SolarBuddy Program Illuminates Year 6 Experience
This week our Year 6 students enthusiastically participated in the SolarBuddy educational program, successfully assembling over 60 solar lights for communities affected by energy poverty. Through their efforts, SolarBuddy has now distributed more than 125,000 lights, positively impacting over 625,500 lives worldwide.
The session began with students learning about the devastating effects of energy poverty, which creates disadvantages in health, education, environment and economic opportunity. They discovered that approximately 2 million children die annually from kerosene fumes—a costly, harmful and non-renewable energy source commonly used in disadvantaged regions.
SolarBuddy has established two ambitious goals to achieve by 2030: distributing 6 million solar lights to children living in extreme energy poverty and educating 6 million people globally about effective ways to provide assistance. This experience offered our students valuable perspective on their own privileges and demonstrated how their actions and awareness can meaningfully impact lives beyond their classroom.
Working in teams, the students followed detailed instructions to construct the solar light bases and carefully connect the wiring between the lights and solar panels. Each student also wrote a personal letter to accompany their completed light, expressing their gratitude for the opportunity to make a difference in someone else’s life.
The project proved to be a memorable highlight of the Year 6 experience, with many students describing it as a meaningful activity this term.
Jane Angove, Kim Butler-Nixon, Rebecca Riley and Helen Smith
Save the Date – Language of Friendship Workshop
In Week 4 of next term, Junior School parents and students are invited to attend an ONLINE Language of Friendship workshop. It will take place on Wednesday 21 May at 6pm. Tyson Greenwood, Director of URSTRONG Schools (named one of Australia’s Most Influential Educators!), will teach you and your children skills and language to foster healthy, feel-good friendships. Registration details will be sent to your inbox early next term.
Year 4s Make Mini Mandarin ‘About Me’ Books
This term in Year 4 Chinese, students have been learning how to introduce themselves and talk about their families in Mandarin. To showcase their learning, they created their very own mini books titled “关于我 (About Me)”.
Each mini book includes a personal introduction in Chinese, where students share their names, ages, birthdays, and Chinese Zodiac animals. They also describe their family members — how many people are in their families, who they are, and how old they are — all using full Mandarin sentences.
To make it fun, we spun a virtual wheel to decide the order of presenters! This activity helped students build confidence in speaking Chinese and express themselves creatively. We are so proud of their hard work and enthusiasm!
Shiyi Li
Language Teacher
Year 3s Experience School Life in the 1800’s
The Year 3s are exploring historical sources and delving into the rich history of St Peter’s Girls. As part of this inquiry, we enjoyed a beautiful day in Willunga at the National Trust SA’s Bassett’s Schoolroom, Courthouse and Slate Museum.
The girls wore costumes from the late 1800s and experienced a little more of what school was like during that time from marching to a drum, saluting the flag, writing with chalk on a slate and even learning cursive with ink pots and nibs. They also acted out an old-fashioned courtroom scene and explored the museum.
We had a wonderful day and came home with a deeper appreciation of how we can uncover history through a variety of sources.
Monique McLeay
Year 3 Teacher
