Our Own Backyard

On Sunday, June 1st, the first day of winter in Australia, a small gathering of the Hawkesdale community celebrated the erection of a new sign. This sign displays some of the notable features of Hawkesdale and surrounding areas. It is hoped that it will encourage tourists to stop in our small town and enjoy some of  its attractions.

Tim Williams, a local artist was responsible for the delightful artwork on the sign. His contribution was acknowledged in the speeches that followed the barbecue.

ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. Students in grade 6 were asked to write down their thoughts on Anzac Day, which is celebrated as a public holiday on April 25th. Here are a selection of their writings.

The soldiers had a terrible time when landing in an area with steep cliffs. The second they walked onto land they were under attack.
The ANZAC soldiers fought all those years ago but for some it feels like yesterday.
You might never really understand what the soldiers went through but how would you like to see your friends die in front of you. It’s not a pleasant feeling.
Not many of those came home to their families so let’s remember them who went to war and fought for our country. 

A is for Australians, all brave, young and old,
N is for Nights, spent in the cold.
Z is for Zany young men, happily joining the throng,
A is for All of the wiling ones being proved wrong.
C is for Crying for all the lost souls,

ANZAC will be remembered all over the world.

 ********************

April 25th 1915
ANZACS landing in Gallipoli
A terrible mistake by allies alike
As dawn breaks to end the night
Turkish soldiers waiting up top
Letting off  their guns with a defining pop
Anzacs falling by the dozens
And weeks later grieving cousins
     

******************

I feel the soldiers being brave
As they fight the good and bad,
They fought so well,
They saw the dead right next to them - they looked so sad, 
We feel as happy for the Australia and the New Zealand soldiers as we should.  

 *********************

The brave Anzacs went to war at a young age.
Fighting for our country’s reputation.
ANZAC day is a time for remembrance for our brave courageous young men.
Not many survived the war at Gallipoli against the Turkish solders at the top of the cliff.
Some people remember it like it was still happening today.
ANZAC day means to me that I respect the brave young men and women that fought in all wars and conflicts. To me it also means that I thank the men and women that created Australia’s reputation.

********************

Anzac day  is a day to remember,
The tough, strong solders,
That died a terrible frightening death,
And those worried families,
Hoping that their young digger,
To open the door,
To say the war is over,
But only the very few did.

 *********************

ANZAC day is a day to remember those brave, courageous, young men who gave our country a great reputation. The war told everyone that the Australian soldiers are the bravest men.
The soldiers had a terrible time when landing in an area with steep cliffs. The second they walked onto land they were under attack.
The ANZAC soldiers fought all those years ago but for some it feels like yesterday.
You might never really understand what the soldiers went through but how would you like to see your friends die in front of you. It’s not a pleasant feeling.
Not many of those came home to their families so let’s remember them who went to war and fought for our country. 

 Our students have been busy baking Anzac Biscuits for Anzac Day

Anzac biscuits originated in Australia and are a popular biscuit . Initially these biscuits were called Soldiers’ Biscuits, but after the landing on Gallipoli on Anzac Day, they were renamed ANZAC Biscuits.

Recipe

1 cup plain flour
1 cup rolled oats (regular oatmeal) uncooked
1 cup desiccated coconut
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
2 tbsp golden syrup (or honey)
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 tbsp boiling water
Method

Combine the flour (sifted), oats, coconut and sugar in a bowl.
Melt the butter and Golden Syrup (or honey) in a saucepan over a low heat..

Mix the bicarbonate of soda with the water and add to the butter and Golden Syrup.

Pour the liquids into the dry ingredients and mix well.

Spoon dollops of mixture, about the size of a walnut shell, onto a greased tin leaving as much space again between dollops to allow for spreading.

Bake in a moderate oven, 180C / 350F, for 15-20 minutes.

Cool on a wire rack and seal in airtight containers.

