Chrysalis Newsletter Week 9 Term 3

Thank you Kelley... and Spring Festivals re-imagined...

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Giinagay...
Most of our classes have enjoyed getting out into the world’s greatest classroom in the last few weeks, as they’ve had the opportunity to immerse themselves in nature both in and around Chrysalis as well as on field trips in our greater backyard beyond Chrysalis. It was an absolute joy to hear the Class 3 children getting off the bus after their trip to Valla with Micklo, and expressing to their parents how much they learnt and then gushing with excitement to share snippets from their day. These experiences in nature within the class group are priceless; each sharing, each expression, each discovery and adventure weave together to strengthen the class and create a rich tapestry that is carried on from year to year. These are the experiences that solidify friendships and enable new relationships to grow.
Such field trips are also a wonderful opportunity to breathe out and have fun together; a well needed balm in our somewhat crazy world. I feel very fortunate that we are able to embrace and enjoy these experiences at Chrysalis during this time, and for the days in which our learning is more classroom focused, we are extremely fortunate to have the natural world streaming in and providing energy and light - always.

yaarri yarraang, Lisa

“The future will belong to the nature-smart — those individuals, families, businesses, and political leaders who develop a deeper understanding of the transformative power of the natural world and who balance the virtual with the real. The more high-tech we become, the more nature we need."

~ Richard Louv, author of ‘Last Child left in the Woods

Honouring Kelley...
Last Saturday, the school staff community, past and present, gathered at Cedar Bar to honour the 16 years that Kelley McGlashan dedicated to the role of Education Manager before she moved into the Class 6 teacher role to cover Michele's maternity leave. Kelley was thrilled that two of her three children could be present to acknowledge the dedication and commitment she gave to Chrysalis over the years.
Thank you Kelley for all that you have brought to the school!

Spring Festivals...
This year's Spring Festivals will focus on connection to our local Gumbaynggirr country in which we reside rather than an outward celebration with families. We are excited to offer a program to the students that will work with Gumbaynggirr traditions, as well as biodynamic gardening, craft, bush dancing and celebratory music performed by our Chrysalis school band.
Please see the flyer at the end of the newsletter for the days' activities.

Exciting LNAP News...
As many of you know, the School has been working with a cross sectoral funded program to enhance literacy and numeracy in the early years. This is our fourth year and was to be our final year ……… then along came COVID, which has disrupted our program.
The great news is that we have been given a further year to participate in the program and will continue to receive funding until the end of 2021.
Please see our website for more details and photos of the children at work.

Class 9 and 10 update...
The Chrysalis Board has determined to undertake a feasibility study into the possible provision of Years 9 + 10 in the future. Tim Fry will lead this study to ascertain the viability and demand of an extended Steiner High School model in the Bellinger Valley. Tim welcomes your input, which can be emailed to him at business@chrysalis.nsw.edu.au.

An update from SEA...
Term 3 has certainly been a challenge for many Steiner Schools and their communities around Australia. Our hearts go out to all our Victorian Steiner School communities as the second lockdown is upon them. The burden for leaders, teachers and all staff to hold communities in positivity and purpose is immense. NSW schools have also been under strain with the continuing restrictions on singing, chanting and music.
Through all of this, schools have continued to show extraordinary resilience, and creativity in maintaining strong connections with their communities.
The latest news section of the SEA website continues to publish wonderful stories of this creativity and resilience during COVID 19 times. The amazing diversity of Steiner schools and Steiner education across Australia is also highlighted in these articles. You can have a look at the stories here https://www.steinereducation.edu.au/latest-news/.

Blessings...
Lisa & the Leadership Team

The Class 8 project is in full flight!...

Since 2003, Chrysalis has offered the Class 8 Project. During the course of the year the Class 8 students are asked to prepare an independent learning project for presentation to the school community. This project is traditional in many Steiner schools world-wide and involves many facets of learning appropriate for this age. Students are encouraged to venture into a “new” area of discovery, or take something they are already interested in and investigate it in greater detail.
This year's Class 8 has had a quite disjointed start to their project, due to COVID restrictions, and we are yet to see whether the presentations will be able to go ahead in front of the whole school community, nonetheless the students are pushing through and giving it their best!
One of the Class 8 students, Charlie (with his prototype above), has got cracking on his "backyard skatepark build" project; meeting with his mentors, Jason and Nifty, and he is also in the throes of fundraising to meet the costs of the materials. You can read more about what Charlie has to say about his experience, plus see photos, and access his GoFundMe page link on the school website.

