writing the steps, teaching the class and receiving feedback. We have had bowling lessons, how to run like a dog lessons, teaching a dog tricks lessons and soon, making nachos lessons!

We’re all far more multi~skilled now! Thanks, Rippers!

Nat Banks

3/4 City Excursion

On the 28th of October, the Year 3 and 4 students caught a train into Melbourne. We met with Meyer and split into 2 groups for our 2 hour tour of Melbourne learning about the people who colonised Melbourne from early settlement to the gold rush expansion and Federation. We visited buildings, walked down laneways, streets and arcades, learning about Melbourne’s history, identity and culture.

We then caught trams down to the Melbourne Museum and spent an hour exploring the Old Melbourne Exhibition. Students had a great time looking at artifacts from the past, watching old films and interacting with the exhibit.

From there we walked to Lincoln Square and had a lovely BBQ dinner in the sunshine.

Nicky Russell

1/2 Rippers Trentham Falls

1/2 Rippers had a splendid day exploring Trentham Falls and investigating the rocks there. The sun was out, the igneous rocks were fascinating and the company sublime! We even stopped for a play in the creek in Trentham!

Nat Banks

3/4 Pottery Houses

Grade 3/4 designed houses for a hobbit village and made them in clay. The designs were open to interpretation, so students made pieces that could be recognised as food. I think this had something to do with the time of day they had art classes. Subway sandwiches, cookies, tomatoes, strange birds, mushrooms and pizzas to name a few.

Jo Croke