Our school held a ‘trash and treasure’ day, one week ago. As there were many ‘treasures’ stored under the school eg unused chairs, tables, desks, timber etc, it was decided to sell this in order to add funds to the parents club and enable special project requests from staff, to be funded. Various stalls were set up, including the popular cakes and produce stall conducted by the parents club. Outside vendors also came in selling ‘trash’, plants and flowers. A spinning wheel proved to be very popular and a great money spinner.

Our principal, with two other capable parents provided a  bbq for lunchtime appetities and the country style devonshire teas, comprising home made scones and jam also proved  popular. Overall, it was a great day, the sun shone and money was raised. 

My grade had to write letters to different countries. This is my letter.

Dear student and teachers of Kadena Elementry School

Hi,

My favourite sport is netball, but I like other sports like Basketball and Soccer. I have two brothers , a mum and dad and a sister.

My dad is a shearer which means he makes his living by shearing sheep. I like all the different animals and I like to play with my brothers and sister. I live on a farm just out of Hawkesdale. My parents own 150 acres. My family put a dorset ram over the ewes, the ram gets the ewe in lamb. Sometimes the mother doesn’t look after the lamb. So my dad picks up the lamb and brings it up to the house and we put them in a warm spot and feed them about every 5 hours.

We own one bull and seven cows. We sell the calves when they are about nine months old. We own four ducks, us kids have a duck each. There names are Browny, Troubles, Cuddles and Straunie.

I go to school at Hawkesdale P-12 College. School starts at 9:00 and finishes at 3:30. I get up at 7:30 and get home at 3:40. I catch the bus to school. I ride my bike to the corner of our road to catch the bus. I am on the bus for about 10 minutes.

At school we have different subjects like art, humanities, science, library, sport, ICT, (information communication technology) writing and literacy. There are 22 people in my class.

We have about 250 people go to our school. Our school is just up from the swimming pool.  In the first term the teachers take us up to the pool. My teacher is Ms Murnane. In the first or second term we have a sports day. That is where we do lots of different sport activities like long jump, high jump and other events and races.

Hawkesdale is about 40 minutes away from Warrnambool.

There are lots of different things in Hawkesdale like the pool, Apex Park, the football club rooms, pub, post office, hall, kindergarten and three churches.  The grass is mainly yellow around Hawkesdale at the moment, because we have recently had a drought. Normally, Hawkesdale is a very pretty little town with lots of well mown road sides and beautiful trees.

There are about 500 people that live around Hawkesdale. Most people around Hawkesdale live on farms. Mainly sheep, cattle, dairy and a couple of blue gum plantations.

Victoria’s capital city is Melbourne. Melbourne is the biggest city in Victoria.

It is summer here in Victoria. The weather is mainly sunny, sometimes it rains and thunder storms. Some of Victoria’s best attractions are FlagStaff Hill in Warrnambool, Tower Hill, Lake Pertobe, Sovereign Hill, Grampians, Bendigo mine.

About 2 years ago there was a big fire in the Grampians.  It was close to Hawkesdale. It was horrible seeing all the animals hurt and all the trees black and on the ground.

Australia is the smallest continent but the largest island in the world. Canberra is Australia’s capital city.

There are different animals in Australia such as the Koala, Snake, Possum, Kangaroo, Platypus, Emu, Cockatoo, Kookaburra, Wombats and other interesting animals. There are lots of different native grasses and trees as well.

 

Each year, on the first Saturday in March, the Hawkesdale Memorial Hall committee hold a fleece show as a fund raiser. Local wool farmers are approached to donate a fleece. These fleeces are then judged and a winner obtained in various categories eg superfine merino, fine merino, cross bred etc.
The fleeces are then sold, and the proceeds go to the Hall.

The CWA (Country Womens Association) had a craft display.

Our primary school children drew, painted or built 3d models relating to sheep, wool and our local farms. Below is the baa black sheep tribute to local wool farming designed by our grade prep, who were learning to count 1,2,3.