Class 6 fundraiser

Our Class 6 students have been inspired by a story of need from a past teacher of Chrysalis, Nerrida Johnson, who is now a principal of a school in West New Britain PNG. Nerrida wrote a letter to the class outlining the challenges faced by students in West New Britain, including schools with no furniture or learning resources, and in some cases no classrooms. Class 6 were looking for a viable and doable fundraiser to do this year, and this fit perfectly into what the students wanted to do. The class discussed possible options of what they could do as a class and also what the students could do individually.
To see more photos from PNG and how you can help Class 6, please see our article on our website.

Important dates

All extra-curricular activities have been cancelled for Term 3
Last day of Term 3 Fri 25 Sep
First day of Term 4 Tues 13 Oct
Further dates are available on the school website, including the new School Year dates for 2021.

Steiner Playgroups

Unfortunately, due to COVID restrictions, we cannot currently run playgroups. If you are interested in joining our playgroups when we can restart, please email Suzane.

Community Notices

These notices are updated fortnightly on the school website.
Chrysalis family looking for a rental
Dream catcher workshop in Holidays
Wondrous Waldorf Doll workshop
Bellingen Shire Connection Centre
Lifeline's DV Response Training
Bushfire Recovery & Resilience
7 Day Sit Spot Challenge
Dorrigo Cricket Club registrations
Kids Yoga in Bello!
Nextwave Youth Film Competition
ilovebelloshire website & newsletter
For those new to reading the school e-newsletter, this Community Notices section was an initiative created to assist both parents and community organisations share relevant information with each other. There is no cost to listing here.
What is included is at the discretion of the school office.

FEC Q&A session

Chrysalis School has recently become the first Not for Profit Gift recipient of a new initiative called the Fractal Economy Cooperative.
You are invited to an information and Q&A session to explain how the school can benefit from everyday transactions between its members. Details of the FEC initiative and How it Works will be made clear to those in attendance. Those present can sign up as FEC members with help from our technical assistant Damien.
The information session will be followed by the FEC AGM where you can meet the new directors and office bearers.
The event will be held at the Bellingen Youth Hub.
Date: Saturday 19th September
Time from 1.30pm till 4.00pm
Afternoon tea will be available.
If the event is cancelled due to COVID concerns a zoom meeting will be available.
Hope to see many people to share and learn about a new way to bring resilience to the Chrysalis School community and beyond.
For more information: https://fractaleconomy.coop
Kevin Turner - 66550840
Or please see the FEC letter to the Chrysalis community here.

Birthdays this fortnight...

Quilla and Jettea in Morning Star turn 5yrs old, Odin also in Morning Star turns 6yrs old, Banjo in River Song turns 6yrs old, Wolf in Cl 3 turns 9yrs old, Azurah and Ollie in Cl 5 turn 11yrs old, Raji also in Cl 5 turns 12yrs old, Alice in Cl 7 turns 13yrs old, and Poe in Cl 8 turns 14yrs old.
Happy Birthday to you all!

Update your own email address...

via the link at the bottom of this email. Please be aware that you will still need to inform the school of the change of email separately, as the e-newsletter list is entirely separate from our school database. Please remember these newsletters are a key component of our direct communication with school parents. If you are no longer an active part of our school community, you can unsubscribe below. If you have been forwarded this email by a friend, you are welcome to sign up for the newsletter.

Chrysalis acknowledges the Gumbaynggirr land in which we reside and recognises the continuing connection to lands, waters and communities.
At Chrysalis we pay our respects to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures; and to elders both past, present and emerging.

The deadline for contributions and community notices for the next newsletter is COB on Monday 12th October. This is our last Classifieds update for the term.