Hello to everyone and welcome to Term 2. It has been a lovely return to school and we are moving ahead with new music adventures and community occasions to celebrate. At the end of last Term our Choir voted for their official name which was selected from a list of Victorian native birds. We also gathered with our community to celebrate Harmony Day, and to thank and farewell a very special teacher from our IM Program, and the Preps were celebrated for their achievements and completion of their first Term at school at their Teddy Bear’s Picnic. Please read on…

With a bumper intake of new choir members at the start of this year, our choir split into two choirs: the junior and senior choirs. Inspired by the names of native Australian birds which can be found in Victoria, we shortlisted double-barrelled bird names and invited the choir to vote for their favourite. So, now we have The Red Caps, who are the senior choir, and The Robins who are the Juniors. Our Red Capped Robins have a massive Term of singing ahead of them as many have signed up to represent our Princes Hill community at this year’s Boite Schools Chorus ‘Los Ninos’ performance in August. The concert theme for this year is climate change and we will be singing together with children from different schools and cultures to present a multicultural program of songs featuring eight languages from across the world. The songs have been chosen for the way their lyrics share a story of environmental stewardship and they remind us that the effects of climate change are impacting communities across the globe in different ways. Many thanks to Emily for her commitment to making this event possible for our choir, and to all the families who have signed up to participate. To add a little extra excitement to the occasion, we are super excited that Kofi Kunkpe, our African Drumming Master Teacher will be performing in the band that accompanies the massed singing at the concert!

The Harmony Day Assembly in the second last week of Term 1 resonated on many levels as we reflected on what it means to belong to a family, a community, a culture, the natural environment around us and to the world. These themes were explored through Neighbourhood presentations and the singing of two songs, I Am the Earth and Asalam Aleikhum. We were delighted to welcome Liana Perillo to our school, and were transported by her beautiful harp playing which lifted our children’s voices to another realm. This assembly was also an occasion to thank and honour Sasha Shamrak, our Instrumental Music Family’s violin teacher. Sasha has been teaching at PHPS for seventeen years with joy, passion, kindness and her own special brand of humour. Over this time she would have taught hundreds of students, and all the siblings from many families. She was so sad to leave, but has taken up an exciting new position as head of music at a primary school close to her home. Sasha said she felt loved, appreciated and blessed to have been a part of our community for so long. Thank you to everyone who made Sasha feel so special during her time with us.

The Teddy Bear’s Picnic: it’s an occasion that that has inspired generations, brought our Prep community together luring friends and relations to PHPS from afar, and, celebrates the achievements of our Super Prep Stars as they complete their first Term at school. Whilst we were disappointed to relocate the picnic to the gym; it had been raining all morning and although the sun broke through just as we were gathering the ground was very soggy, the Preps had a fabulous time. They impressed themselves with their singing, and reflected that they had sounded great in the gym when they sang the Teddy Bear’s Picnic song, and were able to identify why! Then came the picnic, with ‘wonderful things to eat’ and share with special family members and friends, and this was followed by fabulous picnic games with Toni. Bravo to the Preps for a top performance, and for all you have achieved during you first Term at school.

There was one other special opportunity at the end of last Term, and this was for our beautiful Yr 34s. They were invited to record the song What a Wonderful World which was to be played at Matilda’s wedding. This was indeed a great and exciting honour as almost everyone in the 34 Ngh has had Matilda as a HG or Ngh teacher so the students were so ‘stoked’ to sing for her special day. I was hugely impressed that all the students, more than one hundred of them, recorded the song dry, meaning that they sang unaccompanied. They held pitch, and rhythm so well that it was a successful editing job to add extra tracks of uke and double bass after wards. Matilda was married during the holidays, and there were some very special guests there, former PHPS teachers, Jess Walker, Jen Bradby and Amy Phillips, who swooned when they heard the Yr 34s singing as Matilda and Max signed the register. Bravo and thank you to the 34Nghs for your exceptional singing that added extra magic to everyones hearts on a very special day.

Looking ahead for this Term: the 56s are learning a descant/harmony part to You Are My Sunshine and the Yr2s are preparing the lullaby Here With Me to present at the Mother’s and Special Carer’s Day Assembly in Wk 4. They will be accompanied by a Yr 56 uke club, cello and bass, and the Yr 34s are just starting their Ukulele adventures and will learn Uke for this Term. The Yr 1s are enjoying the Walking Song/Aruko from Totoro which they are singing in Japanese and the Preps are learning a great song from the ‘70s claymation Stanly and the Dinosaurs called I Wonder Why as a prelude to rewriting their own lyrics to reflect an extraordinary tale that has been evolving in their Ngh all year! Thanks to everyone for a happy start to Term and enjoy the next weeks of Autumn. Cheerio, Deb.